Fun Day Out

I've been feeling a bit restless the last week or so, and decided it was high time we got out of the city for a bit. I couldn't face yet another summer weekend going by, in which we did little but DIY work around the house. So on Friday, I decreed that we would down tools today and embark on a Grand Day Out.

Well, the day wasn't as exciting as all that, but we still had quite a fun time. We left home just after 11.00 and headed north for the Valley and the hamlet of Grand Pré. We planned on having lunch there, but the carpark of the café was heaving, so we killed an hour or so by visiting the Grand Pré National Historic Site - which I'd never been to, but A. had toured as a child. Anyway, it was interesting - though I was already pretty familiar with the history of the expulsion of the Acadians, and the Longfellow "Evangeline" connection.

Afterwards, we went over to the café at the Evangeline Motel (better known in the area as "Stirling's"). Neither of us had ever been there before, but we'd been planning to go for some time. You see, Stirling's has acquired a province-wide reputation for its homemade pies, so we felt compelled to investigate. Of course, pie in and of itself does not constitute a proper lunch, so I had a very good lobster sandwich to start. Then came the weighty decision of which pie to have. There were about ten different varieties on offer, all of which were made on the premises. In the end, A. went for the butterscotch pie (with meringue) while I had the cherry-raspberry. Both were delicious, and mine especially so. I'd never had that particular combination before - and in fact, I don't think I've ever had a cherry pie that wasn't made with that cherry-flavoured goo that comes out of a can. This pie was made with fresh fruit, and the pastry was absolutely excellent also. We'll be going back to Stirling's for pie again, I can tell you.

Well-fed, we jumped back in the car and headed off down the old Route 1, back towards Halifax. En route, we passed lots of backwater villages, which hummed with farming and boatbuilding activity a century ago, but which are now quite sleepy. Eventually, we reached Mount Uniacke and our destination for the afternoon, the Uniacke Estate Museum Park. This was yet another place that A. had last visited as a child, but which I had never seen, despite the fact that it is only a half-hour's drive from Halifax.

I really enjoyed it - the house was much, much better than I expected. It's in an astonishingly good state of preservation - built in 1815 as a summertime country house, it was owned by the Uniacke family until 1949, when it was sold to the province on the condition that it be maintained as a historic site. As a result, it contains all its original, early-nineteenth century furnishings, as well as mostly original decor. It was never modernised, so at the time of its sale, it had no central heating, indoor plumbing or electricity. The place was transferred over lock, stock and barrel - the tour guide told me that even the drawers of the bedroom furniture are still stuffed with old clothes, personal effects, and other household items. As was so often the case with upper-class families living in houses like these, nothing was ever thrown out. Anyway, I thought the house was extremely impressive, for a (then) colonial backwater like Nova Scotia! I might see about volunteering there in future - that way I could have a root around in those drawers (heh heh).

After we finished in the house, we went off on a jaunt around the property. There are four or five waymarked walking/hiking trails on the estate, which are what attract most of the visitors. We walked some of the easier trails for an hour or so - we'll have to come back in the autumn, when the leaves are turning, and do some of the longer walks then.

And then after that, we came home. :-)