Lighthouse Hunting and Factory Restauranteering

I didn’t get up until around 9:30AM as a result of our late night at the theater.  At 11:30AM Carol Ann and I, accompanied by Stoney and Claudia, took off for the western end of the island with a map showing the locations of lighthouses.  It was further than expected and took longer than I had planned (it didn’t help that Stoney kept reminding me of the speed limit and following too closely).  We drove about 80 miles but had to turn around before reaching the North Cape lighthouse on the northern tip of the island in order to be back in time for a group dinner at 6:00PM.  We did manage to find two lighthouses.  One wasn’t very impressive, as it had no light.  It was what they call a “range marker.” The other one was on an island and was too far out to get a good photo.  We were back at the RV park one hour before we had to leave for dinner.  I took a 20-minute power nap and then a very hard rain accompanied by high winds hit unexpectantly.  I was afraid it was going to tear the patio awning from the motorhome but I managed to retract it before any damage was done.  The storm didn’t last very long but we couldn’t leave for dinner until it was over which was going to make us late.  When we got out on the highway we realized that we were going to be even later.  The storm had knocked out the power for a few minutes and a traffic light was having a seizure resulting in a long traffic jam in which we were stuck.  We did an excellent job of upholding our reputation for being last.  Everyone else was already in the restaurant and seated by the time we arrived. 

The dinner was at Fisherman’s Wharf in North Rustico, a small village a few miles from Cavendish.  When we pulled into the parking lot there were at least three, and maybe four, tour busses parked in the lot.  The restaurant was huge, seating at least 400 to 500 people, and it was full and extremely noisy.  My first thought was “I hate these kinds of restaurants” because they are so busy and loud.  I may have coined a new phrase by calling it “factory restauranteering.”  The food, however, was rather good and the service excellent and fast.  We had a choice of lobster, shrimp, or haddock and there was a buffet of appetizers, salads, and desserts.  If you used your elbows properly it was easy to make it through the crowd to the buffet.  For our entrée, Carol Ann and I had the fried shrimp.  We also had Margaritas to help alleviate the craziness of the place. 

Once everyone was back at the RV park we attended a farewell “social” in the park’s clubroom.  It was actually a little tough saying goodbye after having been together for 48 days so there were a lot of jokes cracked about things that happened on the trip or the quirkiness of a few people (all in good fun).  I was afraid we were going to have to sing “Kumbaya” before we got out.

Tomorrow morning we will have breakfast together before heading off in all directions.  Carol Ann and I plan to leave at 10:00AM and drive to Houlton, ME where we have made reservations at My Brother’s Place (that’s the name of the RV park).  Although we have really enjoyed our time in Canada and the people we traveled with, we are looking forward to getting back to the good old US of A.