Day 20-Shelburne, Nova Scotia

Today was a drizzly, rainy, thunderstorm day but we didn't get the storm here yesterday that they got in Halifax. According to the news I got out just in time. Seems the storm that went through here after I arrived hit Halifax and there were delayed planes because of the lightening and the streets were flooded in one part of Bedford that I drove through a few times just to get to the highway. There was also a bad accident not far from here during the storm. Yikes!

This morning was cloudy and I'm still having a challenge reading the weather but I had a chance to have my coffee and work on a crossword puzzle on the front porch. Yeah, this is living! I never thought how much I enjoy making my own breakfast and hanging out with coffee when I did that this morning. I guess I've been a little rushed trying to get the breakfasts in at the hotel I've been staying at, a few times anyway. Keltic lodge and the Green Highlands Lodge were very relaxed and very pleasant I might add. Today was a day just to hang out. But I was itching to get out on my bike and tour around.

Shelburne, like other places I've been, is very quiet. I think I'm so used to the chaos of Toronto and summer time Saugeen Shores that when there is a quiet little town to hang out in it really is a quiet little town. Right now, it's 9:30 pm and there isn't a sound. Nothing. Nadda. With the winds being calm there isn't even any water sounds. Weird.

My bike was fun to ride on the boardwalks and wharfs around here and I got a few comments about it as it's something you don't see every day I guess. For me it's perfect. Folds up, in the back seat of the Equinox and I'm good to go when I need it.

Neat little bike eh?
The yellow building in the back is one of the ship building sheds, as is the grey one. The yellow building is now a restaurant and bar called the Sea Dog. I will give that a shot one day, since it's within throwing distance of my cottage.

The buildings here are all pretty authentic and other than upkeep they haven't been altered since they were built, some in 1753. What? 1700's! We don't have that in Ontario, too often anyway.
The one below proudly flies the Union Jack.

The above is a very typical example of the homes here. Windows with 6 panes of glass in each section, very uniform in it's design; this one though, has a dormer on the top, a precurser to the "widow's walk".  They are all of wood construction except for a stone foundation which was to protect it from the possibility of high flood tides. The bay here is very sheltered and the waves don't get very high but there is always the possibility of a higher than normal tide. The tide this morning peaked at 2 1/2 meters and that's just crazy!

I rode through the main street of town, or at least what was the "old main street", the road coming from highway 103 has some larger stores on it (like a Sobey's) and I think that little bit of development has made a difference to the "down town". The economy hasn't helped either as there are several stores that are no longer occupied.

There are a couple of restaurants that work strange hours, even in the summer and that's an indication to me that there is less traffic through here. One place is open from 12 to 2:30 pm and not on Sunday nights, Tuesdays or Wednesdays.... huh??

I'm happy to hang out at my own little place and have my own meals for the most part and not try and figure out when something is open. The Sea Dog is easy to predict, when the "open" flag is flying, they're good to go.

There is a trail that follows the outline of the bay to the otherside, I think it may have been a railway bed but it's hard to tell. It certainly isn't like the Rail Trail in Saugeen Shores but my little Dahone did just fine on it. There is The Islands Provincial Park at the other side of the bay and I headed for it.

Beautiful sites to camp on, small boat launch area and nice picnic area too. In 2 weeks they will be hosting their reinactment weekend where enthusiasts and historians get together in period costume and hang out (I guess). This site is beautiful and if the weather gets sunny I will go back as the pictures today don't quite do the view justice but it was neat to see the town from across the bay.

See what I mean? The little buoy in the middle of the bay is marking a crab pot.

Weather deteriorating I headed back into town and rode up and down some of the streets. Many side streets or laneways actually are really only 1 lot wide meaning the front of the house is on one street and the back of the house is on another. That's the way this part of the town was designed. More for the drive or utility sheds which would have been at the "back" of the properties.

As I rode down Ann street there was, what looked like from a distance a grave stone in the middle of the road! It wasn't. It was a well head. The orginial well head from the settlement. I had to take a picture. I've never seen anything like this before.

What the heck?? Right on. This is way cool. I love history like this.

With it actually starting to rain now I headed back to my little abode. Lunch had and accounts looked at (okay the price of gas is a little high out here at $1.31 a litre) and all was well for the afternoon as the rain came down heavier.

With my little computer I was able to Skype to The Mother and spent some time chatting with my cousin V in Prague. That was fun. The Man and I were texting back and forth too while he was at a meeting!
Really, what the heck did we do before all this technology came along? Yeah, I'd be writing in my little travel journal I guess. I still have mine from different trips. Fun to look at from time to time. This format is a little more creative.

Tomorrow? I don't know. I think I might head to Cape Sable which is the most southernly point of Nova Scotia but only if the weather is going to hold, no point going there if it's yucky. I have a few more days here and can always do that on my way to Digby too. It's only a couple of hours away.

I think the sound of my typing is so loud, you really wouldn't believe how quiet it is here. During the day, that's a different matter but it's a different kind of noise. Oh it's too hard to explain... you'll just have to come out here to hear it....or not. :-)