The Parrsboro shore (a bit of it, anyway): a great daytrip for a blustery day
(Click on any photo for a much larger view.)
T.S. Eliot was right.
April is the cruellest month — especially in Nova Scotia. What snow remains by then is dirty and crusty, and when April showers begin, everything turns into a sea of slush.
March and February vie for a close second in the cruel competition, but November isn’t too far behind.
It’s that limbo time of year, when the glory of autumn has come to an end and the joys of winter snow (yes, there are joys of winter snow) usually haven’t yet graced our corner of the world.
Most of the province’s museums are closed until spring, and other seasonal attractions have long since shut their doors.
If you’re like me, November’s the time of year when settling in with a book and a cup of tea pretty much trumps any other possible activity.
But I’ve decided not to let winter keep me in hibernation this year.
So, the other day, I set out with my trusty travelling companion, bound for the Parrsboro shore. The day was not promising. The sky was ominous, it was spitting rain and blowing a fearsome gale.
Somewhere near Enfield, we considered turning around and heading back home.
“What are we doing?” I said, panicking. “It’s November. No one wants to go anywhere! No one wants to do anything!”
But we stuck with it. And I’m glad we did.
Our first stop along Highway 2 was at the Masstown Market, in – you guessed it – Masstown.
This place has everything one could possibly need. Impossibly enormous parsnips? Check. Peanut butter balls? Check. Gifts for your grandmother? Check.
If you’re in need of Christmas decorations or Christmas-themed gifts, this is the place to go. Masstown Market has every Santa, reindeer, angel, elf and tree bauble imaginable – and plenty that aren’t even imaginable. (Glass pickle ornament, anyone?)
While you’re there, make sure you head across the parking lot to the Catch of the Bay Fresh Fish Market, housed in a lighthouse, and climb all the way to the top for a view of the surrounding area.
Just a few kilometres down the road, we stopped in Great Village to take a peek in some of the antique shops.
I’m no antique hound, but I could easily have whiled away a couple of hours in one enormous shop alone, picking though the toys, photographs, furniture, postcards, jewelry and books.
If you’re in the market for an ancient box of Alpha Bits signed by Wayne Gretzky — complete with cereal inside — put Great Village Antiques on your itinerary. They’re open until the end of December.
Our next stop was the Joy Laking Gallery in Portapique. Although it technically closed for the season Sept. 30, it’s open by chance or appointment year-round.
We tried our luck and found ourselves welcomed inside by Laking’s husband, Jim Wyatt.
Don’t be fooled by the folksy-looking garage; the gallery is actually in an extension on the house, and entering the gallery feels like entering Laking’s living room. In fact, it may actually be her living room.
An eager-looking golden retriever named Marsh (“Named after the swamp, ” says Wyatt) watched us eagerly from behind a French door as we looked around.
Laking’s vibrant and colourful acrylic, oil and watercolour paintings depict rural and urban scenes throughout Nova Scotia, and they were a welcome bright spot on an otherwise grey November day.
Another few kilometres down the road, in Upper Economy, we couldn’t resist the lure of That Dutchman’s Farm.
If the appeal of dozens of types of cheese isn’t enough, perhaps the upstairs antique store or the walking trails and animal park will convince you to stop in. Our only regret was that we didn’t buy a couple of dollars’ worth of grain as we set out to visit the ducks, swans, rabbits, sheep, pot-bellied pigs, goats, cows, guinea fowl and emus.
By this time, dusk was only an hour or so away, so we decided to forgo a hike on one of the trails at Five Islands Provincial Park and headed instead to Five Islands Lighthouse Park.
This picnic park is home to a pepper pot-style lighthouse, and offers a great view of Moose, Diamond, Long, Egg and Pinnacle islands.
Our brief foray outside on this blustery day was cut short by 80-kilometre-an-hour gusts of wind.
But November hasn’t defeated me yet.
This article originally appeared in The Chronicle Herald.
Day Tripper 
