Canada Day!!!
Yesterday was Canada Day! (Think our fourth of July.) There were Canadian flags everywhere; these people take their Canada Day very seriously.
We got up early and made out way to Cape Enrage, a little way down the road from Alma. As we cruised up the cliff side at the tip of the cape, we noticed people camping down at the base. It seemed like a beautiful place to camp ‚ right on the shore in between the marshes with no one around. I wonder if you need a back country permit to set up tent there…
Though we intended to go sea kayaking, the winds were too strong and instead we explored the lighthouse and beach surrounding the Cape Enrage Adventures headquarters. Run entirely by students, they offer all kinds of fun stuff, such as rock climbing, kayaking, and rappelling. The prices aren’t bad, and the groups are small. Our first stop was a quick climb up to the lighthouse perched high on a cliff over the Bay of Fundy. It was a clear, bright day, and you could easily see Nova Scotia directly across from where we were standing.
Beautiful though it was, the winds got to us and we headed down a set of steep stairs to the rocky beach below. With the cliffs now towering above us, we explored the beach as best we could. I have never seen anything like it – the entire shore was covered in piles of flat, smooth stones.
When we returned to the adventure center, Boris and Jane took some time to go bird watching while Kendra and I sat down at the Fisherman’s restaurant and ordered us all some of the renowned fish chowder which was served with a freshly made biscuit. Lore has it that a local fisherman’s wife gave the chowder recipe to the students. It definitely lived up to the hype, and was well worth the 6.95 in Canadian dollars for each bowl.
On our way out of Cape Enrage, we stopped at a local winery, Waterside Farms, that had just opened a year ago. We tried blueberry and rhubarb wines, and much to all of our surprise, we liked them!
We returned to Alma for a seafood lunch of lobster rolls, clam strips and beer! The food was very tasty, though the clams were not nearly as good as the Clam Box’s. Though we didn’t hike nearly as much as the day before, we were tired and returned to the campsite for a nap and reading by the campfire. Kendra and I are both cruising through the Harry Potter books in great anticipation of the release of Movie 5 and Book 7 later this month!!! Boris and Jane surprised us for dinner with a meal of German food they’d picked up on the way to Massachusetts from the same place in Greenville, VA that we’d stopped at with Ivan on the way down to our wedding. Once again, we were brought back to our memories of last summer in Austria. After dinner Jane and I had enough time to make a few s’mores before the skies opened up and rained for the rest of the evening.
This morning we got up VERY early -5:30am – and packed up the campsite. We are now on our way back to the States, and should be passing through customs in the next few minutes. We’re headed to the coast of Maine, somewhere above Portland, though we haven’t picked an exact destination yet.
