Boats are in, traps are stacked...

It would be easy to say that I didn't do much on Tuesday, just drove from Cape North on Cape Breton Island to Charlottetown PEI, in the rain, but that just wouldn't be the case.  First, that's a long drive, don't you know.  Second, it was an interesting day because of what had been happening in the Maritimes for the past few days.

I had planned this trip - if you read an earlier entry - in order to eat a lot of seafood.  Fresh seafood.  I planned it for the timing not just because this week worked in with a lot of other pieces of my life, including work, but also because it's in lobster season. And when I got here, learned that almost all lobster fishermen are on strike due to the extremely low prices that were being offered by the buyers/processors.  So, while I've been able to get fresh lobster somehow, the threat has always been there that it wouldn't last long.

While dining at the MidTrail Motel last evening, we had heard from our server that the fisherman were having a big meeting last night at 7 pm to vote whether or not they would go back to setting their traps.  This morning, I can breathe a sigh of relief. They voted "yes".  So now I can have more fresh lobster before I go home again!  How selfish!  Especially since there are so many other wonderful local dishes that I really want to try, like clams and mussels and scallops.

Anyway, while this morning the boats were still in, and the traps were still stacked, it was mostly because of the rainy, windy, foggy weather now.  

So I kept driving, and stopped occasionally to get some really bad photos of barely visible scenery, and the next thing I knew, we were in Pictou, NS.  My travelling companion had been trying to get a hold of a former colleague that now lives in Pictou, but had till now been unsuccessful.  The plan had been to take the ferry from Pictou over to PEI, but when we got there at 3:45, were told that the next ferry left at 6:15.  And there's really nothing to do in Pictou, NS.  Nothing is open because it's a week before the main tourist season starts.  

So we decide to explore and try to find a pub, and maybe see a tall ship that Ian had seen advertised.  As we're driving along a back street, find the tall ship, and are trying to find a place to park, Ian notices the Sheriff's van.  His friend is the Sheriff in Pictou county, and the theory is that wherever the van is, Mick might be.  So Ian hops into the county courthouse, and I wait in the car.  Optimistic, aren't I?  Anyway, after about 10 minutes, and still no Ian, I figure he's either been arrested or shot, or Mick is really there.

Next thing I know, I'm getting a tour of holding cells, courthouses, and hearing interesting stories of how they handle the inmates in Pictou over how they handle them in Milton, ON.

After a couple of hours, we head back over to the ferry, only to find that the same family that we had seen on the Top of Nova Scotia (on the Skyline drive) a couple of days ago, and again at dinner that same evening, was also just few cars behind us on the ferry.  How lovely!  They had been driving past the courthouse earlier, and seen the punch buggy, (it's quite distinctive here), and wondered if we were around somewhere.  Now we finally have a chance to chat a while, exchange contact info, and decide to connect at some point in Charlottetown.

Getting into Charlottetown we find that it's not as easy as we had expected to find a hotel.  We're not willing to settle for the standard, we'd like something historic and comfortable.  The Delta seems a good place to start.  But not at $349 per night (that's all they have left).  That's crazy!!  So we drive up one street, see a hotel that looks quite nice and is off the beaten track, might have room.  But just driving up to the front it looks way too expensive.  We then find a boutique hotel, and they are also booked up, only one room left for only one night, and it's over $200 per night.  They agree to call their sister hotel, but they are completely booked.  They then suggest the Rodd Charlottetown, call, and find they have a room for two nights for $149 per night.  Sure!

Turns out that it's the same hotel that we had thought would be too expensive.  It is lovely!  And they give us a CAA discount so we only pay $127.  Sweet!  It's very old, but well maintained, very clean, and has tons of character.  It reminds me of the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, and sure enough, it turns out that it was a CN hotel for many years.

The bathroom still has the original tile around the bath and on the floor, and the door handles are all the old glass knobs still.  Cool.  But it's late, and we're tired and it doesn't take long and I'm snoring away!