Pat & John's Nova Scotia Adventure--Excellent

Lighthouse Sessions

When we left Halifax 25 July, we headed southeast along the coast. As is true for pretty much each region of NS, the southeastern shore is identified as a "trail"; the area from Halifax to Yarmouth is called the Lighthouse Trail. It's famous, in part at least, for--you guessed it!--lighthouses.

As we drove the coastline along the Lighthouse Trail, one or the other of us would irregularly but relatively often remark about the beauty of the places we saw. The sights may not be breath-taking or awe-inspiring, but they frequently are worthy of adjectives such as "beautiful" and "magnificent."

The land forms are mostly flat, cut by inlets that allow water courses to reach the ocean. Most of these have, over the eons, produced coastal cuts that range from tiny coves to entire bays and even estuaries. Many of these coastal features are dotted with islands, some that are only apparent as the tides recede. Many of the smaller coves seem to be bays in miniture. Rocky outcrops are common and sandy beaches are few.

The most famous of these coastal features is Peggy's Cove, of course. It has a lighthouse out on a rocky outcropping to which tourists (such as we) flock. When we were there the flocking was so substantial that I was reminded of photos of penguins clamoring on rocks below a lighthouse. As a consequence, we settled for a photo of the sign shown at the right.

We aimed to to see "The Ovens" on Wednesday but by the time we got there the visibility was still quite limited and we were detered by the number of RVs, so we skipped it and went in search of good spots to pull off the road and look at birds. We found several. We also found some narrow roads along spits of land; roads decorated with irregularly spaced houses like children's beads on strings; houses with front yards that faced onto coves dotted with small boats and populated on the edges with herons; views shrouded with fog that made the low, bent trees fade into grey.

• 25 July Lunch: We stopped at a little place along the road, a place which I've already forgotten. (I remember that there was a person at the door who kept telling customers that she didn't work for the diner; she was just fixing the computer [I didn't offer to help].) Like several others we've seen, this was a two-person operation: One person cooked and one person did everything else (hosted, served, bussed, and cashiered). The chowder, described as the best on the south shore, was good. Total ticket: ~$25 Canadian.
• 25 July Dinner: We supped at the Innlet Cafe at the northern end of Mahone Bay and had a very good and quite reasonably priced dinner. I failed to take notes and don't remember the orders. Total ticket: ~$80 Canadian
• 26 July Lunch: We ate from the bags in the car. Fruit, nuts, crackers, and water (all acquired from a large market in Halifax) added up to an inexpensive meal and one that allowed us to make the return trip from seeing plovers.
• 26 July Dinner: Rather than returning all the way to the B&B from the south, we strolled the streets of Mahone Bay and slipped into a little, unpretentious place for dinner. Pat ordered an avacado sandwich. After some discussion with the waitron--could she have been older than 16 years?--I had a lobster salad and a serving of haddock and potato. Both of my dishes were fine­­ nothing spectacular, but good honest food. Total ticket: ~$60 Canadian.
• 27 July Lunch: We snagged another easy meal from what's its.
• 27 July Dinner: This was a good one. We enjoyed some fine food at Fleur de Sel on Montague Street in Lunenburg. The setting is nicely decorated and intimate; there are two rooms separated by a central entryway with the kitchen in the back and a unisex restroom upstairs that appears to be shared with those who have accommodations in any of the smallish-looking second-floor rooms. Although the menu is limited to about a half-dozen appetizers and a like number of entrees (understandable, given that the place had only been open about a month when we ate there), there is a range of dishes, including one vegetarian dish of pasta. After our order, the kitchen sent a starter of a tiny, fried frog leg; I ate mine but Pat refused (a reversal of roles?). From the appetizers, Pat ordered a whole beefsteak tomato, skinned and stuffed with shrimp; the tomato was ripe and tender, and the shrimp, which were the right size to fit into the tomato shell, were brightly flavored with a pepper finish (perhaps a might strong for Pat, but fine for me). I ordered pan-seared scallops that were served in a pool of lobster bisque; this was an excellent dish, with its generous tablespoon of very intensely flavored and rich bisque contrasting with the three succulent, tongue-tender scallops. Because two of the fish entrees included contents not on my diet (one with bacon, one with chicken stock--fortunately revealed on the menu), I skipped them and ordered a bouillabaisse. This, too, was very good; it was served with tiny rounds of toast that had been spread with the traditional garlic-mayo (canšt recall the name right now?) and composed of several mussels, clams, scallops, and chunks of a white fish. The broth, which was limited in quantity, was intensely flavorful and seemed to have a bit of spice. For deserts we had Crem Brule and chocolate fondant, both of which were also quite good. Though it was slowed at the end by a rush of new tables, the service was pleasant and helpful. The wine list was still developing but the selection sampled across a range of varietals and regions. All told, this is place to which we would readily return. Total ticket = ~$115 Canadian.
• 28 July Lunch: So that we wouldn't be forced into eating a late lunch again and having lunch pile up on top of dinner and because we planned to be on the road a the lunch hour, we grabbed lobster salad sandwiches and fries from a pub on the east end of Mahone Bay. There really wasn't anything else we could order other than fish and chips. By the time we got to them, the sandwiches were O.K., but the fries (of course) had turned to limp, distasteful globs. Oh well.
• 28 July Dinner: We'd hoped to make Mimi's Ocean Grill (see dinner the 29th) for this dinner, but it's closed on Wednesdays, so we headed out on an adventure. Instead, we went to Chester Basin and ate at the Sea Shanty. It's a small place with local pictures on the walls, rough plank floors, a porch enclosed with nearly transparent thick plastic, and simple, straight-forward food. The dishes were good and the service pleasant. Pat had a chowder and I had smoked salmon (almost surely not locally smoked); I had a piece of haddock with pan roasted potatoes (and crisp vegetables). We had a couple of local beers (Black Pearl and Propeller Bitter) that were fine. Total ticket = $75 Canadian.
• 29 July Lunch: We slipped into a little place called the Cheescake Gallery on main street in Mahone Bay. It appears to be an opportunity for someone who's fond of coffee houses that serve cheesecakes and of painters to combine the two and also have a chance to serve some soups. We sat on the side porch where the resident sharpei (Anabelle) helped the ambiance and the casual-but-friendly atmosphere made it fun and easy. I had a tomato soup and Pat had a chowder. Total ticket = ~$25.00. Canadian.
• 29 July Dinner: After missing it the night before, we dined at Mimi's Ocean Grill, 662 South Main St., Mahone Bay, 902.624.1342, sitting on the front porch and watching the foot traffic pass as people visited the Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival (parking: $3 to benefit the volunteer fire company), Mahone Bay's answer to Lunenburg's and Halifax's tall-ships extravaganzas, I guess. The menu at Mimi's sounds very inventive and I tested it, going for three courses. For an ap, I had lobster creme brulle (interesting idea, as I think vanilla and lobster have a nice connection, but nothing special) and for soup I opted for a beet-buttermilk item (it tasted good for the first few spoons, but the buttermilk became overwhleming). My entree was the house special preparation of haddock, which was a cornmeal-egg coating that was pan-fried in perhaps a bit too much oil. As we found common in our Lighthouse meals, the vegetables were crisp and tasty. I drank a per-glass Entre-deux-Meres that was just right. Total ticket = ~$110 Canadian.
• Places we considered but didn't get to test:
  • Old Fish Factory--Lunenburg
  • http://www.grandbanker.com/--Lunenburg (next door to Old Fish Factory?)
  • http://www.cafechianti.ca/
  • Crafter's Corner--150 Aberdeen Road, Bridgewater--link via DestinationNS
  • Arbor View Inn & Dining Room, 216 Dufferin St., Lunenburg, (902)634-3658

Our place at Country Side B&B (N 44° 29:048, W 064° 19:976) was a good step up from the Halifax digs. Our room--The Rose Room (No. 1)--was on the first floor and provided a queen bed in a space about 14'x14' with high ceilings. In the style typical of many B&Bs, the decor was Victorian and crowded. It included, however, a love seat that permitted one to sit in the room and read (one of Pat's excellent criteria for rooms). The bath was far more capacious than in our previous location (whew!); it appeared to be a porch that had been dried in and converted.

Still, it was unique in a couple of respects. Out of concern for the scuffing of the softwood floors, the proprietor asked guests to remove their shoes and walk about in stocking feet. Also, she asked that all guests wait in a parlor at the same given hour for breakfast; when she had the meal ready, she conducted everyone to a candle-lit dining table for the meal. Following this strategy certainly made it possible to have dishes served in a reasonably orderly way as well as promote interactions among the guests.

The breakfasts were designed to be healthy and they were tasty. They featured cups of fresh fruit, hearty entrees (french toast; pancakes; quiche-like omelette), and whole grain breads. All the dishes were homemade.

This section of the trip promised to provide better birding than the Halifax leg. Initially, it lived up to that promise.

25 July

Within the first 50 kilometers of leaving Halifax, we were following a little coastal road and passing a tiny inlet or cove when an osprey flew low over the water 50 meters from the road and snagged a fish. We had a good view of it carrying the fish away, no doubt to ravenous juveniles. As it flew away, Pat said I should be sure to recognize the fish in this vignette. Then she started in with a string of cracks, from the fish's view (e.g., "Wow, this is a fascinating view..."). Consider the fish's participation recognized.

By the time we got to Mahone Bay on the first day (25th), we'd already seen lots of birds--gulls, crows, robins; the usual suspects--at a distance on the fly (teehee). Shortly after arriving at Mahone Bay, though, we were treated to a tableu of events that held us in a parking lot for longer than a half hour.

I noticed a small bird on a rock and watched it while Pat crossed the street to reserve a table for dinner. I thought it looked like a tern, but I didn't trust my judgment; when Pat returned I pointed at it and she said it was tern. About that time a double-crested cormorant approached the rock on which the tern (Arctic tern, as we later determined) was sitting and forced it to leave. The tern flew away and then returned to strafe the cormorant. Another tern came and straifed it, too. The first tern settled onto another rock and the second tern proceeded to bring it tiny fish repeatedly. The image shows the juvenile waiting to be fed with the cormorant beyond it (and Mahone Bay's famous three churches in the background.) The adult would fly off across the bay, swoop down toward the water, pull up, hover perhaps two meters above the surface, and then dive at the surface. I estimate that it scored about one in three times, and after each success, it returned to the juvenile--lots of calling--and fed the poor thing. We watched this for perhaps as many as a half dozen repetitions.

Around this time, we noticed a male mergansers within 20 meters of the two occupied rocks. Not too much later, we saw three juvenile ducks and an adult female swimming along next to the shore, a couple of meters from where we stood; female and young ducks are about as easy as gulls and sparrows for me, but I have to guess that they were related to the adult mergansers. Later still, he displaced the juvenile tern from the closer rock and, with lots of strafing and noise, the tern team moved to another nearby venue.

We later returned to the scene to have dinner in the cafe across the street where Pat had reserved a table for us. We had a window seat and, as we watched, we could see the adult tern still feeding the juvenile. It was a pretty tableu. Suddenly, though, it was disrupted when a bald eagle swooped into the tiny space, apparently seeing some sitting ducklings that looked appetizing. Both terns and a gull scrambled to give chase to the eagle and disrupted its dinner plans. So, I don't get to recognize a duckling's participating in the deadly scene.

This would be a good place to mention that we happened upon a new, independent birding store in Mahone Bay. It's near the southern end of the intense tourist area and is called For the Birds Nature Shop. The owner--didn't get his name--was very helpful with books, local hotspots, connections, and such. We expect to use some of his hints about hotspots during this leg of the trip.

26 July

Monday, based on a suggestion by the owner of For the Birds, we drove to place x to look for plovers. Along the way, we stopped at another beach and spotted gulls (great black-backed and herring), cormonants (double-crested), loons, and other birds (a chickadee).

The search for plovers (and other "peeps," as the real birders apparently say) began at a sign warning that the Canadian government considered the location a protected site and providing directions about staying away from marked nesting areas, keeping dogs on leases, and otherwise not disturbing the birds. About 300 meters along the beach, we could see a nesting area clearly marked with surveying tape on posts; there were more signs warning visitors to avoid disturbing the birds. We could also see a person with an empty leash; later we saw the dog. Still later we saw another person moving objects with her foot and photographing spots that probably had been nests.

After we walked a few hundred meters and lost the rest of the people on the beach, we began to fret about even seeing any peeps, let alone piping plovers. We scanned the ocean side and the bay side of a rocky spit that led quite a ways further out and spotted other birds (gulls, terns, loons, some unknown duck-like birds, etc.) but nothing along the shore where peeps would be feeding. However, Pat called to announce she'd seen something different flying low along the water; it had gone behind a another spit of sand on the bay side, an area that was too far away and too difficult to reach. We watched to see if it would emerge and then went back to scanning in various directions.

Not much later Pat noticed a small group of peeps at a distance along the water's edge on the ocean side of the spit. The group increased and decreased in number as we watched, the peeps growing as numerous as ten but mostly staying about six in number. They raced up and back from the shore wash, like children one can see at just about any beach--except they didn't screech and look back at the adults huddled under umbrellas. We watched them for a while and, when then moved further away, we eventually and began walking back toward the car. (Along the way we passed a two stick-drawn illustrations in the sand near the water's edge; they were crudely drawn hands with the middle digit extended and they were soon to be erased by the advancing tide.

As we walked we still scanned the area for birds and, as it happened, I spotted a plover over a rise in the rocks, on a narrow spit of sand sticking into an isolated part of the bay side. As we scanned the area further, we saw not just piping plovers but also semipalmated plovers and probably some least sandpipers; in aggregate there were between a dozen and twenty birds in the area. In addition there was a larger peep that we later decided was a dowit; it was bathing, showing black and white bars on its wings that made it quite distinct (it was probably the bird Pat had seen flying into the area earlier). It was pretty nifty to watch these animals working the water's edge.

27 July

Although we didn't spend much time on birds this day, we still saw lots of them. From just about anywhere, when we looked around we would see some nifty bird.

28 July

In the morning, about a mile from the B&B we spotted a pheasant and, a bit further on that road, we spent a long time watching and a longer time identifying another peep, a dunlin. While we worked on that identification, we were able to see many terns (common), crows, gulls, and other familiar birds.

Later, while we sat in the car beside a road, amidst intermittent rains, we watched herons, gulls, crows, an eagle, some sort of thrush (or an immature robin), terns, and other birds. This interval made the abundance of birds clear. It's a rich part of the world. That abundance was underscored later in the afternoon when, while I was sitting on the porch of the B&B, two osprey arose from the watercourse at the foot of the hill and circled the front yard for several minutes.

As big events go, the birth of an alpaca at Country Side during our stay has to rank highly. When we returned from dinner the 28th, our host stopped us in the yard and said we should visit the barn to see the hours-old alpaca. Pat was on it like a shot. We helped the host bring the mother and daughter into the barn and put them in a stall for the night. Pat got to carry the infant from one stall to the other.

There appear to be two ubiquitous features in southeastern Nova Scotia: cemeteries and wood piles.

• These folks have been burying people for a long time and they seem to have had a lot of them to bury. We should be counting the cemeteries. It seems as though one can find about .2 cemeteries per kilometer.
• Winters must be cold here, heat pumps in short supply, and winds prevailing in a way that keeps wood smoke from causing concern. We have seen many ricks of wood that are 16'x16'x4'. That's surely more than we burn at our house.

Runs (at my current slow pace, which is 9+ mpm)