Vacationing at a cottage by the sea has always been a dream of mine. Tall pine trees filled with singing birds should surround it and the shore needed to be close enough so the waves would lull us to sleep each night.
It is late in the afternoon when we pulled up in front of the first dream cottage in Chester Basin about 2 hours south of Halifax. I’m admiring the view when I hear little pecks at the window. I look closer and discover a swarm of mosquitoes. Wait, they weren’t in my dream and will prove to be angry, voracious, persistent and relentless. How was I to know one these pests went with the location.
We have mosquitoes in Arizona, however, they are lightweights compared to these muscle bound heavyweights. I was soon to find if one doesn’t swab every milometer of exposed skin with repellent it is open season for your flesh. These little devils are clever and are not discriminating where they bite….the back of your hand, under your chin, your ears and the area between your ankles and socks. Well, no matter, I surrendered to the attacks. Not even these dreaded flying and biting machines are going to ruin our stay.
Our cottage, The Cooperage, has been in the same family for three generations. A raised wooden boardwalk took us across the grasses to a hidden picnic island. We devised several different walking tours along the shoreline of the bay, through the forest and around a neighboring island. We visited local farmer’s markets – yes, he went too – I can hear the collective groans of Terry’s golfing buddies – his reward was to eat like a king from the bounty of all things from the sea and local farms. You should have seen the size of those cinnamon buns.
The fresh scallops, the size of a small hockey pucks, became our favorite dish. They were sold in 2 lb. bags. I seared them with butter and white wine for dinner and took the left overs and added them to scrambled eggs topped with bacon bits in the morning. We went back for more and I invented scallop tacos…yummy!
We don’t drink coffee, but discovered Caramel Latte. The Barn in Mahone Bay whipped them up for us many afternoons just after nap time. As you can see, Terry even wore the honorary lobster hat at the weekly lobster supper.