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!

The top of Nova Scotia

Today, it felt like I climbed to the top of Nova Scotia.  Starting off in Baddeck this morning, it was cool and raining, so breakfast seemed like a good place to start.  The Yellow Cello makes a wonderful bacon and eggs breakfast - with lots of bacon (real bacon, that actually tasted like smoked bacon).  A quick top-up with gas, and it's off to the Cabot Trail.  The weather is supposed to improve by noon, but the tops of mountains are still shrouded in cloud at 10:30 a.m.

As we approach Margree Forks the sun comes out and it is instantly warmer.  The hills are multi-coloured, with splotches of dark green - the evergreens, the dark brown buds of the hardwoods, and the bright green buds of the birch and softwoods.  There is soon evidence of many logging operations, and signs for "quality hardwood lumber" on the occasional laneway.  The one that strikes me most is the ads for "good larch" - what the heck is larch? I'll have to look that one up.

As we go further west toward the other side of the island, the sun gets stronger, the hills get higher, and the scenery more beautiful every kilometer.  I'm pretty sure that by the time we get to Cheticamp, I'll be gaga (no, not Lady).  And I am.  And it just keeps getting better.  In Cheticamp though, it drizzles briefly and clouds over, so it's a good time to Timmy Me.  We stop for a tea and muffin, then off we go again.

The goal is to find a good place to picnic, and boy do we ever find it.  But first, we have to enter Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  Just before we get there, my travelling companion jokes that someone should be charging for the beautiful scenery.  Then we come across the gates that charge to get into the park.  Thankfully, we're a few days early - still off season for another five days - and we get in for free.

A bit further into the park, and we find our dining spot.  A little hideaway right on the coast, with a couple of cool birds drifting by, a picnic table that has not yet been spoiled by too much bird poop, and some fresh air to make our Pop Chips, fruit, and sausage sticks taste fab.

Another couple of lookouts later and we come across a traffic light - in the middle of nowhere.  Whaaaat?  Turns out that they are repairing the road.  Looks like a good chunk out of the one lane has been completely eroded or washed out, or slid down the cliff into the ocean.  Whoa.  Fortunately, the wait is only a few seconds, and off we go.  And the next lookout is THE lookout of the Cabot Trail.  Even though it's still gray and completely clouded over, it's amazing.  My companion thinks the sun will come out shortly, and it does.  So we take a few more pictures, and then proceed to find more and more beautiful places.

At one point, we realize that on the next point, a few hundred feet above us and across the inlet, we can see people walking along the top of a cliff.  We need to get up there!  Winding up the road, away from where we saw them, we start worrying that we won't figure out how to get over there.  Then we see the sign for Skyline Trail, and check it out.  Sure enough, it's a 4.7 mile hike in total, we've got several hours before we have to check into the B&B, and lots of sitting and driving to work off.

And it really does take us out to the end of the cliff, and what feels like the very top of Nova Scotia - it's 250 meters up from the ocean, and the birds are flying around way below us.  We've met a young family on the trail that are originally from England, but now live in Toronto (small world!).  They appear on the boardwalk shortly after we arrive, and it's a joy to see their young daughter skip down the steps to see the edge of the bluff.

Finally, we hike back to the car, passing the many moose tracks (both footprints and moose poo), and feel revitalized by the weather, the holiday, the exercise, and the scenery.

But now, we're hungry.  It's not far into Pleasant Bay, and the only place around for miles that is open for dinner on a Monday night in early May is MidTrail Motel.  So, we check it out.  The whole motel is painted pink and blue, like some weird nursery, but the menu is chock full of seafood, and it smells good.  My friend orders seafood chowder and the Atlantic grey sole, and I get the salad with house dressing and a lobster dinner.  Wow.  Everything is homemade - for real homemade - and it's the best lobster I've ever had.  The freshest for sure.

Better get to the B&B, especially if we hope to make it to Meat Cove, which is at the far north end of the island.  The B&B is easy to find, and the hostess is extremely friendly and helpful.  She says we have enough daylight to get to Meat Cove, and it's worth it.  Wow.  8 km of gravel and potholes, dangerous dropoffs, and fantastic scenery, but yes, it's worth it to say we got to the most northern point of Cape Breton Island.  There's an island off the coast, no idea what it is at the time, but we find out later that it's St. Paul Island - the Graveyard of the Gulf.  Interesting.

Now, relaxing with some more Nova Scotia wine, the Leafs just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and tomorrow is said to be rainy and cold, another good day to drive - this time to Charlottetown PEI.  Hopefully, they'll have lobster...

From Halifax to Baddeck

The day dawned warm and sunny - oops, that was a different trip.  The day never really dawned, it just got a little lighter and then darker again.  But in between, there was still some adventure to be had.  The forecast called for 50 mm of rain and a high of 13 C.  Good day to be driving.  The rain held off though, and my travelling companion and I decided that it would be a good day to take in something in Halifax.  Our plan was to be on Cape Breton Island by supper time, and it was about a 3.5 hours driving time, so we could spend the morning in Halifax.

We opted to check out Citadel Hill, which was easy walking distance from the Waverley Inn, even though it was all uphill.  Good exercise to try and offset Larry Lobster from last night's dinner.  The site was open and fully staffed.  I had dropped in several years ago (over 20) but that was in November and there was minimal staff, the museum section and gift shop/info center was not open at that time.  So I was happy to see everything open and available this time.  All the staff were in period costume (1869-1871) when the fort was already well established, and staffed by the 78th Highlanders.

It was huge, and we could walk all the way around the top, where the view of Halifax harbour was spectacular.  Then all the way around the bottom, where there used to be stables, and guard houses, and garrisons, and now there was multi-media museum and informational videos.  The gift shop in the main officers building held the standard t-shirts, and touristy type collectibles, but also had Heathergems from Scotland set in sterling or goldplate.  This is something I had never seen, the colours were beautiful, and it was so unique I just had to buy a bracelet.  I learn that Heathergems are really stems of Scottish heather (a plant) that were dried, then dyed, then compressed, then polished.

We stay long enough to watch the noon gun (gun being a 12 lb. cannon) being fired, and then we head back to the car to make our way to Cape Breton.  As we leave the city, the rain starts.  Phew!!  Just in time.

The afternoon is a lot of rain, a lot of driving, and not much to see until we get close to Cape Breton.  We pass a restaurant that looks like a "check that out on the way back", Mother Webb's Ribs and Steak, in Antigonish.  Then we're finally at the Causeway that will take us across to Cape Breton Island.  The rest of the drive - if it wasn't for the rain and fog - is beautiful.  We're hoping it isn't like this the entire week, and the weather forecast for tomorrow is sunny and 18, so we know we'll get at least one day of nice weather for hiking the trails in Cape Breton National Park - and tons of pictures, which maybe tomorrow I'll be able to upload....

Lobster - finally!

What a great day!  It started with a snuggle - with my cat, Simba.  He just knew something was going on, every time I get out the suitcase, the next day he gets a ride in the car.  So we spent about an hour bonding while I had my French Vanilla coffee.  I LOVE the first day of vacation when I can get into vacation mode that quickly!

Eventually, Simba got packed into the car with all the luggage and dropped off to play with his friend Niobe for a few days while I fly off to Halifax, NS. The flight is uneventful, quite calm skies and mostly cloudy but not too cool.  Picked up the rental car and found a compact car for Thrifty in Halifax is, ta da da da!  A punch buggy!  (No punchbacks!)  Yes, folks, it was the cutest little blue VW Beetle - the brand new model no less.  This is going to be fun, I love driving cute cars!

Turn on the radio in the car and hear the forecast for fog to roll into Halifax, and almost immediately the fog appeared.  Hmmm, hope that's not a portent of things to come!

Found the hotel, and it is gorgeous.  Built in 1866, and run mostly as a residential hotel for about 30 years, with celebrities such as Oscar Wilde having stayed here, I can't wait to find out if there are any residential ghosts.  There are antiques everywhere, including a 4-poster bed in the room, antique photographs and portraits on the walls, the doors are the original solid wood, with the most intricate detail.  I love the beauty and character of the place.

The gent at the front desk is very helpful and provides a couple of names of Irish pubs with live music, but first - explore!  Its cool, foggy and drizzly, but after sitting all day, the walk feels good.  Find some outdoor art - drunken street lights?

The Old Triangle is a quaint old Irish pub, with great cider and poutine and some fantastic local live talent.  Just two guys on guitar and bass then they pull out a fiddle and bring up another gent with a harmonica and they all start wailing on some real east coast music - just what I needed.  I LOVE local flavour!

Then it's across the street to McElvie's for some.... LOBSTER!  Finally.  Phew, I thought for awhile it would never happen.  But it's fabulous.  Thanks you, Larry Lobster, for committing harikari just for me.

The walk back to the hotel is much drier, as the fog has started to lift and it's no longer drizzly, but it's quite cool now.  Nevertheless, the camera comes in handy, and I get some great shots.  If I could just get them uploaded...

(3 days later...)

  

Jungle in Canada in February?

Life is funny sometimes, eh?  Like today, I was thinking about how many different journeys we are all on at the same time.  We've all got our getaway boots on every day, and just don't think about it that way.  Life is a journey, an adventure, or at least we can make it an adventure if we choose to.  Love is a journey.  Music can be an adventure, and a simple trip to the market can be an interesting side-trip if we let ourselves think of it as something other than just a simple trip to the market.

A lot of my friends are down south this week, enjoying the sun and sand and surf and beautiful warm weather while here it's cold and kind of, well,  yucky.  But it's a long weekend, and it seemed like a good day to just take a holiday and have some fun.  It wasn't snowing, in fact, the sun was shining for a good part of the day, or at least trying to shine.  It was a good day to make into a journey.

My journey called "today" started with that simple trip to the market.  I love to go to a little booth that serves locally harvested, sometimes organic food, and they make the best breakfast bagel anywhere.  They start by toasting the perfect whole-grain bagel, and with an omega-3 egg (over-medium in oil), then they fry real smoked bacon in an iron frying pan over open flame.  So far, all we've got is a fancy Western, right?  But wait, there's more.  After putting a slice of parmesan or swiss over all that, they add some organic arugula (just a few leaves so we can fake ourselves into thinking this is actually healthy), and the best aioli sauce I've ever tasted.  Are you smacking your lips?  You should be.

So now that my tummy is full so I won't buy so much food I don't need and will probably wind up throwing out because I bought way more than I can eat before it goes bad....  off I go to explore the rest of the market, and buy some good-for-me food.  Lots of organic fruits, some pea sprouts, mushrooms, spinch leaves, celery, snow peas, trying to ease the guilt-trip over breakfast.  Then I think, maybe I could make one of those breakfast bagels myself, so I get some omega-3 eggs and some real smoked bacon.  But where do I find some really good aioli sauce, and decent whole grain bagels?  Oh yeah, Vincenzo's!!!

The journey called "today" takes a new turn.  I LOVE Vincenzo's.  They have an amazing bakery (because lots of bread is oh-so-good-for-you-ha-ha), smoked Cacciacovello cheese (did I mention that here before already?), organic dairy products, a fantastic seafood department, and some really yummy home-made prepared salads.  So I load up, find some organic arugula for that breakfast bagel, along with some aioli sauce, cheese, bagels, quinoa salad, wild rice salad, grilled mushrooms, and and and and....  OK, better get this home before I buy a bunch of food I won't eat cause I bought more than I can eat before it goes bad.....

How could that bagel have worn off so quickly?  Self-control, must have self-control.  Must move about...  Ah, wait, Spanners had a 1 day, 85% off sale.  I think I have about 6 inches of closet space left.  Look out.  (Oh come on, it's an adventure day!!!)

Ok, a few outfits for work for the price of one suit, and now it MUST be lunch time.  It just has to be.  Yup!  Yayyy!!!  But I'm a good girl, and eat only the good-for-me stuff, and not too much.  Really.

It's "today", a Saturday afternoon on a long weekend in Feburary, my friends are all soaking up warmth, and it's sunny here too, just cold.  What's a girl to do?  Clean?  Oh, come on, that's no fun.  I need a jungle - something hot and humid and green and - Belgian Nursery!!!  They won't have all their greenhouses full, but they should have enough plants to let me pretend I'm in the jungle somewhere south. 

Sunglasses - check.  Running shoes - check.  (no winter boots allowed in the jungle).  Jump in the car, and halfway there it starts to snow.  Not just a little bit of snow, this is like white-out big fluffy flakes should-I-turn-around? snow.  Nope.  I'm on a mission to find a jungle. 

Oh ya, baby.  This is so nice and warm.  And green!  Tall trees and hanging plants and orchids and herbs and even a beautiful blue macaw parrot named Max.  I think it's been about three years since I've been here.  Can't be!  But it's true.  It's my favourite place, and I've been avoiding it... why?  Don't know, but it feels so good to be back.  My house has 0 plants right now, and this is just what it's been missing to make it feel like a home.  First things first, find a plant stand - there's one, looks like it's been sitting here for a few years, but with a bit of TLC should be gorgeous.  Leather shelves, wrought iron with bronze accents, scroll work, love it.  'Twill fit perfectly in the newly decorated master bedroom.

Now, what kind of plants?  Jasmine.  Love that smell.  A prayer plant, string of pearls, schefflera, snake plant, some herbs...  lots of variety.  Perfect.  Oh, and a big bowl of different colours of primula for the dining room table.

My "today" adventure is almost complete.  After setting up the plant stand (it is exactly the finishing touch that room needed), and having a bit of dinner, I'm off to a British pub with a friend to finish the the journey with a music adventure, and some joyous laughter.  What a great way to take another day-step on the life journey!

Next adventure - Lobster!!!

Ah yes, there is nothing quite as yummy as lobster - if you like it, you love it.  If you love it, you absolutely adore it when it is fresh from the sea.  Last year, I considered going on a wee jaunt to the beautiful Canadian east coast, when a friend said "no way would I go unless it was lobster season".  Which made a whole heck of a lot of sense to me.  So I just dilly dallied last year, and bided my time, after finding out that lobster season can be found around Nova Scotia in May.  Ahhhh....

Now, anyone who is frugal enough to save Air Miles for over 10 years and never use them, deserves to get some of that back.  And the first few weeks of May happen to be off-season for flying, even though it is on-season for lobster.  What a magnificent combination - free flights that only use 60% of my air miles, and fresh lobster.  Whaaattt??? 

Checked with the boss at work, checked with the cat (well, the cat-sitters anyway), and I am now in full planning mode for a Peter Pan Getaway Boots adventure to the Maritimes.  I welcome any and all suggestions for places to stay, things to do and see, food to try, so please dear readers, if you have any experience with Nova Scotia, PEI or Newfoundland that aren't already mentioned below, pass 'em on!

Here's the plan so far (I've got 10 days, 9 nights):

1. Fly to Halifax and rent a car, try to take in a day or two of Cape Breton (Cabot Trail, National Park), and south to Peggy's Cove.  I've been to Halifax itself a couple of times, so this time I want to explore the rural NS.  Eat Lobster.  And Digby scallops.  And mussels.  Did I mention lobster?

2. Drive across the new bridge to PEI - this in itself will I'm sure be an experience!  The lure of PEI is mostly the scenery, but if there's anything like a clam dig going on, that would be cool.  I guess as a Canadian, I'm obligated to check out the Anne of Green Gables house, and the beginnings of our country.  And eat more lobster.

3. Fly from Charlottetown to St. John's, NF.  Get a car, pick up my friend Sheila, and head to Gross Morn (not sure if this is spelled correctly?).  I'm not even sure what this is but I'm told I absolutely must see it.  It would be cool to see some Viking stuff if there's any around.  And go whale watching, and iceberg hunting.  Maybe eat some lobster.  If I can fit all of that into a few days, it will be a miracle.

OK, folks, bring it on.  Otherwise I'll just have to sit around and drink Screech for a few days till they pour me on a plane and send me back.

Woot!!!
 

"You Make me feel so Young"

Well, a friend requested that I blog a bit more frequently.  It didn't seem likely that anyone would be interested in hearing of my exploits (ahem, adventures) unless they were somewhat, well, adventurous.  Who knew?  So, here I go again...

After last evening's company "Christmas" dinner (held in February so we could get a better hall at a better rate), morning should not have started so early.  I'm sure that if requested, nature could have delayed morning for at least another hour.  But nooooo....  So when the light started shining in the window, and the cat walked across my head, there didn't seem to be much point in delaying the inevitable.  Besides, the getaway boots were beckoning, even if just for a day.

At first glance out the window, it appeared to be snowing, especially with everything coated in sparkly whiteness, but that's just frost, and the blurred appearance is due to fog.  No, really, it was foggy out, it wasn't just my personal fog from the night before.  Really. 

Am I going to make it to Tonawonda today for the NFCA show, "You make me feel so young"?  Fortunately, the fog clears within an hour, and the sun comes out and the sky is an intense, almost summery, blue.  Soon, a cloud appears in the form of a border guard, with a nasty scowl on her face, and an attitude the size of Texas. 
"What's your destination?" 
Me: "I'm going to Tonawanda to see a show". 
Border b---ch: "What kind of show?". 
Me: "A musical show, all singing". 
Border B---ch: "Talk to me, I need to know what you mean". 
Me: (Thinking, Huh?)  "It's a concert of barbershop singing, a couple of choruses - like choirs - and a few quartets".  (Thinking - How friggin' dangerous does this sound?)
B.B.: "Are you meeting anyone there?" (scowl, sneer)
Me: "Yes, I hope to meet some friends".
B.B.: "How do you know them?"  (translation, why on earth would an American citizen associate with a dumb Canuck?)
Me:  (Thinking, should I tell her that I met them in a Mexican jail?  Probably not).  "I met them through singing".
B.B.: "So you sing?"
Me: "yes"
B.B.: "Are you performing this afternoon?"  (sneer, accusatory tone, as though a Canadian singing on an American stage was a threat to the American way of life)
Me: (laughing heartily) "No, I'm not".
B.B.: "Have a nice day". 
Me: (thinking - ya right, you just spoiled it.  B---ch).

Off I go, finding the venue (a grade school) easily, with just enough time to get a seat, and scan the room for familiar faces (none really, but that's ok).  The bright spot of the show is actually not the star performers/hostesses (NFCA - which will only mean something to my readers that are members of Harmony Inc.).  It is the Senior Men's championship quartet, hot off the presses.  Literally bright (cherry red suits, with cherry red and white wing-tip shoes.  They still make wing-tip shoes?  Yikes!).  Was it worth the trip?  Well, not really this distance, no.  But it got me out of the house to do something besides spend money. 

So, off I go back home.  This time, the border crossing was amazingly friendly. 
Border Boy:  "What was the purpose of your trip ma'am?"
Me: "I went to see a show of barbershop singing" (learning to phrase it less suspiciously)
BB: "Oh, that sounds interesting, did you enjoy it?"
Me: "Yes I did, thanks".
BB:  "Do you have any thing to declare, alcohol or tobacco?"
Me: "No, I don't".
BB:  "Have a nice day".
Me: "Thanks, you too".

(And they say America is the greatest country in the world?   Certainly not if measured by the first face that visitors see).

And the sun shone on...