Restaurant Review # 2 and a bit of history

Once again we are eating seafood.  Of course we are in the "Maritimes" the coastal provinces of Canada so well — duh.  We are now on Prince Edward Island having left New Brunswick — little geography here.  Anyway back to the review.  This place was highly recommended by locals we met in one of the small towns (they all are)  on the Island.  Some of the food is a bit strange though.  We tried mozzarella cheese and gravy on fries with a fish sandwich and mashed potatoes and green peas with fried haddock.  And it was good.  Condiments choices were white and malt vinegar.

Decor was plain and rustic.  and it was crowded.  Tourists mostly I think but the waitresses seemed to greet some customers by name.  Seafood was all that was on the menu.

Brehauts, by the way, is the name of the place and I do not think it is supposed to be German but if it is they are the only Germans anywhere around amongst all these English.

The reason seafood was all that was on the menu is because the restaurant is just across a little bridge from this scene.  This is Murray Harbor and all there is to it.  About ten fishing boats and a couple of sheds and a pile or two of lobster cages and crab catching things.  A dozen or so houses, and I do not think even a post office or more than one store.  Did have a Baptist church.

We drove along the coastal highway through fields of yellow grain and green potato vines.  Views were quite nice,. Beach front property tends to be farms, like real farms with potato fields, wheat fields, horses and cows, or just plain ole wood lots. Read in the news paper that PEI - as the island is known - exports potatoes around the world.

Also they have some old lighthouses that are now little museums that have a few artifacts and charge you a couple of bucks to get in — seniors get a discount. This one was not heavily visited when we were there.  Probably was not after we left either.

The view from the top looks out over the Northumberland Strait.  (separates the island from New Brunswick).  In the old days used to ice over in chunks.

Back in Charlottetown we went for a bike ride around town. Stopped by the Lt. Governor's house and gardens on the bike trail — the day had cleared up and was very nice after a rainy start as was obvious from the photo above.

Below is Canada's version of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  This is where "the Confederation" of Colonies got together and decided to declare independence from England in 1864.  Quebec, Ontario,  Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were the first four provinces to form Canada as an independent nation.  There are now 10 provinces and three territories.  Of course Canada retained the symbolic and close relationship with the British Empire and became independent without discord that arose with our separation from England.  I am thinking England might have learned something about Empires.  The building is very famous and is on the license plate of PEI.

Also the statute is in remembrance of WWI soldiers, later added WW II and Korean War engraving.  The Great War is being commemorated in the news here quite a bit.  There was a lot of Canadian participation starting in 1914.

the Hopewell Rocks — famous Hopewill Rocks

Part of the Bay of Fundy on the New Brunswick side of the Bay includes the famous Hopewell Rocks.  The most famous are the flower pot rocks because - well they look sorta like flower pots. You have to work at it.  The tide when it it at its most extreme will rise and fall 47 feet here.  Today not so much only 27', which is a bunch.  Uncovered a lot of ocean floor.

Made room for lots of tourists.  Lots and lots, like these two from China I know, I heard them counting in order to take the photo (even I can count in Chinese, or at least know when someone else is doing it, also they looked pretty much like two Chinese women).  There were other internationals too, but not so many from North Carolina that we could see.  Did not see a single Duke tee shirt so it was a good day.

Did see this kid knee deep in the mud explaining to his Dad that he could not come out because walking on the rocks would hurt his feet.  I asked his Dad how old he was.  Eight was the answer.  Man that kid is just going to get so much smarter for the next several years.  Pray for the Dad.

This is me and one of the famous rocks — guess which one yet? — give up ?— well it is ET.  I did not get it either.

The cliffs are quite dramatic and dwarf the people down below them — see them, the people I mean.

I walked down toward the water away from the cliffs,  did not get deep into the mud, but did get pretty far away from cliff side— wanted to get into the water.

 and I did.

This is one of the views looking back at the cliffs from the water — that is sea weed growing on the rocks that makes up those dark looking mats like things.  The people still look pretty small.

 and this is one of the famous spots where people congregate taking photos — as we did.

firs, ferns and moss

Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park is quite the nice hike and the Canadian Park Service has done a great job of getting you there with a network of walkways along the cliffs in the little valley.   It is an Old Growth Maritime Forest, so moist is the order of the day.

This is the main part and no I don't know how big it is, not terribly huge, just pretty.

We then went on a longer hike through the forest along a coastal trail to a viewpoint called Matthews Head.  Might as well called it "firs, ferns, moss, and the occasional birch".  It was a well worn trail though we did not see many other hikers.

It was classified "moderate" - the Canadians are not a bunch of wussies, I can tell you that when it comes to classifying hikes.

 The views were quite nice, occasionally fog was strong and intense, and wind was a constant.

And here we are at Matthews Head, one of the few moments when the sky cleared, the fog lifted and we could see some blue sky.  Also got someone to take our photo - to state the rather obvious.

The cliffs were impressive and warning signs did not seem necessary.  There was an occasional little single board fence put up, but not many, and not much more than a suggestion.  So I reckon in addition to not being wussies, they assume you are not dummies either.

They did mow the paths in the meadows.  You can see a bit of fog in the back of the meadow between the trees and the sky that was gray.  At times blue.  At times gray- very gray.

Later we went to Cape Enrage- so named because the waves were "enraged"  according to legend. That is a working lighthouse that we did not actually get to because of the fog. The lighthouse was sounding a fog horn that was pointed out to sea and sounded kinda nice but we were advised that the volume would hurt your ears if you went too close - so access was closed to tourists while we were there.

So I walked down to the "beach"  no sand castles here.  These big rocks were fun to walk on and are of course covered when the tide comes in.  Also no one swims here either.  The water is cold!

Again the place was not so full of visitors and tourists, note the other couple in the foreground.  There was also an "adventure camp" here and young people were rappelling off the cliff.   I did not rappel down.  There were a series of steps that are against the cliff where it turns in, in the distance straight ahead, over the person in white.

a Canadian Restaurant Review # !

We have officially started our Canadian vacation.  And in style.  Tides Restaurant, Alma, New Brunswick — Been here all of half a day after driving in from Bangor, Maine.  (you can see some trees and not many cars doing that).

That is the Tides across the street from the Captains Inn, where we are staying, so it was not hard for us to find.  Also Alma has something like 232 full time residents and only about is sorta small so we might have found it anyway.

We had lobster!  and it was awesome !  I was prepared with my plastic bib — didn't make too big of a mess, but did not leave much behind either.

The view out the windows onto the bay was quite nice and our start to dinners in Canada was A OK.

This is what was just outside the restaurant windows and across from our B & B.   We recommend Tides, and suggest the lobster with the Chardonnay, the blueberry salad, and you may want to consider the apple crisp a-la mode for dessert.  We did.  

And earlier on our trip we fared quite well in Pennsylvania too.  Ray and Diane were great hosts.   Went on a beautiful hike along the Pequa Creek (pronounced Pekway not like it looks)

 The first night we had dinner of charcoal grilled Delmonico steaks and corn on the cob in their back yard which looks out onto the Conestoga River scene below.  Yes we started out having dinner done right too.

In addition to the hike, Ray and I went on a canoe trip down the Conestoga River — actually saw some bald eagles too.  like real live bald eagles.  

So our trip got started out great and tomorrow starts our first full day here in Canada — looking forward to it.  

Back in Panama City

We have returned to Panama City but  first a few last photos from Punta Chame.   These two give me an idea for the Wheelhouse at Oak Island.  I think we need a pool and pool house like the one in the photo below.  It might be a tight fit on the existing lot, but with a little work it could be done. 

Oh and Raleigh likes playing in the pool — especially with his mom.

Also we have to talk to the City of Oak Island about their ordinance about overnight structures left on the beach.  This cabana obviously is left overnight and is very attractive.  Getting the palm leaves for the roof might be a bit difficult but I think we could probably find some at a golf course nearby we could harvest on an as needed basis.  This would be so cool.

We enjoyed sitting out here in the early evening.  Not so much in the middle of the day.

But back in town we went for a walk on the Cinta Costera or real fancy greenway along the ocean and Raleigh was fascinated by one of the mounted security guys horses.

and at a nearby German themed bar, the Germans, and German fans whooped and hollered and filled the street after winning a futbol game.  We watched of course - in Spanish and one vocabulary word I now know is Alemania— it is on the sign below.

The city keeps on building new stuff, and below is a view down the new expressway by pass out over the bay around Casco Viejo which includes a pedestrian and bicycle section.

View of the harbor and boats stuck in the mud at low tide.  Photo takes from the new bike way above around the bay (and skirting the fishing dock)

another angle from same site on the road way.

We head home tomorrow, it has been a fast good trip.  Looking forward to coming back.

Punta Chame — and the house is Villa Lomax

Look that up on the google map.  It is as nice as it looks — and it is right on the beach.  It is a couple of hours from Panama City and we are having a grand time as you can imagine.

Left to right it is Katarine, Maddie,  Raleigh and Stephen.  Having a child care assistant and housekeeper along at the beach (Katarine) is an idea worth keeping I might add.

Lunch is in the patio house between the house and the beach.  The patio house has three bedrooms.

There is Patt in the doorway of the bedroom of our room in the patio house - my back is to the beach.

Out at the beach there is a little cabana. After being at Oak Island I am a bit spoiled as the beach does not lend itself to play as the beach is really steep down to the water at low tide and at high tide it is very rough.

Talk about hot!  We can talk about hot if you are up to a discussion on heat.  Though today is a bit of a relief, but we are enjoying the pool and mid day naps, book reading and staying out of the sun during the middle of the day.

And Stephen and Raleigh in the evening enjoyed seeing who could get most sand on themselves.  Given the amount of surface area Stephen represents, he won easily.

And Grandmama can build with blocks and amuse a grandchild - actually Raleigh amuses himself too.  Like his Dad.