I don't know where to even start...

[TheEngineer]

IMHO, the Cabot trail is the best driving road in North America and I have driven on the California Pacific Coast Highway and a few more obsure ones (Like Topanga Canyon road).

Great drive great scenary and great PEOPLE! I think people who were diverted there on 9-11 will attest to the graciousness and friendliness of the people who took them in. BTW, the main Christmas tree that is lite up in Downtown Boston every year still comes from Halifas, NS as a gift from that city for the help the City of Boston provided during the horrible explosion in WWI. Here is a quick History Recap on that.

At 7.30 a.m. on December 6, the French ship Mont-Blanc left Halifax's harbour. She was loaded with 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton and 35 tons of benzol: a highly explosive mixture. At the same time the Norwegian vessel Imo, moved into the entrance to the Narrows and after a series of ill-judged manoeuvres, the Imo struck the Mont-Blanc on the bow. The ship burned for twenty minutes, drifting until it rested against Pier 6, the busy, industrial north end of Halifax. Just before 9.05 a.m., the Mont-Blanc exploded. Not one piece of her remained beside the dock where she had finished her voyage. Fragments rained on the surrounding area.
Churches, houses, schools, factories, docks and ships were destroyed in the swath of the blast. Children who had stopped on their way to school, workmen lining the windows, families in their homes, sailors in their ships, died instantly. Injuries were frightful, blindness from the splintering glass adding to the shock and bewilderment. 12,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. The death toll rose to just over 1,900. About 250 bodies were never identified; many victims were never found.

Mercifully, rescue began quickly, with the thousands of well-disciplined troops and naval strength available. Word went out to the surrounding areas and they responded with commendable speed. Hospitals and places of shelter were soon overcrowded.

News of the disaster reached Boston the same morning. That very night a train loaded with supplies, together with medical personnel and members of the Public Safety Committee, left for Halifax. Help poured in from all over Canada and many parts of the world, with the continuing generosity of Massachusetts unforgettable. Each Christmas the huge tree that glitters in Prudential Plaza in Boston is a thank-you gift from the people of Nova Scotia.


[This message has been edited by TheEngII (edited 09-06-2005).]