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The photography blog of Victoria Bennett Beyer, featuring travel photographs from road trips across America and botanical photography of plants, flowers and leaves.
The gardens have some brick stairs and brick-lined grassy terraces that lead to the Cooper River. These weathered man-made elements complement the grown-in shrubs and bushes and are all nestled beneath towering oaks.
I really wanted to share with you all one of my favorite places in the world. Mepkin Abbey is a acutal, functioning abbey, near my hometown of Moncks Corner that is located on the historic site of Mepkin Plantation. You drive through an incredible oak alley to reach the public part of the grounds, known as the Luce Garden. The gardens were commissioned by the Luce family in 1937. They had planned to build a home here but never did. Now volunteers cut the grass and tend the garden, which consists of live oaks draped in moss, crepe myrtles, camellias and azaelas. Normally you can tour the abbey but because of Covid, that is no longer an option. But, happily, their website says that none of the monks have contracted the disease.
This may be the only wisteria plant that is included intentionally in the gardens, but you can see more of it climbing over the trees along the edges of the grounds. I specifically was looking to photograph wisteria and was hoping I would find some here, and I lucked out.
My daughter enjoyed getting a packet from each Canadian national park, much like she did last year at the American national parks. They are really a fun way for kids to learn more about where they are visiting, and when they have filled it out, they can return to a visitors center to earn a dog tag. Aren’t these just a fantastic keepsake? I think she will treasure them for years to come.
Our last stop on our eastern Canadian road trip was Fundy National Park in New Brunswick. There was a lot to like about this park, starting wit the Point Wolfe area. First of all, you drive through this beautiful covered bridge. This one was built in 1992 but was based on the 1910 version. Near this bridge there is the Point Wolfe trail, which winds around the coast high up in the cliffs. You can see the view below.
It was a beautifully sunny day, but that didn’t stop the mist. At one point, I could see it rising from the trees and it was fascinating to watch.
We camped within walking distance of the town of Alma, where you can get a great view of the massive tides that this area is famous for. At low tide, the boats in the center of the image are on sand! This view was from the campground, so you can probably imagine what the stairs looked like to get down to town. It was perfect to walk off the huge meal we had at the Alma Lobster Shop. The food was incredible (we have enjoyed soooo much fresh lobster this trip) and we particularly loved that they welcomed our dog in the outdoor area.
We participated in a fun program sponsored by the park where we tried different edible plants and animals from the natural surroundings, served up to us by park staff. We tasted some of the seaweed and tidal plants, and then headed to the shore to search for periwinkles. A park ranger then cooked them up for us over a beach fire, and then we got to enjoy a taste of lobster as the finale. I’d highly recommend it as a fun way to spend two hours learning about the land.
Periwinkle, anyone?
We drove past an incredible playground that’s in the park, so we made an afternoon stop for my daughter. She was obsessed with the epic zipline and if she were rating it, I’m sure she’d give this playground a 10.
Unlike in Newfoundland, this is a park that is highly visited, so we were sharing it with lots more people than we had at any other stop. This is a great place to come for a weekend if you live close by, with several campgrounds, yurts, a pool, and even a golf course. Parts of it seem quite wild and parts of it seem like a resort. There is really something for everyone to enjoy here.
Well, that wraps up our trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. There is so much left to see; I know we’ll be back one day. We took the overnight ferry to Port aux Basques to Nova Scotia, and this time I got up with the sunrise to make sure I didn’t miss a moment of its beauty.
The Governor’s Staircase
We camped at Blow Me Down Provincial Park in Newfoundland on our way back down the western coast. My favorite part of this place was the wooden staircase that ascended through the rocks right at the edge of the water. From here, the hike was quite enjoyable, climbing up to some lovely sights overlooking the bay. When we started our hike, the weather was a bit cloudy, and the shore looked like the image below.
After our hike we spent hours just looking at the different types of rocks on this pebble shore.
As we climbed up the hill, the clouds began to lift, though it was still pretty moody for a while. Here you can see the same beach as the image above.
From this height, we had a great view of the bay in several directions.
I feel like I have written this several times while detailing our western Canada road trip, but I’ll say it again: this was one of my favorite hikes. The elevation led to wonderful views, the path was fun, sometimes going over rocks and other times along moss covered trails though there were a lot of stairs. Wildflowers were blooming and the air was cool but it didn’t rain on us. It was easy enough for our seven-year-old but still had us huffing and puffing in places. We didn’t make it all the way to the end, because the mud was pretty much unpassable at one point, but we got a couple of miles in nonetheless.
Back at the campground, it was quiet and empty. We practically had the bathrooms and the laundry all to ourselves, which was glorious. W and I delighted in sighting some bunnies as we trekked between the facilities and our campsite.
The grounds and small museum at Lobster Head Cove were wonderful. The views from the trail were lovely, and wound around the lighthouse so you could enjoy it from many different angles, while also giving you a chance to enjoy the ocean and the tuckamore. The exhibits were hands-on and explored what it was like to live as a family serving the lighthouse.
