Arisaig Provincial Park

We keep raving about the Provincial Parks. This one lies on Route 245 north of Antigonish, about one hour from our cabin. The park sits on top of a cliff with picnic and camping sites.

There are several hiking trails that lead through the woods down to the beach  You really can't get lost here; the park is just not that big. At one point, you're in the cool woods with glimpses of the water beyond and then you're out in the sun right on the beach.

This coast is unusual because it's made of shale. Here, you can see one of the small streams that cuts through the shale banks on the way to the ocean. The shale is known for fossils and it's pretty easy to find small samples in the loose rubble on the beach.

There's a lot about this place that reminds us of Skaneateles Lake in the Finger Lakes of central New York - the shale beaches, the crumbling slate banks, and the cold water. Except, this is the ocean as you can see.

 The park overlooks the port village of Arisaig, which you can see here with fishing boats, the restored lighthouse (serves ice cream cones) and the seafood plants.

Rare Bird Pub

Guysborough County in Nova Scotia is the home to a lot of Germans, including seasonal visitors as well as permanent residents. There are three German families on the point where our cabin is located. One of them (our next door neighbor) invested heavily in the town of Guysborough, which lies on the other side of the harbor from us.

The pub was a defunct general store, refurbished and outfitted as a microbrewery, pub, restaurant and musical outlet. It quickly caught on in an area of Canada that loves music.

As you can see, the interior is beautiful. Lots of seating downstairs, as well as on the side patio or rear deck. In fact, it was on that deck in 2006 that Lee and I were lamenting our inability to find a small vacation home, when a family of Germans at the next table took up our case and introduced us to the cabin we now own. We have a lot of fond memories here.