Pictou

Pictou Harbor Light Beach Campground

All went well breaking camp and going to Pictou. Funny thing, the Harbor Light campground looks much better today. Maybe it is the sunshine. Maybe they mowed. Whatever. We really like that they put the families with kids on one side of the campground with the playground and the pool and adults on the other. We are located very near the path to the beach. Stella loves it. Her favorite thing after sniffing her way to the beach is to sniff seaweed. I even let her off the leash tonight (I’m sure she will expect that luxury every time now). She ran all around sniffing and played fetch the stick a few times. She gratefully accepted the hollow crab exoskeleton I gave her, and was just amazed when she tossed it and it broke into a bazillion pieces. Very fun beach dog.

Shortly after getting set up in our new home, MDT and I took off for the Grist Mill Museum. We thought the main route was rough and tow-up. Then we turned on the Grist Mill Museum road, and both the government and the locals agree that this road was way tooooooooooooooo tow-up. Nevertheless, we preservered. It wasn’t so much the grist mill, but the grist-buckwheat-we were after. Though it was a lovely setting with waterfall, the miller had retired last year and there was no grain to be had. So, we had plenty of time to get to the Jost Winery. MDT was sure they would have only sweet wines-award winning Canadian Ice Wine. However, we did get a couple of nice dry whites, and perhaps there will be some left for Second Saturday tasting. We were given some of the Jost Ice Wine last winter by our Toronto houseguest, so we are dreaming of some yummy deserts to have it with. I am hoping we are able to find apples either in Vermont or further south, and MDT makes a mean galette.

Our plan was to try the second of the two restaurants recommended in the travel guides for this area. We were not disappointed. The Piper’s Landing is a place we would return again and again. Feeling that our mercury levels might be a tad high from all the haddock we have been eating, Marcia was looking for beef. I myself only go for the beef in Florida, Texas, and Kansas. OK, maybe Chicago as well. My years in Vermont taught me that other than hamburger, don’t bother.

When the co-owner, Brenda, brought the bread and said it was made by her husband and he is German. I decided on pork. The schnitzel was not available tonight, but pork medallions in an apricot sauce with oven baked potatoes and root vegetables were. It was a fine choice. MDT liked her steak until I gave her one of the medallions. Anyway, I get ahead of myself. We started with a salad of romaine, mandarin, pears, sunflower seeds, and a slightly sweet and campaign vinegar dressing that was worth dipping the fantastic crusty bread in. I ordered the herring appetizer, which the waitperson almost forgot, but redeemed herself by talking about her past 6 months spent in Daytona Beach. This particular herring in cream sauce included red onions and pears. After the salad and herring, and lots of Fortante Sauvignon Blanc, came the pork and steak. We did our best and took a lot home for a yummy lunch sometime.