June 8 , 2011

Today we drove along the coast towards Cape D’or. Along the way we stopped at a little bity town called Spencers Island. Can’t even find it on the map, but it has a pretty light-house from 1904.

And it’s an unusual one because visitors are allowed to climb up the very steep, narrow stairs to the tiny platform next to the lantern.

On to Cape D’or . . . This is a beautiful site, with a classic white and red lighthouse and a rocky coastline. Really rocky - if this was in the US there would be a big metal fence to keep people on a marked path. Here they just put up a sign warning about the “actively eroding cliff”, and if we want to climb down the rocks (and we did), it’s our own responsibility.

It’s easy to see why lighthouses were needed along this coastline. What is not as easy to understand is how people in these tiny towns make a living today. Tourism seems like a 3-month window, so what happens during the rest of the year? Don't know, but I will say that these are very friendly folks here. Everyone waves "hello" to you on the road. Of course, there aren't that many drivers, so it's easy to do!

One way to make a living is fishing, and there are a lot of boats here. However, in the Bay of Fundy (home of the 50-foot tides), this is what low tide looks like:

For lunch we stopped at the Wild Caraway restaurant in Advocate Harbor, which turned out to be a great decision. The chef uses local products such as fiddlehead ferns, seafood (scallops, mussels, lobsters), and something called dulse. Dulse is a dark red seaweed with a very salty taste. I tried some raw and didn’t like it, but at Wild Caraway they put chopped up Dulse in their rolls, and the saltiness worked fine there. Home-made tomato soup with mussels, followed by some really great scallops and fries. This restaurant gets five stars!

If you are in the area, stop at this restaurant. And stop at the Blueberry Ridge Country Crafts and visit with the owners - they are nice folks who make almost everything they sale.

And here’s something I've never seen in the USA - a sign for a Curling Club!