Mahone Bay

Our three days in Mahone Bay were delightful. We stayed at a B&B called Fairmont House, located on Main Street, with the waterfront right across the road. (Darrell, the Bird Store/Nature Store was just across the street, but closed until Sept. 14. I guess everyone needs a holiday).

Mahone Bay is a charming little community of 900 people. There were, of course, lots of people around on the long weekend, but it didn't feel crowded. There were lots of little shops and galleries, although we certainly did not see them all. One of the most photographed places in Nova Scotia is the view of the three churches as you first drive into the town. We stopped at a restaurant just where this photo was taken and had a wonderful lunch of chowder made with fish, lobster, and shrimp.

After dropping off our things at the B&B, we went for a stroll along Main Street. Lots of interesting little shops selling the work of local artisans, including one called Drifted Spirits, that sold native crafts, including drums and stone bowls for burning sweetgrass. There was a HUGE shoe store, called the Mahone Bay Trading Company that had a discount area at the back. I was tempted to buy another pair of Naot sandals that would accommodate my orthothics, but they were actually more comfortable with the cork insoles than with the orthotics, so I guess I'll wait until spring to shop at home for the next pair.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Amos Pewter shop. The shop is a deep turquoise color and the factory next door is done in a strange purply-pink with turquoise trim.

Amos Pewter makes such pretty pieces, and demonstrated at the rear of the shop how the pressed pieces were made. They said that pewter is quite easy to work with as it melts at around 400 degrees. They have a 2-piece mould that they dust with powder and place in a press. They then pour a small dipper-full of molten pewter into the top of the press, and it runs down into the spaces in the mould. After pressing for a minute or so, the mould is removed and the desired bits are cut off the ends of the 'arms', with the stem of the casting and any imperfect bits dropped back into be remelted.

The photo above shows a casting of the new Christmas ornament for 2011. the five circular ornaments are ready to be cut off, trimmed, and polished.

There were a number of antique shops, galleries and gift shops. There was a lovely little knitting shop, and I was all ready to buy two skeins of yarn to knit a simple shawl in varigated colors, but they only had one skein of each color - disappointing. I did find a pretty shawl in Suttles and Seawinds. They used to make a lot of quilted jackets and appliqued skirts in the 80s. I had a beautiful jacket that I wore forever, until it was really worn at the wrists. They only make a few now, and they are made to order - a couple of quilted ones and a gorgeous lightweight boiled? wool crepe. The latter was very tempting, but very pricey. They had one shop with good quality clothes and gifts and another with quilts, fabric and hooked rugs, again gorgeous and very expensive, but fun to see.

We did buy a limited edition print by a local artist by the name of Carol Ann Shelton. Their gallery is in a beautiful old house that shows her paintings and folkart sculptures by local artists. The whole gallery was full of light and color, and so fun to spend time in. Her website really doesn't do the colors justice. Like many shop owners in Mahone Bay, they live upstairs.

Kit, you would have loved the Zack and Nemo Mercantile shop. It felt like you were walking into that
 magazine that we like - Country Sampler. It made me want to redecorate the whole house! But I was strong and brave and didn't buy a thing!



Sunday afternoon, after wandering the flea market on the parking lot of the grocery store, we drove down the bay past Lunenburg to the Blue Rocks, as our host, Michael said it was more colorful that Peggy's Cove and far less crowded. It was indeed, very colorful, and the day was a beautiful one. Just a few photos here.

Painted lobster traps for sale at Blue Rocks


A typical upscale cottage in Blue Rocks, complete with colorful Adirondack chairs, which appear in all colors

Monday afternoon, we drove a few miles out of town for a tour of Oak Island, the supposed site of buried treasure, that people have been searching for since 1795. The tour lasted for two hours, and the volunteer guide was very knowledgeable. The current company is planning to start to dig this fall, based on deep resonance images (or some other technology that acts like a CT scan). Past efforts have managed to go down over 200 feet before encountering some sort of large enclosure. It was fascinating. If you are interested there are lots of books about Oak Island as well as websites. http://www.oakisland.ca/

One interesting fact is that oak trees grow only on this small island, leading them to supprose that they were planted there to make the place easier to find.

We found a good pub with a deck, and enjoyed a couple of evenings having dinner overlooking the bay - very peaceful - and they could make an excellent Margarita! All in all, a great place to spend a few days. We would go back in a second.

Tuesday  morning we left for PEI - I'll tell you about that trip, with a short side trip to Peggy's Cove next time.