vacation

2025 Vacation Wrap-Up

All in all, it was quite the adventure.

Our summer vacation to Nova Scotia and Maine was an endurance test for both driving (almost 70 hours worth) and photography (two weeks worth of photos to organize and edit).

There’s probably such a thing as “too much travel,” and we were right up against that limit. But we also had an amazing time and got to experience a beautiful portion of North America. 

A few final thoughts on our 2025 adventure:

  • The kids, thankfully, can now fully entertain themselves in the car. They’re old enough now to manage their activities, keep themselves busy, and not ask us parents for too much attention.
  • The driving was worth it. Yes, there was a lot. But I loved seeing Canada and the U.S. this way. I’ll never forget driving through New Brunswick and rounding a corner to see a beautiful lake at the bottom of a valley, or following the St. Lawrence River through Quebec and seeing where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
  • My photography kit was perfect. Having the super-compact and capable Canon EOS M6, along with a few lenses, was all I needed. I’ve created a video review of the camera – check it out on YouTube, featuring some of the photos from this trip. 

Now I’m off to work on our annual summer vacation photo book.

 

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Bar Harbor, Maine

2025 Vacation: Bar Harbor, Maine

We had two opportunities to visit Bar Habor, Maine: one after we completed our Acadia National Park adventure, and the other was via a lobster boat ride.

Our first visit, after the park, was during a beautiful evening where the town was hopping with people and activities. It’s summer, so of course us tourists were out.

The shops and restaurants were packed, and the sunset light was perfect for capturing some street photography. I saw tons of colors and characters, the perfect recipe to grab pictures around the town.

When we came back, we hopped on a lobster boat for a tour of Frenchman Bay.

It was a great tour. We learned about lobsters, about the fishing industry, and even took a loop around a lighthouse, where seals were squatting on the rocks.

For the first time, we all got to hold a lobster. After grabbing them out of the lobster nets, the kids had a chance to throw the lobsters back into the bay.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Now I know, first hand, where those delicious lobster rolls come from.

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and a select few EF-M lenses.

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2025 Vacation: First Day in Maine

After leaving Canada by way of New Brunswich and the border, we landed in Brooklin, Maine, our home for the next week.

We arrived at nightfall, so we had no glimpse of the peninsula where we sat.

Not until I got up early the first day and went to the beach.

This was the Maine I remember. And for that first morning, I had it all to myself.

I did what I always tend to do and went exploring – up and down the coastline, through the set of cabins on this part of the shore, taking advantage of the early morning light.

Lookout Inn - Brooklin, Maine

Then the family woke up, and we explored the jagged, rocky beach together.

The tide was a new thing for us Michiganders. Here on the peninsula, we had to pay attention: there were several islands you could walk out to at low tide. But come high tide, you might get stranded.

And the bay’s ocean water, just like in Nova Scotia, was freezing. So we mainly played on the rocks.

Later that night, after dinner, we took a stroll back down to the coast to watch blue hour come in at high tide.

Maine was different. More rugged. A little more wild. And there was lots more to see.

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and several EF-M lenses.

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2025 Vacation: Lobster Carnival in Pictou

Up here, the locals call it “Carny.” 

To us Americans, Pictou, Nova Scotia’s Lobster Carnival was nothing short of a wonder. 

Pictou is a small town. But walking around on the last day of our Canadian trip, you’d think the whole town had turned out. And why not? On the East Coast, lobsters are a big deal.

Pictou made them a big deal.

A mini fair, with rides and games, a concert in the park, and one of the best lobster rolls I had so far this trip – Carny had it all.

We couldn’t have picked a better way to say “goodbye” to Canada.

Pictou, Nova Scotia

Before we left town, we stopped and had ice cream. Tomorrow? Through New Brunswich and on to Maine.

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2 and 32mm f/1.4.

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Egypt Falls - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

2025 Vacation: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Imagine a New England state-size island, full of its own little towns and natural wonders, and that’s Cape Breton – off the eastern coast of Nova Scotia.

It was a bit of a drive to get there, but boy, it was worth it.

First, we took some nature trails and discovered Egypt Falls along the western section of the island.

For the kids, it was a grueling hike up and down the trail. But at the bottom? One of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve ever seen.

After Egypt Falls, we hiked the Lewis Mountain trail, a hidden gem behind a set of power lines. To get there, you take a lovely drive around Bras d’Or, the large inland body of saltwater.

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

The trail, a gentle incline through a beautiful northern forest, followed a stream where (I’m proud to say) my family took a swim. 

Driving around the island, there was plenty to see. 

To close out the trip, we had dinner in Baddeck, where I couldn’t resist eating an entire lobster.

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 with the EF-M 22mm f/2 and kit zoom lenses.

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Peggy's Cove

2025 Vacation: Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

After our Halifax adventure, we took an hour’s drive to the famous Peggy’s Cove. 

As we approached the shore, we noticed the fog rolling in off the Atlantic. This would be a theme for our vacation.

It was certainly a vibe: a rocky, jagged coast, a little fishing village, and not much visibility. We could barely see the lighthouse from the parking lot, but the visibility improved the closer you got.

Reds and greens. Blues and teals. Here, colors popped out of the fog. 

Driving from the coast, we made a few stops along the way to see what else the fog was hiding.

Some of it? We couldn’t see. It’s still a mystery. 

Sometimes, photography is like that. 

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2. 

 

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Halifax, Nova Scotia

2025 Vacation: Canada Day in Halifax

You haven’t experienced a national holiday until you’ve seen Canadians celebrate Canada Day on July 1.

The first clue came when we were driving into Halifax.

“Everyone’s wearing red,” I noticed. Like, everyone. 

First, we hit the waterfront district because that’s where the action was. Food, activities, vendors – and tons of people dressed in their Canada Day gear. It was super fun to see, especially coming from the United States, where our relationship with our northern neighbor has been rocky since January. 

“Good for Canada,” I thought with a little sense of pride. 

Our kids had fun seeing the big ships coming into the Halifax harbor and the giant wave sculpture.

Then we left the waterfront to walk around the Public Gardens.

Later, trying to find a place for dinner, we wandered around the north part of the city until we found a stellar cidery, the Chain Yard – complete with a DJ.

This situation – visiting a new city in another country on a special day – is exactly what I mean when I tell people I use photography as an excuse for adventure. It’s my favorite setting: a new place with new people, where I get to use my camera as a sort of third eye, capturing and getting to know the things I see.

Speaking of which…

From Halifax, we drove to Peggy’s Cove for some fog and lighthouse action. More on that next.

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and (mostly) the EF-M 15-45mm kit zoom lens.

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Pictou, Nova Scotia

2025 Vacation: Pictou, Nova Scotia

After Rushtons Beach, we drove into Pictou, Nova Scotia, for dinner at a little seafood place by the water.

We also learned that, later in the week, Pictou would host their annual Lobster Carnival. 

Guess we’ll be back on Friday, won’t we?

On the drive back to the cabin, we caught a killer sunset along an inlet.

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2.

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Rushtons Beach, Nova Scotia

2025 Vacation: Rushtons Beach

Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean was new enough for our kids. But swimming in the northern Atlantic? 

That water is cold.

The frigid ocean didn’t stop us, though, at Rushtons Beach, a scenic, sandy beach on the north side of Nova Scotia. 

We spent half of the day relaxing on the beach. For the other half, we explored one of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic. The kids discovered you could tiptoe across the water to the near shore. 

I took the boardwalk and went to explore around the provincial park a bit. 

After brushing the sand off, we went into Pictou for dinner and ice cream.

Not a bad first day exploring the Maritimes. 

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2 and 32mm f/1.4. 

 

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Marshville, Nova Scotia

2025 Vacation: Marshville, Nova Scotia

The first leg of our two-week vacation was along the north shore of Nova Scotia, in a little town called Marshville. It was a total throw-a-dart-at-a-map-and-hope-it-works-out location.

It totally worked out.

We’re an AirBNB/Vrbo family, and we try to get cabins on the water. This one was close enough – a short walk down a drive, then a set of stairs down a bluff, and we were oceanside.

The neighborhood was filled with quaint sea cottages, many of which proudly displayed their Canadian pride.

As always, I took the first day or two to explore the cabin and the neighborhood, exploring the light where I could find it.

Marshville was a good launching point for all our adventures. We had plenty to see along Nova Scotia’s North Shore, and it was centrally located to easily make our future drives to Halifax and Cape Breton.

Every morning, the kids watched the tide ebb and flow. And every evening, we went down to the beach to see the sunset. 

We saw the ocean in California last year, but not like this – not every day, and not this close to shore. After the kids overcame their fear of the little brown jellyfish and embraced the cold northern water, the ocean became part of their spiritual rhythm. 

The Canon M6, paired with either the EF-M 22mm f/2, EF-M 32mm f/1.4, or the M kit zoom, made for a light and satisfying travel kit.

We spent our first evening getting to know the place. The next day, we’d travel to a local beach to really take in the ocean view.

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Road trip through Quebec

Two-Week Vacation

All of our summer vacations have lasted a week. Weekend to weekend, about 9-10 days max. This year, we tried something different: taking a two-week vacation out East. 

We hit the road in late June for an epic road trip to the Atlantic Coast – first to Nova Scotia, Canada, for one week, then to Maine for the second week.

To get there, it meant driving 20 hours through Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and finally Nova Scotia to our first cabin. We split the drive in half, staying overnight in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, at a lovely hotel on the St. Lawrence Seaway. 

I took six years of French in high school and college, so it’s been a while since I spoke it fairly fluently. It was pretty humbling to walk into a gas station on the edge of Trois-Rivières where the checkout team spoke nothing but French. 

Petrol, s’il vous plait? 

Quebec was a brief stop on the way, but it is a huge Canadian province, and most of our driving ran along the St. Lawrence until we hopped over the river in Quebec City and then on through New Brunswick.

This is the first in a series of posts outlining our big summer adventure. I brought along the Canon EOS M6 with a full kit of EF-M lenses. I also kept the Canon EOS M in the car for road photos, and the few you see above in Trois-Rivières.

An epic road trip to the East Coast sporting the Canon M line. Lots more to come. 

Shot on the Canon EOS M and EF-M 22mm f/2.

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Back-Home Blues

Brooklin, Maine

Travel is great until you get home.

Twenty years ago, on my first big road adventure across America on Route 66, I noticed something when I got back:

As soon as I took the highway exit to get back into my hometown, I was disappointed. “Back to reality,” I thought. It’s dramatic to say out loud, but getting back home left me with the feeling that the trip was all make-believe. It was like I never left.

That feeling, that disappointment, has never gone away. In fact, just this summer, when we returned from the Atlantic coast, it felt the exact same way taking that exact same exit off the highway. 

I’m not saying we didn’t have a wonderful time, nor am I saying it would’ve been better if we never left. I am saying that coming back home to all the to-do lists, work, and obligations can be a bummer. 

It feels so good to travel, to see new places and experience new things. And then you drive away, leaving it all behind with photos and memories to keep you going until the next big adventure. Luckily, we have our fair share of future travel plans.

Real life feels like the in-between moments before the next getaway.

That’s why I advocate for taking little adventures along the way – taking a day and going hiking, say, or driving to a new small town and making pictures there. 

Whatever helps until the next escapade. 

Shot on the Canon EOS M6 and EF-M 22mm f/2 in Brooklin, Maine.

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Spring Break in Detroit

Detroit - Eastern Market

Much like last year, we stuck close to home for spring break – this time, to downtown Detroit, Michigan.

Eastern Market

One of the largest markets in the country, Eastern Market was fairly quiet in late March. It’s not quite farmers market season yet.

We still saw, and tasted, plenty.

Downtown Detroit

Mondays are quiet, so we took the People Mover downtown to stroll around the Renaissance Center and midtown. 

That might have been a mistake. First, it was chilly, with the buildings acting as a wind tunnel for a cold breeze off of the Detroit River.

Second, we had a few mishaps, including me dropping my Canon M6 and busting my beloved EF-M 22mm lens.

So we headed back to the hotel and just chilled. It wasn’t worth it outside.

Detroit Institute of arts

This was my jam. 

The DIA is a world-class art museum, and the light was just perfect inside to get some dramatic shots inside the main hall and near the Diego Rivera mural.

After the museum, we ate at Hop Cat and watched the Detroit Qline come and go.

Heading home

A few more photos as we finish up at the hotel, have some diner-style breakfast, and head back to Jackson.

All images captured on a busted-ass Canon M6 and a variety of EF-M lenses. 

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Another World

Also on our California itinerary: Joshua Tree National Park, a long car ride on our last day so I could introduce the family to the desert.

“It’s like another planet,” my wife said, driving through the limestone boulders, washed clean by ancient floods.

Those were the exact thoughts I had 17 years ago, driving through New Mexico, Arizona, and eastern California. Another world.

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Ray of Sunshine

We don’t get much sunlight in the Michigan winters. We don’t get much snow or freezing cold either, but it’s the lack of sunshine that’s killer. 

This year, instead of taking our bi-annual trip to Disney World in Florida, we did something new and flew out to Disneyland in California. Three days in the park, but then three days doing other West Coast things, like driving up the Pacific Coast Highway and taking a road trip to Joshua Tree National Park.

It wasn’t exactly warm in California – warmer than home, which was hit by a major winter storm the day we flew out of Detroit – but there was sunshine.

Coming back home, and now a few weeks later, I can feel the difference a little bit of sunlight can make. I feel energized, almost manic, like I want to get all the things done. 

And so I have. Everything from cleaning around the house, getting more things done at work, even picking up my exercise routine after the holidays…California helped. 

Now I’m taking that feeling and running as fast as I can with it. I know it might not last forever – just like that trip up U.S. Highway 1.

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Pure Michigan

Swimming and hiking and bonfiring.

Drinking and s’more’ing and eating some more’ing. 

Finding the nature therapy you’ve long needed. Spending time with family. Introducing places like Mackinac Island to the kids, and bringing back memories with you on the ferry ride across Lake Michigan. 

Climbing to the top of a 10-story lighthouse along Lake Huron. Braving the pouring rain or the biting mosquitos. 

Grabbing your camera and capturing the last remaining light of a busy day.

It’s more than a checklist. These are all the elements of a great summer vacation. 

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Door County, Wisconsin

Kicking off a series of photos from our summer vacation spot: Door County, Wisconsin.

Yes, we’d been there in 2018 and 2020. We love the area so much that we went back this year for our family holiday.

Different cabin (the big one), different month (August instead of June/July), and different crowd (we brought the in-laws), but other than that, it was as spectacular as it always is.

I take a memory card’s worth of photos wherever we go. Above is a series of windows I saw along the way. Here are some natural spots:

More to come next week.

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Hale

It’s been a year of new homes, with our family’s, and my dad purchasing a cabin in Hale, Michigan – in the northeast, close to Lake Huron.

We took Independence Day weekend and traveled there for the first time. It was our chance to get out of town, spend some summer days outside, and see a new place. 

We found everything we were looking for in the pastoral scenery, the cool and clear lakes, and the natural beauty you find in northern Michigan. 

I almost brought a film camera to fit the setting. After all, every 50 miles you go north you travel back in time 10 years. But that will have to wait. I didn’t want to fuss with film and settings and remembering how to use my Canon AE-1. I wanted to keep it simple.

Simple is good. That’s why we’re here. 

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World of Disney

Instagram | Photo Blog

My wife’s family is a true Disney Family™ – the kind that go to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, every two years. Like clockwork. 

It is a nice break from the cold Michigan winters, and a good way to burn off all those holiday calories. My daily step count, at minimum, triples when we’re walking the parks. 

This year we had COVID to worry about, but Disney handles the pandemic crowd with clear expectations. Everyone is on their best behavior in the Most Magical Place on Earth.

For me, there are parts of Disney World that I love to photograph. The Africa and Asia sections of Animal Kingdom, for instance, or the optimistic futurism of Epcot, my personal favorite park. The Florida sun helps the bright colors and faux landscape truly shine. This year, the weather was perfect every day, and I checked off sites on my photography bucket list again this year. 

Yes, the Mexico pavilion is a fake Aztec temple, and yes, the art deco architecture at Hollywood Studio is a rose-tinted reproduction of Hollywood’s glory days. But I tend to photograph light and shadow as much as the scenery in front of me. Even if the background is Disney Fake, the light is real. That sunrise and sunset are real. The people moving through the parks are all real. 

We go to Disney World to escape. For me, one reason I go is to focus on my photography – something that usually takes a hit during the winter. 

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Cancún

We don’t take vacations like this – so sunny and so tropical.

But when a friend turned 40 and invited us to a trip to Cancún, Mexico, with a group to celebrate, we enthusiastically came along. The warm Mayan Riviera climate when Michigan is facing down another long, cold, gray winter? Count us in.

Then the friend got COVID, and the rest of the couples bailed and took the trip credit for next year, leaving just us two. 

We never did get a honeymoon. This is as good of a chance as any.

There were reservations about airplane travel across an international border. We had to leave the kids for six days just as Michigan’s COVID-19 numbers were spiking. And after my grandmother passed away and we took on a kitchen remodel project, we were leaving an awful lot of undone. 

In the end, it was well worth it. The resort community in Cancún took guest health and safety very seriously (even wearing masks on a windy beach – a bit overkill if you ask me). We did all the adventuring we could fit in a few days, and we took advantage of quiet, warm beach days to simply breathe and enjoy the view. Cancún was a mix of old and new that was a lot of fun to explore with my camera – from the Mayan ruins to downtown Playa del Carmen’s shopping district, with a lot of peninsular jungle in between. Plus lots of tequila.

Maybe this tropical stuff isn’t so bad. 

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