Road trip Canada

Aug 4, 2013

Review for The Great Dane in Lunenburg, NS, Canada

While in Lunenburg, also the last leg of our road trip, my husband spotted the sign Muscles and Beer Lunch for C$ 15 near our vacation rental. It was past lunch time, as a matter of fact, it was early dinner time, but we thought we’d try it anyway.

We sent our kids off to go to Subway while we enjoyed sitting in the restaurant’s small patio outback. And yes, my husband was able to get the lunch special with beer and I ordered Manhattan clam chowder with a glass of red wine.

It was such a treat for the two of us to sit outside, relieved the kids were so happy to be allowed to eat at Subway, and we all got a little break from each other.

mussel lunch at The Great Dane

My Manhattan clam chowder was superb. I admit, I do not care for mussels, so I shoved them onto my husband’s plate. I like their taste, but do not care for their texture. The soup came with bread as well. What a tasty treat at C$ 6.

Manhattan clam chowder

Next was the desert. The lemon souffle offered sounded very nice and it was. Not only for the stomach, but also for our eyes.

Lemon Souffle

The next evening, we decided to go back once more, but this time with our children. We tried a few other items on the menu and everything was excellent.

My husband had the Lobster & Tender (Premium Filet Mignon, butter poached lobster and smashed potatoes) for C$ 35.

Lobster & Tender

Another unusual dish was the Danish Coconut (lamb fondue) at C$ 13. Everyone who tasted this – yes, we do share newly discovered food – loved it.

Danish Coconut

The Great Dane has the finest and most selective dishes. I wish we had a restaurant like this around here. This cuisine is a big bonus to Lunenburg and if I ever return, this restaurant would be part of the reason.

Aug 2, 2013

On the Road in Canada – Sailing in Lunenburg, NS

We booked four tickets on the Eastern Star for the afternoon turn, and the time we had on that boat was priceless.

The Eastern Star in dock

The Eastern Star

The boat has some history and this is what the skipper told us (scribbled down in my notebook):

The boat, built in 1948, originates from Denmark. In its early days, it was mostly used for smuggling, and also ran under three different names in three different countries.

Eventually the sailors were caught smuggling, and the boat was confiscated by the Halifax authorities in the 60s or 70s. The local authorities used it for a number of years until they auctioned it off.

The next owner had it for a few years until the boat suffered heavy damage in a storm. The insurance company paid for the storm damage, but not for the consequential damage (new flooring, etc.) He then went bankrupt and was forced to sell it.

The current owner bought it in the 90s.

My husband had sailed before and enjoyed getting his hands on the rope and wheel of the boat. The skipper and his crew woman got us involved (if we wanted to) and the whole ride was a lot of fun. The photo shows our son on the wheel.

helpers on board

We had picked an overcast afternoon, and we were glad to have brought extra clothing. There are extra blankets on board as well. Can you see the silver lining?

As we had boarded, we ended up sitting on the left side, which the skipper explained would be the low side going out. I had no idea what he really meant and just smiled. By the time, we were out on the ocean, I knew what low side meant. Similar to hanging on to dear life on a roller coaster ride. Well, not quite, but close enough. I had the time of my life!

As we were taking the bend and sailing back, we were advised to switch sides to sit on the high end. It had the advantage of having two free hands to take photos. On the way out, I had only used my hands to hold on and not slide through the railing. It was not quite like that, but it seemed this way at times. The flow of adrenaline was something else.

Nearing the shore, the skipper had to do his usual work and was able to tell us the boat’s story.

Eastern Star skipper

Lunenburg has a lot to offer and this is one place I would consider returning to. I might easily like new places, but I am very picky about the ones I would return to.

reaching the harbor

– Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind.-
(Chinese proverb)

Jul 31, 2013

On the Road in Canada – Restaurants in Halifax

We reached Halifax fairly late in the day and checked into our hotel. Afterwards, we walked down to the waterfront in search of a restaurant at 8:30.

We found one, but were greeted at the door with “I’m sorry, it is past the time. We can’t serve minors.” Our teenage (one underage) children were not really into drinks, just some decent food.

When the second place turned us away, we asked a bit more. Most restaurants have a license which allows them to serve food to minors until 9 p.m. As we arrived after 8:30, our children were too late to be served before that time.

One of the waitresses, after I inquired where in Halifax we could get something to eat, suggested two places she knew of which served children past 9 p.m. One of them was Salty’s (on 1869 Upper Water Street) and unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the other restaurant anymore. Both seem to be a rarity in Halifax, though.

Anyway, Salty’s is a good restaurant right on the waterfront. We sat outside and as usual, we ordered three dinners and shared it among the four of us. We learned from traveling around that most portions are too big anyway and food gets wasted.

Halifax waterfront

We were tremendously relieved to have found a place to eat, so when the waiter suggested to get a pitcher of beer, we did not hesitate to order one. We had almost downed it when he suggested getting another one. By then we were happy enough to have another one.

Then it came time to pay. When I saw the bill, I started laughing. Or maybe I was crying, difficult to say. Both pitchers cost us C$ 57,90. Then the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) of 15% gets added on. This brings the beer to a total of C$ 66.59. When we add on the 20% tip, we have a new total of C$ 80.

In Germany, the average cost of a liter of beer (a.k.a. Maß) is around 8 euro = C$ 11,– including tax.

So three dinners, two pitchers of beer, and one 7-Up totaled C$ 125.93 and then we left a C$ 20 tip.

Before we got ready to pay, we were going to leave the second pitcher with half the beer behind. After I saw the charge, I drank it all.

What did I learn from this? Running a restaurant and serving minors past 9 p.m. requires a costly license. This in turn gets charged back to the customer.

Advice:

* If you are coming in late to Halifax by plane, eat your airline food. Running around Halifax trying to find a restaurant which serves your family is not very amusing after a full day of traveling.

* Ask your hotel receptionist for a list of licensed-to-serve-minors restaurants. We would have if we had known about this regulation.

Jul 27, 2013

On the Road in Canada – St. Martins

After leaving Sussex and before heading to Halifax for our ninth stopover, we took a break in St. Martins along the coast.

It is a small village with close to 400 residents and about 200 buildings (private homes, restaurants, shops, etc.).

It was a hot day and only a few vendors lined the parking area near the shore. We bought some hot dogs from that lady, found a shady place to sit and eat, and adjusted our eyes to the shimmering heat.

Hot dog vendor

After walking around the village, we went down to the rocky beach. We also watched a lady hurt herself slipping on these slimy rocks, so good footwear is essential.

This quaint village is on the Bay of Fundy and 40 km east of Saint John.

Founded in 1783 by Loyalists (like many others in the area), it was first known as Quaco. Throughout the 19th century, the community was an important shipbuilding center.

Nowadays, tourism and book shops are the major industry. The tourist sites include covered wooden bridges, sea caves, and a crescent-shaped beach.

covered bridge in St. Martins

In 2007, the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly officially proclaimed St. Martins as New Brunswick’s official Book Town. Therefore, most gift shops also sell books.

Maritime equipment gives a colorful touch to this otherwise quiet community.

lobster buoys

more buoys

maria-shipley.de Webutation

Jul 16, 2013

On the Road in Canada – St. Andrews

This is our fourth move in four days, so yes, we have the tendency to leave our suitcases unpacked. Just give me a chair to hoist my suitcase on, and I’ll take it from there.

St. Andrews is a quaint little town and a bit touristy. It’s a busy place on the weekend, but the roads and sidewalks are quite deserted by Sunday evening when the last of the tourists have left.

This is St. Andrews on a lazy Saturday afternoon, right around lunch time.

St. Andrews Main Street

St. Andrews mural

Sunday morning, I had the wonderful idea for all of us to walk around town a bit in 33 C temps. After 2 1/2 hours of treking, we finally reached the eatery “The Clam Digger”, where we stopped to have lunch and rest our tired body and semi-fried brain.

According to the family, this was the best seafood they’ve had so far. For once, I tried something different from seafood. I had a BBQ Pulled Pork Burger, which I had not had for almost 30 years.

BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich

When I ordered the food, I also asked the server if she could call us a cab. Neither one of us was able nor willing to walk back to the inn. “This will cost you an arm and a leg!”, she said. Just then, a customer behind us offered us a ride back into town.

What a relief! I mean, I would have gladly paid an arm and a leg if I thought I had any extremities left. But it was the kindness of the man to take complete strangers into his car, which restored any tired thoughts I might have had earlier.

Then the gentleman asked his friends to split up our group in two cars. My daughter and I ended up with a lobster fishing couple for very good company.

We were so glad to see our inn again. So were our feet when they saw the bed.

For dinner, we went to the restaurant “Lobster Gables” on Main Street. What a treat! More about that in the next post.

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Review for The Great Dane in Lunenburg, NS, Canada

On the Road in Canada – Sailing in Lunenburg, NS

On the Road in Canada – Restaurants in Halifax

On the Road in Canada – St. Martins

On the Road in Canada – St. Andrews

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