Beach Weekend in the New Glasgow Area

Here is my itinerary for a long weekend in the New Glasgow area – keep in mind that I planned the beach times according to the low tide. I googled Caribou Tides for this and there are several websites with the information. I enjoy the beaches much more if the tide is out and therefore planned accordingly.

This is also a summer, good weather plan, starting on a Friday evening and ending Friday afternoon.

	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
Morning		Farmers Market	Flea Market	If driving in the direction of Truro
Lunch		Have take-out (Sea Snack Shack or Subway) or BBQ at Caribou Beach	Swiss Chalet, or if you are in the mood for something quick, Wendy’s	Have a picnic at Victoria Park (I like to get Subway)
Afternoon		Caribou Beach Pictou Market (closes at 5) and museums in Pictou	Melmerby Beach	Explore Victoria Park, check out the waterfalls and try Jacobs Ladder
Supper	Café Italia (you can eat outside if the weather is good)	Saltwater Café or Sharon’s in Pictou	East Side Restaurant or Pizza Delight
Evening	Trenton park to walk, see the ducks & check out the playground if you have kids	Ice cream on the Warf (Pictou)	Go for a walk on the Samson trail
Notes

If you are using New Glasgow as a base this itinerary works well but you could also camp at Caribou and use the same itinerary but with more BBQs instead of eating out, a bonfire with s’mores on Sunday night, kite flying and catching fireflies. If the weather turns bad you can check out the Museum of Industry just off the highway in Stellarton.

There are a few other beaches I should mention, Waterside, Powell Point Park and Sinclairs.  Of these three Waterside is my favorite. Of the five, Caribou is my first choice. All the beaches have some type of washroom with the exception of Sinclairs. Of them all Caribou and Powell Point Park have the best picnic areas. Powell Point Park has a small section of beach available but it is primarily a picnic type park. Sinclairs has the least amount of parking. There is a tiny area where one or two cars can pull off the side of the road but is mostly just assessable to the cabins in the area. Just around the corner there is a Warf that is picturesque, especially at sunset and there is a rocky area that is fun to explore. There is a little more parking in this area. Waterside, Caribou and Melmerby all have running water to wash your feet off at the end of the day but the one at Caribou is the most visible one. At the Merb you only have assess at the first parking area and at Waterside there is a small tap on a boardwalk to the left which you have to go in search of, it is not on the main boardwalk.

I do have to mention the restaurants in Pictou. I have Sharon’s and the Saltwater Café listed but there are a few others, these are just the two that we enjoy the most. Sharon’s is a favorite of the locals and always busy. Saltwater Café has summer hours only and it is located right by the Warf, you can sit inside on their screened porch to watch the boats coming and going, for ambiance this is the place to go. The reason I am elaborating on this is that the last time we were there it wasn’t very good, it was the first time this year and my husband did not like his meal, the menu had changed and the waitress wasn’t very knowledgeable. The other disturbing thing was that we saw the butts of two waitress’ as the dress code is apparently non-existent and their shorts were so short that we got more of a view than we bargained for. I will try this place again because of our previous experiences there but it should be mentioned. Also, we sometimes get take out from the Sea Snack Shack on the Warf and either eat it there or take it to Caribou Beach. This place changes hands often so next year it could be called something else. As it is at the moment we enjoy the food there for the most part but we have to get onion rings in place of the fries because they are never fully cooked (one of my pet peeves). These are things to keep in mind while eating in the Pictou area.

There isn’t a large selection of restaurants in New Glasgow either. The East Side Restaurant is small and cramped but the food is good. One thing to note is that the people of Pictou County love their pizza. It is made with what I’m told is a Greek sauce – it looks like gravy. Pictou County people think it is the only kind of pizza to eat. If you want to try something different there are a couple of places there are quite a few places that sell it, the most popular being Acrople or Sam’s in Stellarton. Be warned – it is very different and the people there love it and think it is the only kind of pizza to eat, personally I don’t like it at all, but try it and judge for yourself.

Trenton Park

Melmerby Beach at Sunset

Waterside Beach

Samson Trail

Sinclairs

Caribou Beach

Stormy Dress

   

This dress reminds me of a stormy ocean.

 I loved the colors and since I was looking for some dresses I could wear to work and this one fit so I bought it. It cost me about $6 at the local thrift shop.

There are several things I like about this dress besides the color. First, it has a neckline and length that I can wear to work. Secondly, it is loose enough to feel comfortable but with just enough fit that I don’t feel like I’m wearing a sack. Thirdly, I love this zipper detail at the color.

What I don’t like about this dress is the faux scarf type detail which reminds me of Merlin in the show, Merlin, which my daughter got me watching on Netflix last year.

This was a quick and easy fix. I cut off the point, pinched the raw edges under and pinned. It took only a few minutes to stitch this up by hand and once ironed, you can’t even tell it was altered.

It still has the faux scarf, but it’s not as bad as it was. I will try it out this fall and if it still bothers me I might take it completely off in the spring – who knows.

Great Books to Read to Your Kids

 

A list of my all-time favorite books to read to your children:

Bible stories – there are any number of children’s Bible stories books. I had a great collection put out by Arch books when I was a child which I saved and read to my child as well. I read one a night plus one fiction book. It is good to show your child where your priorities and your heart are and seal those stories away in their minds.

Dr. Suess – they are all great but I especially love 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red fish, Blue fish and Green Eggs and Ham. All of his books are bright and colorful and encourage imagination and rhyming. Plus they are just fun to read! (Oh the Places You’ll Go is better for an older audience and a great gift idea for when your child is graduating.)

Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer – all of these are imaginative and enjoyable. They are also great for interaction because in the pictures you can search for a little mouse, spider and/or grasshopper.

Love you Forever by Robert Munch – I have trouble reading this book without a tear in my eye. It is so heartwarming and shows the love of a family. This is the type of love you want to develop with your child.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingles Wilder – this is a great book to get your child interested in history. It takes you back in time with heartwarming clarity. I love all the books in this series including the ones that came afterwards by other authors depicting the life of other people from Laura’s family tree. Laura grows up in this series of books so you might want to read the first three and by that time your little one will be reading on their own and will want to finish the series on their own.

Junie B. Jones – I love this whole series. They are just a pleasure to read because they bring you joy. No matter the situation it is always told in a humorous way. These books present you with the opportunity to talk to your child about how they would react in this situation or how they would feel about it – great teachable moments can come from reading these books to your child or with them.

Reading to your child and having your child read to you is a great way to encourage your child to read. They love to spend time with you and they have done studies that say if you read to your child they do better in school. I always read a bedtime story to my daughter and when she started school she would also read one to me as part of her homework. As she got a little older she would read to herself and it became a habit to read before going to sleep. During the summer months I would encourage her to read by offering her money for new books. She would keep a list all summer and at the end I would give her a dollar for each one and we would take it to the bookstore to buy more. It was a system that worked really well and we both looked forward to it every summer.

Being a self-proclaimed book worm we always had lots of books around our house. A trip to the mall was never complete without checking out the bookstore and we were always browsing second hand book stores as well. Now that my child has grown, these are the books that I have kept to (hopefully) read to my grandchildren one day. 

Cape Enrage, New Brunswick

We have been visiting Cape Enrage for years. I grew up in New Brunswick and frequently visit Hopewell Rocks and Fundy, this place is tucked away between the two. When we first started going it was to enjoy the view of the lighthouse and walk along the rocky beach. They now charge a fee to enter this area.

The Picture of the lighthouse below is from a few years back - before they added fences and built stairs everywhere.

This shows the cliffs on a nice day.

Here is a picture of the same location, only from above and with the tide in.

There are rock cliffs which are interesting to look at and you can find fossils everywhere. The first year we went and had to pay we were overcharged, which, at the time, I overlooked as an honest mistake as it was a child in the booth. I don't know if I still believe it was a mistake after our last trip there.

They have made a lot of upgrades since they started charging an entrance fee, such as better stairs and bathrooms. Not all of the upgrades are good. They have so much fencing now that the view is marred and you cannot get a good picture of the lighthouse anymore. Here is a picture of the new stairs.

This is what the stairs looked like a few years ago.

Also, they have added a small zipline which has added to the amount of beams, steps and platforms marring the view. The zipline does not go across water, just across some alder bushes. They are very conscious about safety which is a good thing. The bad thing is that you have to wear a hairnet under your helmet – awful! If you have never ziplined before this would be a good starter one as it is very short and they have put every precaution possible in place so you feel very safe. Here are a couple of pictures from the year I tried out the zipline. 

Over the years they have added three little buildings besides the main building that housed the restaurant. One building has a gift shop, one has the washrooms and is where we paid and got ready to zipline a couple of years ago. When we went this year they had added yet another little building with the word adventures on it. For years I have been wanting to try the repelling there and the timing never worked out. Below is a picture of the restaurant, behind it you can see the corner of the souvenir shop and in the background the zipline stand. To the left of the zipline is where the new adventure building is and behind me is the lighthouse and the building with the bathrooms.

This is a picture of the booth you pay at when you enter the area.

This was the year to repel and I was very excited. 

I checked the website and tried to book ourselves for the repelling/zipline package. There was no number to call just an online form to fill out and at the end it said someone would get back to me. I received an email confirming they had received my request from cape Enrage and that someone would contact me shortly. I assumed it would be by phone as I had left two numbers, as requested, but someone named Greta sent me an email saying she was the CEO. She said if we wanted to confirm our reservation I would have to send my name, address and Visa number via email. I was very leery of this is not secure at all. I did finally decide to do it as I really wanted to go and I could not find a number to call. A week later I still had not heard anything back so I emailed the original Cape Enrage email asking if I had sent my information to a legit person or if I had been hacked. They got back to me quickly saying they were legit and we were confirmed. I had asked several questions in my email as requested on the online form – none of those questions were answered except for one, that we would have to pay an entrance fee on top of the adventure cost. I was also told we would only be able to repel, not zipline. Why I do not know. I was also told to wear old clothes as the repelling equipment could stain them - good to know.

The day arrived and we left our hotel excited for this newest adventure but as we drove the temperature dropped lower and lower. I stopped in Alma and bought the cheapest long sleeved shirt I could find to wear under my t-shirt and I was still frozen. Then the winds came up and the rain started coming down in sheets. The fog was so thick you could barely see. I thought, we have wasted our time, there is no way they will let us repel in this terrible weather as it cannot possibly be safe. 

On the way there a truck was following us at very high speeds, he almost lost in going around a corner and when a rabbit came out on the road and we had to brake, he almost ran into us. We pulled over at the beach and let the terrible driver pass – he was one of the staff when we arrived. We arrived shortly before our start time of 10:00. There was no one in the information booth when we arrived but there were some cars in the parking lot. We ventured out in the rain but all the buildings were locked up, there were only a few tourists venturing out to take a picture of the lighthouse.

We waited and waited and finally saw some workers. They assured us that someone would be around shortly. About 10 after 10 we saw some more staff and went to the building where we had been set up for ziplining the year before. They sent us to the main booth – in the pouring rain I might add. We assumed the repelling would be cancelled and were told, no it was a go and so we asked how much it would cost us to cancel – since it seemed really unsafe at that point and we were freezing. We were told we would still have to pay half if we cancelled. Since I had wanted to go for years and I didn't want to loose that much money, I decided we would go – storm or not and it would be what it would be. 

We fought our way back through the driving rain to the building we assumed we would be suiting up at but we were wrong, it had moved to the newest building. None of the staff we had spoken to so far had given us any information as to where we should go. So away we went to sign waivers and get geared up. I had to wear my rain jacket (which was white) – as my teeth were chattering and I was shivering. I was actually fearful that it might snow as the temps were in the single digits. We had to wear the horrendous hair net again – one reason I will never spend money there again. 

Then we followed a short path through the woods, did some basic training on a shed and from there we went to the rock wall. The rain was easing off by that time, thankfully, but it was still freezing and everything was wet and slippery. The repelling itself was easy and quite fun. I enjoyed that part quite a lot. If you have done any type of thing were you are relying on a harness you would have no trouble at all. I have done several ziplines in the past, as well as treego, and found this very easy and I’m proud to be able to say I did it. I actually did it a few times because if you do it quickly you can go down again, it is all dependent on the tides. 

Two people can repel at one time. You are “controlling” one of the lines holding you but they have a second one that the guides are lowering you on so it is kind of a false pretense that you are actually doing the work yourself. The second trip down one of the guides came down on the rope beside me. I asked which side was the easiest to go down and she said she didn’t know as it was her second time down it. Seriously – I cannot make this up! 

The hardest part about repelling, for me, was the walk back up the hill. I am quite fit but I do have cold air induced asthma and it was very cold on this day (even though it was July). It is a very steep path through the woods. I was desperate for some water and wished I had thought to take some with me. That would have been helpful advice. 

When we left my husband asked me how much we had paid and I told him – we had been charged for the repelling/zipline experience instead of the repelling package – a difference of $92. I had to send several emails to get the money refunded as they ignored me until I told them I was writing about my experience in a blog – then they were very prompt to give me the money owed.

I’m actually very sad about the whole thing, I'm glad I had the experience but I will never go back.They have destroyed a very beautiful area with a mess of scattered, useless buildings and lots of very ugly fencing. I was so excited to try repelling but the bad service, difficulty making reservations and overall experience in the rain made a very negative impression. They are very much in need of new leadership there. I frequent the area in the summer and from now on I will visit the two beaches between Fundy and Cape Enrage, one is sandy perfection and the other is a very interesting rock beach with cliffs on either side. 

We finished off our experience with a meal in Alma – there are lovely restaurants there and we always enjoy the food and the view. 

Please note these are my own experiences and my own opinions. Also, the pictures shown here were taken on four different dates.

Versatile Denim Dress

I’ve been seeing this dress on a game I play online called Covet, which I love. This denim dress by J Brand.

I had a similar dress in my closet which I had found at the local thrift store for under $10 but the sleeves were less than stylish. 

I decided I would cut the sleeves off and turn the armhole under and stitch but the stitching there was so sturdy I decided I didn’t need to do this. 

I cut the sleeves off as close to the seam as possible with my seam ripper, being careful where the seam met under the arm. There is too little fabric left to fray. 

This is how it turned out.

I am wearing this dress to work tomorrow with a white cardigan and sandals but it could be worn so many other ways. 

It is cute on its one for summer but with fall coming up it could be worn with a bright sweater and scarf. 

Or with this fall color and adding tan colored boots and purse. 

In early winter I could wear this with black tights and tall boots and a black sweater or jacket as well. 

Love my new to me denim dress!