I spent my nights at the Old Orchard Inn this time. It's a good enough hotel but it's getting a little dated, you know, sort of a 70s feel to it. I'm not sure I'll stay there again. What the Valley needs is a new hotel but I won't be the one to build it. I guess it's back to the Blomidon Inn for me. For the time in the plant I had coordinated to have another five people come along. There was one from Bridgewater, two form Spartanburg, SC, another from a central team here in Greenville, SC, and finally one from Ballymenna in Northern Ireland.
Of course with a group that large and all from away, I played the role of tour guide. Where to eat, what to see, and how to get anywhere was always up to me. The guys were from pretty diverse and interested backgrounds but were all interested in experiencing a little piece of Nova Scotia while they were there.
Before I got to them though, I stopped in to see Taryn and catch up with her. This is on my way back from a weekend in Saulnierville where I did a little surfing courtesy of Tropical Storm Danny.
Taryn and I went to the Kings Arms Pub in Kentville. The word on the street was that they had a new menu. After a little looking we both weren't sure what was so new about it other than it was printed on new paper and the prices were higher (and wrong in some places!) One new thing was the cider on tap. I'm not a beer drinker but I do like cider and the stuff they had there wasn't too bad. It was actually from Montreal but I can't seem to find it on the Internet or remember the name, for that matter. We had a little mussels and some mains beside and generally had a good evening out before I headed into Halifax to meet up the fellow from Northern Ireland.
Monday was a a quick trip into Waterville from Halifax. Our first night out after everyone finally arrived at the plant was at the The Port Pub in Port Williams. We sat outside, a first for me, and enjoyed the view and smell of the incoming tide. The service was a little slow but the food made up for it. I again had mussels and the salmon, I think. Most of the guys enjoyed a local beer or two. We followed it up with a quick stop in to Hennigars Farm Market for some ice cream (but only because Elderkin's was closed, it would have been my first choice.)
The second night we hit Paddy's Pub in Wolfville. It hasn't changed much and was pretty good. I like the feeling of the place a little more than their original location in Kentville. Off course more mussels were on the menu along with some other seafood for most of the rest. For dessert some of us went next door to Just Us! Cafe and had a hot chocolate and a cookie. It is located in the lobby of the famous Al Whittle Theater, a place I went when I was at Acadia, and Jane and I both frequented before Isabelle was born to see the Fundy Film Society movies.
By Wednesday night the boys had heard and talked about lobster long enough. After work, having done my research, we headed straight for the Halls Harbour Lobster Pound. The place is still a little tourist trap on the great Bay of Fundy, but to cut right to the point, the lobster was pretty good.
Ordering was a bit of an ordeal as we were all one table but wanted to pay separately. It took almost 20 minutes to get us all sorted out. In the meantime the boys picked their lobster and I gave them a quick lesson in how to choose the best one. A quick walk around the beach, a look through the gift shop, another mussel appetizer, and it was time to eat. Now understand that the pound caters to the tourists who are not always prepared to deal with a whole crustacean as is, where is. For my part I wanted to make sure everyone came away from this with a lesson in how it's done on the boats. I made sure at least one of us had a pocket knife and went back to ask the server not to "crack" ours. This made for a little more fun and a much more memorable experience. Here is a picture of what some of it looked like.
I'm glad to say there no injuries to report.
Another interesting tidbit was the pedigree of the before mentioned meal. The lady at the cash assured me they were caught in the Bay of Fundy and that they were only a few days old. Now I didn't say anything to her but I am a local boy and I do know when lobster season is in the different parts of Nova Scotia. The first of September is not lobster season in the Bay of Fundy! The fellow who brought them out cleared things up a little when he told me they were from the South Shore and more like a few weeks old. Normally I would have liked them a little fresher but as I said above, they were pretty darn good.
On the way home we took the long way and stopped at The Look Off for a few pictures. The night was clear and crisp, the best time of year to visit Nova Scotia as far as I am concerned.
On Thursday it was down to Liam and I. Liam being form Northern Ireland had not seen too much of the area before. I think he said the last time he was there it was winter and dark all the time, much like Northern Ireland. Since he was up for it I decided to share a little of my culture with him. After work we got in to see the Grand Pre National Historic Site just before it closed for the day. The video is very good (I've seen it at least four times) and the displays are always interesting. It was interesting that the English had had such an impact on both our people's histories in two different parts of the world. Afterwards, we did a quick tour of Evangeline Beach before heading off to eat.
The meal was set for Le Caveau at Domaine de Grand Pre. As I have said before this is the place to eat in the Annapolis Valley as far as I am concerned. I had called my friend Taryn to join us and she brought along a friend as well. The meal was great with smoked salmon to start for me, and scallops cooked just right, and of course good wine. The company was excellent too. Liam is like many of his people, he's a great story teller. He got into his family, the area he grew up in, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and his hobby/other job which is raising French cattle. Taryn help up her part of the bargain and also kept the conversation going. I knew I could count on her for that; she's such a people person. Three and a half hours later we said goodnight.
Another day in the plant and then we were off to Halifax to get Liam to the airport. We stopped in to Cocoa Pesto in Windsor for a late lunch and had their famous ribs, dry rubbed. I squeaked in a quick visit to the Soderos in Halifax to drop off and pick up some things for Jane and Isabelle and we ate one more seafood meal at a place that was new to me but that I would certainly like to go back to. Little Fish in Halifax is located on the ground floor of the Five Fisherman on Argyle Street. As the name implies seafood is their thing. They even have an oyster bar if you're into that. We shared mussels, again. This time they were drenched in a nice, sort of spicy, Thai curry sauce. It was great for dipping the olive and rosemary bread they brought out, but I was torn between it and the smoked salmon, haddock and something else spread. It was amazing even though I can't remember what the third smoked fish was.
No time or room for dessert as I took Liam to the airport and settled into the Inn on the Lake for the last night. The next day I was through US Customs in Halifax in the relatively new terminal (a brilliant idea), on my flight to Washington/Dulles, and having Five Guys for lunch in the airport by 11:30. The winds must have been good as I was practically home by the time my flight was scheduled to arrive. Thankfully Jane was all over it and she and Isabelle both met me at the airport.
Now for my next trip...but not for a while...maybe.
1 comment:
I very much enjoyed both evenings as you know! Spending one-on-one time with you is always great and I really liked Liam and his stories! Hope I didn't ask too many questions!
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