Acadian people, for the most part, are very religious. There are grottos and statues of the Virgin Mary everywhere. In St. Louis de Kent there is a spectacular grotto and celebration to Mary. It also is the place where the Acadian flag was born. I visited the grotto and found an interesting thing n the water. It was a rosary, made of fish floats coloured as in the Acadian flag floating just off the shore from this grotto. Very, very interesting. The lady (who spoke English) and man who were there cleaning the grotto with great care told me it is to protect all people who use the water for their life and livelihood. It was very, very cool. The picture doesn't do it justice.
From there I continued to head south and east towards Shediac, which is my destination for the night.
My co-worker BW, who helped me plan this tour, told me of neat place where some spectacular dunes have been formed. Bouchtouche is a typical fishing village for this area and just outside of town is an interpretive centre and huge boardwalk along this 12 km stretch of dunes. The whole thing was initially funded by the Irving gas company. Initially 2 kms of boardwalk had been built but recent storms have taken 1 km away from that total, again showing the power of the waves and wind here considering the boardwalk was built with 4 x 4 timbers.
Ready for a long walk I ventured out onto the boardwalk. The breeze was lovely and the sun shining and the grass made a swishy sound in the wind. It was great. I hit the remaining part of the boardwalk then hit the beach for a long walk. At low tide it's quite a challenge to walk at such an angle but slow and steady makes it! The sound of the crashing waves drowning out any thoughts in my head. It was beautiful.
The beach here is covered in clam (quahog) and razor clam shells and huge oyster shells instead of the mussel shells from my earlier beach experience.
Again, after about 3 hours of walking I decided lunch was in order. Conveniently there was a little chippy stand that was right across the road from the entrance to the dunes. Right, so in Acadia, chips are secondary. This place advertised fried clams! I'm not a real fan of fried clams but I knew they'd have lobster rolls!! Off to try another one.
Acadian lunches rock!
It seems that every meal here comes with coleslaw. Glad I like that. First off, this
Lobster roll was in the hot dog bun that is buttered on the outside. Don't ask me why I don't get that part but man, it's good.
As the temperature here is quite warm (though not as warm as Ontario!) I was getting a little wind, sun and temperature burnt. I think I was done with my sight seeing for the day. Off to Shediac and....more lobster!! Maybe....
The road hugged the coast and I went through some areas that are so close to the shore that if the waves got too high I'm sure they'd go underwater. Maybe that's why part of the road was only one way because the other lane was washed out. With the water being calm I was beginning to wonder what it would be like when it was really rough. I bet it would be a fun drive, maybe not so much fun to live there. I know now why many of the homes are clad in aluminum or plastic siding. The older wooden homes are so beat up from the wind, water and sun that they'd need a coat of paint every month. Oh yes, it would be white paint. Acadian homes are white with a splash of colour, that's the Acadian flag flown out front, or hanging from the front banister or from the window, you get the idea.
Around 3 pm I arrived in Shediac and drove around this town a bit. It's fairly large and has all the things a town would have. It's about the size of Hanover, ON with it's "main street" and outskirts of malls and motel strip. I found my hotel and checked in. After some challenges finding where to park my Equinox (a school bus and propane delivery truck were competing for space) I am safely parked where I can see my vehicle (something I'm kind of freaky about). After a good rest and a swim in the salt water pool (fun!) I decided to follow my lobster loving nose and head to a marina that had "New Brunswick Lobster Dinners" advertised on a sign I had seen. Also it was written up in the one book I have so I headed there.
After paying my $2 toll (ew-whee baby) to get to the wharf I wandered around and checked out what the deal was. So it was to "Lobster Tales" which offered a 2 hour boat cruise with stories and a dinner afterwards. The skies were darkening and the wind was definately getting stronger as I spoke with the reservation guy. He was a little concerned that I was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts (not a problem, the truck is packed with stuff), that I'd get cold (rightttttttt). He also warned me that if it did get rainy and windy we'd cut everything short. Oh, that would be different. Hmmmm decisions.
I decided to just go for a lobster dinner at Captain Dan's (the owner of Lobster Tales told me that was a good one, there was only one other sit down restaurant there) so off I went.
Sitting on the top level of a patio, under an umbrella (just in case), watching the harbour comings and goings with a Bud Lite Lime in my hand I was a happy girl.
So dinner was a unique lobster experience. A lobster that had been steamed then "blanched" or plunged into icey cold salty water for 20 minutes. Then it's cut and clipped and drained before serving. So the lobster is already cold when you get it and you still get to fight with it to get the meat out then there's some steaming hot buter to dip it in. I've never had anything so sweet in my life!!! Oh yeah, there was coleslaw and potato salad to go with it, natch. That was my "cold lobster plate" dinner. Really something.
I wandered around the dock and talked to some Coast Guard Fisheries Conservation officers who told me their job was to make sure that the lobsters coming in are coming from the right spots (there are rules) and the lobster pots have the proper dimensions (more rules). They are roaming around the area doing spot checks and making sure all is well. They were a rough couple of guys that when you think of and "old salt of the sea" you'd think of these guys. They even were wearing watchmen's caps. All they needed was the hooked pipe hanging out of their mouths.
Off the wharf walls there were folks catching piles of mackerel. Lines with weights at the bottom and a series of 6 hooks hanging off the lines. Seems this is the "breakfast fish" to catch right at the moment. Really the whole place was just so......maritime! How hookey is that. Anyway, that's what I thought.
I leave you with some pictures from today's adventures.....
Oyster farms in the waters of the Northumberland Strait, the Bouchtouche dunes are in the background.
Warning sign not to take shells from the beach at Bouchtouche dunes. I love the crab trying to reach for a new home.
The eclectic decor at the lunch spot.
On to PEI!!
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