Zig Zag Rock

 July 9. 2023

Castle Lake CG site 200

Arcadia, NS (Yarmouth area)

Today's mission was to locate the zig zag rock. One of Mother Natures artistic works.  Jennifer at Cape Forchu Lighthouse had shown a picture of a beautiful, unique rock formation that she said was located near Mavillette Beach.  

There are many types of beaches we have discovered.  Our first beach was the rocky beach in St. Martins.  Momma had collected a few of those rocks...unique pieces of nature.  Our second beach encounter was a mud beach at Five Island.  Momma collected some of that as well, but not on purpose.  It clung to shoes...messy!  Today's beach was the fine sugar sand that you can have a problem getting traction on as you tend to sink in as you step.  That sand can be collected inside your shoes as it seeps in over your shoe tops...unless you go barefoot as Auntie Carol did.  Way to go!!

To access the beach, you have to go over the dunes which means up the sandy stairs

And down the stairs on the other side of the dunes.

 

And if it is low tide, there is plenty of beach to walk on.

Okay, the next question is...which way to the zig zag rock.  Uncle Steve did some information gathering for us.

What he found out was, these people were tourists as well and hadn't even heard of the zig zag rock.

But the coastline looked interesting to our right so we got back on Hwy 1 and headed further up the coastline where we found ....

another lighthouse to rate.  High score for functioning.  Average architectual score.

I only wish the photos would do the coastline justice.  It is just breath-taking in person, even with the fog.

But the sea can be a dangerous foe and has taken many lives.  There was a memorial with engraved names of those who had lost their lives to the sea.  Many at quite a young age.

No sign of a zig zag rock so onward to Smugglers Cove.

Time for a change of stategy.  Let's visit the Visitor's Information Center. 

The Information Center is located on the campus of the only French College in Nova Scotia (although there are satellite locations).  Luckily, the attendant was fluent in English as well as French but....she had never heard of the zig zag rock.  As it turns out, she is a recent graduate from high school who will be starting her 5 year program at the college to become a teacher.  

She invited us to tour the history museum housed in the building and she also shared a FANTASTIC recommendation for a restaurant.

 It looked like we were entering a house

which I guess is appropriate as they served home cooked meals.

The owner Nadine, was our hostess and waitress.

One of the items on the menu was Rappie Pie, a local Acadian dish made from potatoes and chicken.  It sounded interesting but Nadine cautioned us that 90% of the tourists don't like it as it reminds them of glue.  They do, however, offer a sample size for those who are still curious.  Momma had read about it so ...
Everyone tried it with a range of impressions.  Dad loved it and dug right in.  Momma decided it wasn't something she could eat alot of, but it was good.  Uncle Steve said....

well, a pic is worth a thousand words

And Aunt Carol tried a teeny, tiny bit on her fork and never returned for more.

Not only did Nadine offer delicious meals...Uncle Steve enjoyed his Haddock dinner even if Rappie Pie was not to his taste.... but she knew where to locate the zig zag rock.  "If you had walked about 15 minutes to your left on the beach...."  

Nadine also knew which beach was an excellent source for collecting sea glass...and she had collected many pieces.

Nadine's husband is the pie maker for the restaurant while Nadine makes the cheesecakes.  We observed a piece of coconut pie heading for another table so when Nadine asked if anyone was interested in dessert,  all hands went up.  The Griffin's shared a slice as did the Hime's.  Dad raved about the crust and Momma raved about the filling.  Aunt Carol was pleaed with real whipped cream topping sprinkled with toasted coconut. Uncle Steve was savoring every morsel.   Excellent presentation as well as taste. On a scale of 1 - 10, it scored 11++.

I guess it might be a good thing this is our last night in this area.  Too much temptation for more pie here.  The thoughts are that the cheesecake would be to die for also, but we aren't here long enough to confirm that.

As our food digested, Aunt Carol and Momma enjoyed touring the rest of the rooms in the restaurant house.  There was lots of artwork and decor tastefully on display.  Just check out this sliding door Nadine crafted.

In addition to running the restaurant, they also have two container Airbnb's by the water.

This couple has figured out that if you work hard during the spring/summer, you can enjoy the winters .....ready for it....in Florida.   This is the second couple who have chatted with who winter in our sunny home state.  

You never know, we may run into them this winter in the south?!?

I'm Chloe

PS:  Too bad we didn't take a picture of Jennifer's picture of that Zig Zag Rock.  Now it will become just a forgotten memory.