Dining at the Seaside

Friday was a warm (well, John would define it as hot, hot, HOT) and gloriously sunny day. Unfortunately, we spent most of the afternoon at the car dealership waiting for some minor repairs to be done on our CRV.

But, as luck would have it, it was finished late in the afternoon...which just happened to be a great time to think about finding a place along the water for a drink and/or dinner.

We thought we'd try a place we hadn't been to before, so we headed east to Chester Basin.Frankly, The Seaside Shanty Restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside.But, what a lovely view from the screened in porch!John had seafood chowder, which was packed with all kinds of seafood. I chose a pasta dish with shrimp.I don't think it will go on my top list of places to eat, but the scenery makes it worth a visit.
In my book, you just can't beat the combination of warm sunshine & water views!

Annapolis Royal

Friday we had a lovely trip to the north coast of Nova Scotia and made it to the Evangeline Trail (all our previous jaunts have been along the Lighthouse Route). We drove up to Middleton, and then headed west. We stopped in Annapolis Royal to stretch our legs and get a bite to eat. I took this photo to show you the height of the tides along this coast. Notice the tires at the edge of the pier? That gives you some perspective to see how much the tide goes up and down.Annapolis Royal is filled with historic buildings. Two of the oldest wooden buildings in Canada can be found here (one a private residence and one a museum). Beautiful flowers and flower boxes are everywhere. We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant called Compose. (I found out later the building and restaurant are currently for sale for a very reasonable price if anyone is interested!)We ate on the deck (shown above) with this beautiful view:John had a lobster club, and a had "the Mozart"...an open faced sandwich with sliced chicken breast, peaches, curry sauce and melted cheese and side salad with orange dressing (divine!)After lunch, a walk along the boardwalktook us to Fort Anne and then along to Digby. (photos available soon)

LaHave Bakery

One of our favourite places to go is Crescent Beach. We love to walk the beach in any type of weather. Between Bridgewater and Crescent Beach is another Nova Scotia treasure...LaHave Bakery.Listed in "Where to Eat in Canada" for each of the past 9 years, LaHave Bakery is worth a stop.You may have to be patient to get your treats but it's worth it. The menu is rather limited...sandwiches, pizza (not your run of the mill pizza slices) or soup. We usually pick up a sandwich (thick slices of home made bread, lettuce, tomato, cheese, real meat (not the packaged sliced meat), and maybe even some radical rhubarb relish.The bakery also offers lots of cookies and squares. And as you can see on the shelves, lots of jams, jellies and spreads. The building is an old one with lots of character. Love those original tin ceilings!There's a lunch counter and lots of tables (indoors and out). Here's our favourite spot to eat...Right at the end of the wharf. And what a view (well, you wouldn't get John in your view, but insert your favourite person instead)

Green Bay

We heard a lot about Green Bay from the locals, so headed down to see for ourselves. A narrow road from Petite Riviere takes you to Green Bay past some homes and cottages all nestled closely together along the coast. We arrived at sixish one evening, on a bright and sunny glorious day. The tide was out and almost at its lowest level.
Macleod's is the spot for eating in Green Bay...you can eat in, or order out. We had two of our dogs with us, so John ordered out. Patience paid off...after a bit of a wait, our cheeseburgers and onion rings were delicious.
The dogs waited patiently, and were rewarded. There was too much food for John and me, so we shared with the girls. They loved their fries!

Chester - The Rope Loft Restaurant

Chester is one of my favourite places along the South Shore of Nova Scotia. A week or so ago, we were in Halifax for an appointment. Afterwards, we headed back home via the scenic route and stopped in Chester for lunch.The Rope Loft Restaurant is right on the shore. It was a very windy day, but absolutely lovely...bright and sunny. A perfect day for lunching on the deck overlooking the bay.Lunch was delicious. We both had the day's special...crab cakes with salad. John chose the caesar salad and I had the greek. Yum.This view shows the pier with more tables and chairs for the restaurant. The pier looks out towards the ocean. The hill on the other side of the bay has some spectacular homes. I wouldn't want to think about the price of them...out of our reach for sure!In the distance, you can see a yacht. The yacht is about 5 times larger than the ferry that goes from Chester over to Tancook Island. According to the people working at the restaurant, the yacht's name is The Intuition. Lunching at a table next to us were 3 couples...eavesdropping a bit on their conversation one man was a producer, and another an actor. When they left on their boat, they headed out to the yacht which led us to lots of speculation...but they were just sightseeing on their way to somewhere else. The restaurant has 2 decks. We were on the lower deck. The upper was closed off for the day. I'm sure it gets packed during tourist season (July & August). The windows along the building on the lower level were all topped with tole painted buildings and lighthouses. Very quaint.

Just a lovely afternoon. Can't wait to go back.