Go Alice Go

I have to confess that until this trip I’d never been in a *proper* train before. I’ve ridden the skytrain (a monorail public transit system) in Vancouver multiple times, I’ve been on the kiddie train at Stanley Park (this is a sort of kiddie/family ride), and I’ve utilized the Luas (a tram/light rail public transit system) in Ireland but I’d never been on what I would traditionally think of as a train until recently. Actually, in the interest of honesty, I’m told I was on a train as a fairly newborn baby but, obviously, I have no recollection of that. Chugging along…(haha, see what I did there?)

We didn’t need to take the train, but three of us had never been on one so we decided to ride the rails while the fourth member of our group was kind enough to drive ahead and pick us up in a town called Truro. Truro is about 1.5 hours away from Halifax by train.

As you would expect, a major public transportation system is meant to be accessible for everyone so I won’t bother with the bullet points and just let  you know that VIA Rail is able to accommodate a variety of needs, including being wheelchair accessible.

The first thing of note is that the train station is gorgeous, inside and out! The outside has large pillars along the front and statues above the entrance.

The inside is impressive with its rich wood seating, tile floors, and ornate ceilings, and the way the natural light comes in through the giant windows is splendid.

The staff member who sold us our tickets was very friendly but, having never been on this or any other train before, we weren’t aware that we’d have to walk about 10 minutes at a fairly brisk pace to get to the cars on the train where they wanted us to sit. They do provide a golf cart service for people who had arranged that due to mobility concerns, but since we didn’t know that we’d be required to make that trek we hadn’t requested the service. Two of us have some pain/mobility issues, so we weren’t overly thrilled about trying to keep up with all the able-bodied people. If you’re from Canada or have spent a great deal of time here then you may be familiar with how long our trains are, so you can probably imagine it’s a fair hike from the very back to the very front on the long passenger trains. Here is just a portion of the train:

Anyway, we managed it, but I think it would be appropriate for the ticket agent to ask all patrons if they require assistance at the time of ticket purchase.

On the bright side, I can’t get over how civil train travel is. Forget about those cramped seats we all have to endure in an airplane! These chairs were so wide that my hips weren’t at all pinched. I was able to put down my tray table and still have plenty of room. Under each window are little paper bag receptacles for garbage. Not only do the backs of the chairs recline but the bottom of the seat slides forward so that you can really position yourself in whatever way is most comfortable for you. On planes, I never recline my seat at all because I don’t want to encroach on the tiny amount of space that the person behind me is already enduring (like the rest of us), but in the train there was ample space for everyone, regardless of seat position. There was also adequate leg room so that you could stretch your legs out. Additionally, the aisles are wider than in a plane so it’s easier to get up and stretch if you want to. If rail travel was much faster and more convenient in Canada I’d be travelling by train over plane at every opportunity!

The ride itself was most pleasing! We passed some industrial areas and shipping yards with stacks of giant seacan containers, but mostly we saw countryside, tiny towns, and pretty landscapes. Here are a few pictures from the journey:

 

Our trip ended up taking closer to 2 hours after a slight delay due to some train traffic. We weren’t under any time constraint so it wasn’t of concern to us. When we arrived in Truro there were murals like this one painted all over the exterior walls next to the platform:

It was a relaxing trip and I look forward to travelling by train again one day!

The Ship’s Wheel Vacation Rental is located in Clark’s Harbour on Cape Sable Island and it is my favourite place to stay in Nova Scotia! If I was ever to move to the east coast, Cape Sable Island would be my first choice of places to live.

You can see plenty of pictures of the outside and inside of the vacation rental, as well as check available rental dates and make bookings, at their website here:

https://www.shipswheelvacationrental.com/

Here are some things of note:

• While there are a few steps to get up to the front door, once you are inside there are no other stairs to navigate.
• The bathroom is not wheelchair accessible and the shower requires you to be able to step into the tub (it’s not a walk in). If the few stairs and the stepping into the shower aren’t an issue for you, though, this place is wonderful!
• Arranging a stay here is so easy! You can call or email to make arrangements (see link above for contact info) and then you receive a code for the door to let yourself in and come and go for the duration of your stay. If you have anxiety about dealing with new people or you value your privacy then you will love this place. That said, should you need anything or have any questions, you will have a prompt, pleasant response from the owners who can be on-site in a short time should you require assistance.
• There is ample room to get around inside.
• The kitchen chairs do not have arms (no pinched hips and thighs!) and can be moved as required.
• There is a washer and dryer on-site, including laundry detergent.
• The place is very well stocked in terms of kitchen essentials so that you can easily make your own meals there, if you choose to do so or have special dietary requirements.
• There is a little grocery store called Clark’s Harbour Red & White just minutes up the road from the vacation rental if you need to pick up some essentials. They also make really excellent donairs and pizza if you’d like a break from cooking!
• The livingroom furniture is really comfortable (a large, cozy sectional couch, a leather recliner, a futon couch when you’re not using it for sleeping) and the sleeping options include a queen-sized bed in a room facing the ocean, a fold-out futon in the living room, and a room with two single beds in the bedroom nearest to the road.
• Bonus: The wifi there is excellent!

Check out the view from the bedroom facing the ocean (here is a sunrise):

Here is a sunset (taken from the side deck):

 

The deck also faces the ocean and there are various chairs you can use to sit and enjoy the views:

Here is one of the local residents, hanging out in one of the several harbours where you can see the fishing boats docked:

Speaking of the fishing boats, you can buy inexpensive lobster right on Cape Sable Island, fresh from the ocean. We got ours from I Deveau Fisheries. Turn right at their giant sign on the way to the vacation rental and you can pick up some live lobster. The Ship’s Wheel is conveniently stocked with tools for cooking and eating lobster. Look at this delicious meal!

My favourite thing about Cape Sable Island is The Hawk, a beach that is a 5 minute drive from The Ship’s Wheel Vacation Rental. The Hawk might be a challenge to navigate in a wheel chair but could probably be navigated reasonably with a cane or even a walker. There is a very short walk (under a minute, even at a slow pace) from the parking area to a wooden ramp with  railings that leads down to the beach.

Here are some pictures from The Hawk (we spent 3 separate days there so you’ll see that the skies look different depending on the day the pictures were taken):

I cannot fully express just how much I love spending time on this beach and at The Ship’s Wheel Vacation Rental. If you are thinking of staying in the area or you’re looking for a quiet getaway in a comfortable place, this is the place to be!

This was my second stay and I will certainly be returning again and again.

 

 

We decided to eat at Bistro East based on a recommendation from a family member. It’s in a lovely corner brick building along the main street.

Things of note:

• As you can maybe see from the picture, there are two steps to get into the restaurant. There are no stairs inside.
• There is no dedicated parking, only street parking. We had to circle the block only once before finding a great (close) spot.
• The bathrooms are singular large rooms.
• The chairs were sturdy, without arms, and can be pulled away from the table (the tables can also be moved around).

The service was good (prompt, friendly, refilled our water) and the food was fresh and prepared well. I’m told the tomato soup is delicious but I opted for a lobster roll with salad, since being near the ocean enticed me to eat a lot of seafood while on holiday. The salad was crisp and fresh, and I enjoyed their house dressing and that the salad was lightly (properly) dressed, rather than overly wet and soggy. The lobster came on a baguette-style bread and, for my liking, there was too much bread but that’s just a personal preference. I left some of the bread but ate all of the tender lobster filling. The lobster tasted fresh and light, though I would have enjoyed some lemon to squirt over it but it’s my fault for not asking as I’m sure they would have provided a wedge.

We were there for lunch but they also had some yummy looking seafood dinner items on the menu. If you’re in Annapolis Royal and looking for a place to eat, this is a nice stop for fresh, tasty food.

I have soooo many good things to say about this place. First, the building itself is charming and the plants and trees growing around it are gorgeous.

Things of note:

• There is dedicated parking so parking close was easy.
• There are no steps involved involved in eating here.
• There are two unisex washrooms and both were wheelchair accessible.
• There are so many different types of seating! There are very sturdy, wide wooden chairs (no arms!), benches, arm chairs, and couches.
• There is an outdoor area that is open in the summer and I noticed the chairs outside had arms but the staff there were so friendly and I suspect if one asked to take an armless chair from inside to outside they would probably accommodate that.

Aside from serving the most wonderful food, The Biscuit Eater offers baked goods and tea that you can purchase to take home. Additionally, they sell a small selection of books and, while it’s a matter of opinion, they offered some very amusing and interesting choices (see first pic below)! There are also plenty of books that you can read through in their own bookcases (see second pic below).

Now for the best part…the food! Three of us ate here and we were all incredibly impressed. Two of us had the High Tea option (I was one of the two) and one of us choose a BLT on fresh focaccia bread.  All of us left completely stuffed and raving about the food. I’m writing this post 2+ weeks after our visit to The Biscuit Easter and we are still talking about their bacon jam. That’s right, bacon jam.

The High Tea option included a pot of tea for us to share (we chose Cream of Earl Grey and it was fragrant and perfectly steeped) and we each received a two-tiered tower of tastiness! Feast  your eyes on this and then I’ll describe each item.

On the top right is a biscuit with roasted chicken breast, spinach, and a cranberry mayo. In the middle (top tier) are two smaller biscuits smeared with bacon jam and mayo. The flavour is a salty, savoury, creamy, umami experience that I hope to have again. The biscuit sandwich on the top right is roasted beet hummus, spinach, tomato, and cucumber.

On the bottom right is a dense, fudgey chocolate brownie that was rich and moist, and will surely satisfy any chocolate lover. Next to that is a fresh scone. We were given a little dish of butter and a little dish of pear butter to spread on that and I’m here to tell you that you could probably spread that pear butter on an old shoe and you would declare it to be the most tasty treat! On the bottom right are two creamy lemon squares on top of a raspberry coulis. I love lemon, in general, and these had a lovely lemon flavour without being sharp.

As you can see, there is a lot of biscuit involved in those platters but every bit of biscuit was fluffy, soft, and very obviously fresh. Carbs are delicious, yes?!

I don’t have a picture of the BLT on fococcia (to be clear, you have a number of options when you chose a meal from the sandwich section) but that is probably because the recipient devoured it rapidly and then declared it to be the best BLT he’d ever eaten! He also helped us eat our High Tea items because it was SO much food but every item was delicious and the bacon jam biscuit and the pear butter on scones were the real stand-out items for us. I’m getting incredibly hungry just writing this.

If you live near to or ever get the chance to visit Mahone Bay run, roll, stroll, hobble, or drag yourself to The Biscuit Eater!

I do want to add that the zomato reviews are limited and I don’t think they reflect the current state of wonderfulness at The Biscuit Eater. It changed ownership in the recent past and while I didn’t visit it under the previous owners I can tell you that the current ones know what they’re doing!

 

Capt. Kat’s is located in Barrington, right off the highway and near to the causeway that leads to Cape Sable Island. Just look for the giant lobster on the roof! We arrived just as they opened for lunch.

Things of note:

• There is ample parking right near the entrance.
• There is only the slight lip of the sidewalk (as you can see in the picture above) and no other stairs to navigate.
• I didn’t use the washroom here but the sign idicates it is wheelchair accesible.
• The chairs did not have arms and could be moved away from or closer to the tables. I will say that I didn’t find the chairs at our table (there are different types of chairs at different tables) to be particularly sturdy. They held my weight without incident but I could tell they were not happy about it.
• Fun note: They put paper down on the table and offer a jar of crayons so that you can draw!

Here are some pictures of the interior:

Most of the food was delicious, with only one disappointment. I was dining with 2 other people and between us we ordered 2 appetizers, a salad, and a steak poutine.

The appetizers were the “Mini Fish Cakes” and the “Bander’s Bacon-Wrapped Potatoes”. The fish cakes were the only less-than delicious dish, in my opinion. It wasn’t that they were bad, but I was expecting something with more fish and less potato and they didn’t have much flavour. They did come with something that is local to Nova Scotia called Green Tomato Chow, a sweet green tomato relish, and I was glad to have tried something new even though it was too sweet to pair well with fish cakes, for my tastes. Still, those bacon-wrapped potatoes more than made up for the bland fish cakes. These were nuggets of heaven on a stick. The menu describes them as follows:

Baby potatoes wrapped  in  fresh smoked bacon, drizzled with  Nova Scotian honey & roasted to perfection, served with  our lemon  lime mayo for dipping.

I’m not entirely sure if the dip was just mayo because it seemed a lot more like sour cream to me. Regardless, every bite was perfection. I’m definitely going to attempt to recreate this at home sometime, with local Okanagan honey and a citrus sour cream for dipping.

The salad was very fresh and came with a lovely “Shack-made” blueberry dressing.

One of the members of our party polished off the steak poutine and declared it the best steak he’s ever eaten (while his tastes aren’t what one might call “refined”, I can tell you that he’s enjoyed a lot of steak in his life so that is high praise). He offered me a bite of the steak and I have to say that it was very tender and had the perfect chargrilled flavour.

We also took some peanut butter pie back to our beach rental and ate it for dessert much later but I forgot to take a picture (sorry). I assure you, it was rich, creamy, and very filling! One slice can easily feed two people.

What I did get a picture of is Lucy the Lobster. You know how in Canada and the USA we have the ground hog and its weather predicting shadow? Well, in Barrington, Lucy the Lobster is the one to predict Spring, thank you very much! This famous crustacean weighs over 20 lbs. and you can meet her right here at Capt. Kat’s Lobster Shack.

In case you aren’t sure, she’s the big beauty on the left!

If you’re looking for a place to eat in Barrington I do recommend checking out Capt. Kat’s Lobster Shack. Got Lobstah?!