Monday, June 8, 2009

Northern Exposure (2008)


Recently Jeanette and I had the good fortune to travel to Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton Island) with our old friends, Barbara and Terry Higgins. We went there to view the fall foliage and partake of the Cape Breton festival of fiddling, bag-piping, and step dancing called "Celtic Colours" (graphic is for this coming year). The reasons we agreed to this sojourn was that the Higgins had made this circuit three other times and know all the hidden jewels … and, most importantly, we had journeyed with them before (to Spain in 1975) and know that we are simpatico travelers. Our trip took twelve days and covered over seventeen hundred miles. Here follows a synopsis of the high points of our trip. Each grade [in brackets] is my opinion of the merit of each venue:

WEDNESDAY (October 8th, 2008)
We met the Higgins at the Starbuck's in Wellesley and took off north up Route 95. We saw the trees gradually progress from green to full autumn splendor as we crossed into New Brunswick, Canada at Calais, Maine. The ride up was smooth and punctuated with a litany of jovial recollections from our Spanish trip. We then progressed to St. Andrews, New Brunswick and checked into the St. Andrews Motor Inn [C+]. Later we ate at The Gables [C], a restaurant close by … nothing special. Try the fried clams … not the mussels.

THURSDAY (October 9th, 2008)
The next morning we took the Princess of Acadia car-ferry [C] over to Digby, Nova Scotia from St. John's. We had to take this ferry because the Cat ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine had ceased running early due to high fuel costs. We checked into the Harbour View Inn [B+], a charming B&B (run by Vince and Darren), a little off the beaten path in nearby Smith Cove. This was to be our base of operations for the next two days. It has comfortable rooms, tasty breakfasts, and a convivial atmosphere. After settling down, we took an afternoon car trip to Church Point wherein stands a huge stone church and, further on, an even bigger wooden church (both mind boggling). Each had been built circa 1900 in an apparent contest between neighborhood boat-building communities. Unfortunately, staggering maintenance cost may doom their futures. We stopped at the local Café Chez Christophe [A+] to make reservations for dinner but found that they were fully-booked due to a planned evening of live music. We cajoled our way into a 4:30 sitting which was a bit of luck. It was fantastic. Try the lobster Thermidor (if available). Another hint (which we later used to our advantage) … look for one or more "Best of Canada" stickers on the front door of restaurants you are contemplating.

FRIDAY (October 10th, 2008)
We spent the morning in Annapolis Royal visiting its Fort Anne [B+], (worth a visit) which had been held alternatively by the British and the French since the 1600's, and also did some souvenir shopping. We ate our lunch at the local Café Compose [A], run by an Austrian couple that offers wonderful seafood bisque and delightful Viennese pastries (a must with a cup of java). Next, off to Bear River, a community, because of extreme tides, that was built almost entirely on stilts. Our primary objective was the Flight of Fancy gallery run by Bob Buckland-Nicles, an engaging British ex-pat. (Bob is a post-graduate hippy who convincingly espouses all the sixties' love-not-war mantras. Later, I found out why -- the IRA had blown up a building near him in England. He was on the next plane to Canada.) This store features a wide variety of local arts & crafts … many of which we later saw at their source. If you get friendly with Bob (hard not to do), ask him to show you his landscape sandstones upstairs. We ate our dinner at a small café up the street, The Changing Tides [B]. It was a very good value with basic diner-food choices (try the coconut cream pie).

SATURDAY (October 11th, 2008)
After another tasty breakfast we departed Smith Cove for Mahone Bay. But first we went to the farmers market in Annapolis Royal to buy some of the local produce (apples, cider, cheese, etc.) Further on we stopped at Halls Harbor Lobster Pound [B] in Kentville for lunch … well worth a visit. Next, a pleasant drive brought us to Mahone Bay, a charming seaside village which was in the middle of its annual scare-crow festival. All over town were hand-made manikins dressed in all sorts of unusual clothes and posed in a wide variety of comical stances. We stayed at the Mahone Bay Bed and Breakfast [A] hosted by the glib John McHugh, a very entertaining and well rehearsed story teller. Hint: pay your bill in cash and save the Canadian hotel tax. At John's suggestion, we ate dinner at Cheesecake Gallery [B], a small café up the street. The food is good (better mussels) but the ambiance here suffers from an attempt to display a wide variety of brightly colored art on red-painted walls … a rather garish combination.

SUNDAY (October 12th, 2008)
After John's most stylish breakfast and some more of his entertaining stories, we took a short trip to Blue Rock, a nearby peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic. It has a unique geology comprised of a flint-like rock that has a blue cast and is all very rustic yet scenic. Don't miss it. Then we continued on to Lunenburg, a charming nearby seaside town with numerous craft shops and fine restaurants (many, unfortunately, not open on Sunday). As a result, we stopped at a nearby delicatessen for many tasty victuals which we took across the harbor for a scenic picnic lunch and some seagull feeding. When we returned to Mahone Bay there was a flea market in progress right across the street from our B&B. Barbara and Jeanette shopped while Terry and I lounged on the B&B's front porch. Later we took a short trip up a hill to the home and studio of Kate Church, a local artist. Kate is a rara avis. She is quite soft spoken yet very creative. Her commercial artistic thrust consists of small Ichabod-Crane-like "sculptural puppetry", a.k.a., "playful finery" that follow Kate's flights of fancy. By contrast, we were lucky enough to also be shown some of her upstairs paintings of lusty female nudes that are 180 degrees apart from her figurines. The contrast between Kate's two muses seems to me quite revealing. For dinner we ate at the Old Black Forest Café [A] outside Lunenburg, a German-American restaurant with all the German classics (except for potato pancakes and red cabbage). It is highly recommended both for the quality and quantity of its fare.

MONDAY (October 13th, 2008)
This morning we made the long drive to Cape Breton Island and stayed at a rustic B&B, Creignish Craftworks [C+], run by Sandra Kuzminski Buker … just a few miles beyond the causeway onto the island. Sandra, a free-spirit, artist, and sculptor, had fixed a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner of roast chicken with all the fixings for us and her other guests … also including her friend John Beardman, a New York artist and Cape Breton summer resident. He paints in the style of DeKooning and entertained us with many revealing stories of the vicissitudes of the New York art scene. That evening we enjoyed our (Jeanette's and my) first "Celtic Colours" performance. It was called "Generations" and was performed at the Community Centre in Judique, Cape Breton. It featured the Beatons (Kinnon, Andrea, Betty Lou); the Grants (Aonghas and Angus, fiddlers from Scotland); the Dewers (Marion, Allan, Joan); the MacMillans (Seonaldh Beag, Calum Alex, Gaelic singers from Scotland); and Doug MacPhee (a florid-faced piano player)

There is something mesmerizing about Cape Breton fiddle music, particularly when two or more players go at it. They play a jig refrain. Then they play this same refrain with a few variations. Then they play another permutation. Then another. Then, at some point, they repeat the whole sequence with, seemingly more changes and in an up tempo … changing from a jig to a reel. Then more hypnotic sequences even faster … till one's eyes begin to roll back in one's head. This goes on and on until, magically, they stop on a dime. How they all know when things are to cease simultaneously is beyond my observational skills. Even if step dancers are following this fiddled rondo, they also stop on some invisible cue. And they always do … and often with a little flourish … all very mesmerizing and entertaining.

TUESDAY (October 14th, 2008)
The next day we drove north to Inverness. On the way there we stopped at Mabou Mines. This is a little off the beaten path consisting of impressive gypsum cliffs and a small fishing harbor. We went fossil hunting on the beach and I found an ancient geode-like rock -- a brown stone shell containing a sand-like core (see my comments later under Parrsboro). We also stopped at a nearby sheep farm (Bellemeade) whose owner was very informative about sheep husbandry (including how to fend off coyotes). We then continued on our way and stopped for lunch at The Mull [B+] in Mabou. (It also had a "Best of Canada" sticker on the door.) We also stopped at the Glenora Distillery, a very pleasant building and tasting room. However, we just missed the distillery tour (on the hour) and decided not to stick around after asking the price for a bottle of its single malt whiskey -- $80. Even in Canadian dollars, this seemed a stretch.

We continued on and checked in at the Inverness Lodge [C], really a motel … a little on the skids. We ate dinner at the Coal Miner's Café [F], the very worst meal we ate on the trip. It's not even worth describing the gruel we were served. But, the evening was resurrected when we saw our next Celtic Colours performance, "Tribute to Mary Janet MacDonald," at the Strathspey Place in Mabou, Cape Breton. This performance featured lots of step dancing and honored Mary Janet MacDonald. Six of her seven children (one, a finalist in Canadian Idol competition) sang a number of songs to her (including "To Margaret's Eyes", a tribute to her mother and step-mother) … it was all very touching.

WEDNESDAY (October 15th, 2008)
The next morning we motored on to Baddeck, about half way up Cape Breton on the opposite coast. On the way we stopped at the Herring Choker [B] for a pleasant lunch and bought bread and cold cuts for dinner. We stayed the night at the Dunlop Inn [A], in Baddeck. The Dunlop Inn is a very comfortable B&B right on the water. Although there is no resident manager (it is owned by the Telegraph House) it is still well attended to. If one has some extra time in Baddeck, may I heartily recommend the Alexander Graham Bell Museum [A] where we went that PM. This is the locus of much memorabilia from this inventive Scot who dabbled in many technologies beyond the telephone -- the hydroplane, teaching of the deaf, animal husbandry, light wave communications, kites, and airplane controls. Its exhibits also bring video-taped insights into the Bell's summer home life and his devotion to his wife, family and scientific assistants, such as McCready who headed his hydroplane work. We next had our cold-cut dinner picnic before we went on to our final "Celtic Colours" performance, "Cellidh in the Glen" at the Glendale Parish Hall … featuring Calum & Seonardh MacMillan again, Colin Watson (with "jigging" or mouth music), Brandi MacCarthy, Dave MacIsaac, Brian Doyle (the MC and guitar player), and Ashley MacIsaac (piano player and fiddler extraordinaire … also known as "Cape Breton's bad boy") substituting for an ill Maybelle McQueen,

THURSDAY (October 16th, 2008)
The next morning we set off to do the Cabot Trail [A] (through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park). Normally, it is suggested to do this trip in a counterclockwise direction so you don't have to view things through oncoming traffic. However, due to a slight cases of acrophobia (the cliffs are often quite high) in our group, we did the reverse. On our way there we stopped at Larch Wood Enterprises [B+] in East Margaree to see (and buy) its beautiful larch wood cutting boards therein manufactured. We again picnicked as we entered the park, finishing up the remainder of the previous night's victuals.

The Cabot Trail itself is spectacular with numerous scenic overlooks interspersed with dense forests. That night we stayed at the Keltic Lodge [A], at Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia. This is a grandiose luxurious resort hotel with manicured grounds and a massive main hotel (and a golf course for those who like to "take a good walk spoiled"). We stayed in one of the myriad of out-lodges with an anteroom complete with a fireplace (ask at the front desk to deliver your fireplace supplies). Our room was very comfortable if a little in need of a plumbing update. That night we ate in the large grill room with live Irish music, good drink/food, and a solicitous staff.

FRIDAY (October 17th, 2008)
The Keltic Lodge offers a sumptuous breakfast buffet with all the fixings. We asked our waitress if they offered Nova Scotia salmon. She said "yes" but it was extra. Somehow she managed to get us three orders without any further charge … about half of which we wrapped up with some bagels and cream cheese for a later lunch. As we exited the Park we stopped at "Sew Inclined" [B], a hat shop crammed full of finery hand-made by Barbara Longua (a touch expensive). You should give it a view. On the way back to Baddeck we stopped at the Gaelic College [B], in St. Ann's, Nova Scotia for a little souvenir shopping. Then we took a very circuitous route back to Baddeck through and near North Sydney and the Bras d'Or Lakes … culminating with a short ferry ride. We ate dinner the Telegraph House [B], Baddeck … to live piano music. W enjoyed an honest meal with coconut cream pie (again) for dessert. Our lodging for the night was at the Broadwater Inn [B] on the outskirts of Baddeck. It was the original home of McCready, the previously-mentioned Bell lab associate.

SATURDAY (October 18th, 2008)
We left that morning after an extended breakfast listening to the patter of John Pino, the owner of the Broadwater Inn. He told us numerous intimate anecdotes about the Bell family and the Grosvenors (of National Geographic fame). You should start him talking while you sip your coffee and enjoy details you never would hear at the Bell museum. It is clear that the Baddeckians loved the extended Bell families while at the same time sniggering at their numerous eccentricities. We started our long trip back from Cape Breton by traveling to Parrsboro, New Brunswick (on the Bay of Fundy and the home of the world's highest tides) where we stayed at The Maple Inn [A]. (Ask for the room with the steam shower.) This B&B is run by another Austrian couple with Teutonic efficiency and attention to details. On the way we stopped for lunch at Masstown Market (on Rte 104 near Truro) for fantastic seafood chowder and other sundry grocery shopping. In Parrsboro, our first stop was the Parrsboro Rock & Mineral Shoppe (Eldon George, proprietor). There I gave Mr. George, in exchange for identifying it, the "sandstone concretion" I had picked up in Mabou Mines. We then spent some time combing the nearby beach looking for agate, amethyst and other semiprecious stones. (We found none.) That evening we ate dinner at the nearby Trinity United church which was having a corn beef and cabbage communal dinner. The meal was cheap and delicious and the church folks were very warm and solicitous.

SUNDAY (October 19th, 2008)
We left Parrsboro early after a nice breakfast for the remainder of our long trek back home. Terry and I alternated driving the required 700 or so miles. We stopped at the Ganong Bros. [A]. a candy store in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, right before the border crossing back into the U.S. (don't forget your passports and driver's license) where we loaded up on caloric gifts for our friends (and a bit of self-indulgence). The rest of the trip was very tiring but we did find time to shop at the state liquor store in New Hampshire. Finally, we ended where we had started … at the Starbucks in Wellesley.

Thank you Barbara and Terry

Addenda
Four things occurred during our Canadian trip that made things even more palatable:
1) The U.S. dollar kept strengthening relative to the Canadian dollar … by about 10%!
2) The price of gasoline kept falling … by over 10%!
3) The U.S. stock market hit bottom (hopefully) and began its long climb back up!
4) The Canadian national elections took place and the liberals got trounced … go figure!

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