It was raining when we got up and it rained most of the day. At times it was torrential. But we are hardy stock from the West Coast, well, not originally, but we’ve been there long enough to claim citizenship. The drive to Peggy’s Cove was done in thick fog and heavy rain. However, we were still able to get the sense of the area. We seemed to be the only ones on the road but when we got to Peggy’s Cove there were people already at the lighthouse and in the restaurant. We walked down to the lighthouse and took some pictures but the rain, and the lack of dinner the night before and no breakfast before we left, forced us into the restaurant. Our orders came quickly, which was good as three tour buses rolled in after us. We lingered over our tea until the rain and fog let up a little and then we were back on the road.
We were driving the old highway, the Lighthouse route. There wasn’t much traffic and soon we were following the signs to Oak Island. Now, I don’t know about you, but we have been watching the treasure hunters on the TV show. We though we would at least see some evidence of the goings on, but we were wrong. We saw nothing. The causeway is a private road and nothing marks anything about the story. As we pulled up another couple was getting into their car. We chatted for a bit about how disappointed we were. We took a couple of pictures of the island in the mist with the causeway in the foreground and continued on.
On the way to Lunenburg we passed though Mahone Bay. It is an amazing settlement with a lot of shops and B&Bs but we didn’t stop. There were tour buses parked as we got into town so we wanted to stay ahead of them. We had to take a detour and it took us along a very narrow, “primitive” (that’s the word they used on the sign) paved road. I can’t imagine how the tour buses fared on it! Dale was cracking jokes about banjos and serial killers as it felt we were well off the beaten path. We finally got back onto the right road and our pretend anxiety was relieved. We got into Lunenburg a little ahead of schedule but we were still able to check in, in fact, as the tourist season hasn’t really started, we were upgraded to a view room. If you’re ever in Lunenburg, check out The Smuggler’s Cove Inn.
Although it was still raining when we finished putting the luggage in our room we still explored the town. We walked a bit, checking out the colourful houses and then we decided to do some retail therapy. We didn’t buy much and we felt rather guilty walking into stores, looking around and then leaving. The rain and the season meant we were often the only ones in the store. We made our way down to the harbour and into the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. It was interesting but we skipped the outside exhibits, it was pouring and I’m not that bothered about checking out old boats.
We had hoped the rain would let up while we toured the second and third levels but it didn’t so we trudged back to the inn. We had a cup of tea, rather I had a cup of tea and Dale had a beer, in the restaurant next door and then we dried off in our room. We googled places to eat dinner because the restaurant recommended to us was closed. We decided on The Grand Banker, even though the last reviews were terrible. Well, those people must have been drunk or working for the competition because our meals were fabulous. Dale was primed for a lobster dinner but it wasn’t on the menu, so he settled for the mussels and Acadian fish stew. I had the house salad and mushroom risotto. We shared apple bread pudding and a glass of scotch for dessert. It goes to show you can’t believe everything you read online, although you can always believe me.
As we ate the rain stopped so after dinner we explored the town a little more. I took pictures of several beautiful doors. They really appeal to me. I have some great photos of doors from South Carolina too. Old houses often have wonderful doors with great personalities. The only problem was the city is built on an incline, and what goes up must come down. My knee works adequately going uphill but not coming down, so we went very slowly and I leaned heavily on Dale. Now we’re snug and warm in our room. Dale’s watching the Blue Jays game waiting for the hockey game to start. I’m going to finish this, get out of my somewhat still damp clothes and cuddle up in the bed and read. Tomorrow, we will drive around the southern tip of the island and up to Digby. Dale has already found a restaurant where he can finally get his lobster dinner!