Another Hidden Gem - Uncovered

Today’s hidden gem was a different kind of beach, Lawrencetown, out on the eastern shore of the H.R.M..  I enjoyed the great views of the harbor and the cargo operations from the bridge into Dartmouth. The first glimpse of the eastern shore headland, from a rise just outside of Sidney Crosby’s hometown of Cole Harbour, was breathtaking and I literally cooed out loud at the sight.  This promontory was rocky, marshy, and altogether wilder than the beaches around St. Margaret’s Bay, a good place for hiking and reflection, as we once again had the beach to ourselves on a cool, windy day.  Not even the usual surfers were in evidence.  I contemplated the wave action that had shaped and polished the thousands of stones and pebbles over years and decades, and enjoyed the sound of the ocean sucking the tide back out into itself.  To borrow a phrase from Bruce Cockburn, it sounded like dice rattling around in a cup ,and was strangely hypnotic.

Just past Lawrencetown beach, we stopped in at the Atlantic Dutch Shop, a quaint store of Dutch chocolate, European cheeses, and spices and flavorings from all over the world.  Kevin flirted with buying a pair of house slippers shaped like Dutch wooden shoes.  I’d like to say that good sense prevailed, but he was only thwarted because they didn’t come in his size.  He did use the stop at the Dutch Shop to buy a kind of Swiss Cheese.  Go figure!  The view from the hill the Dutch Stop sat on was worth the stop even without the world class sweets.  The vista seen from the nearby MacDonald house was equally stunning. After a great dinner and a sudden thunderstorm I had my first taste of carpet bowling, held weekly in the bowels of St. Luke’s United Church in Upper Tantallon.  While I was of no help whatsoever, my yellow ball team rallied to a late victory in the second game on a clutch shot by captain Roy Crump.  In the previous match however, his wife Margaret and her cronies had wiped the carpet with us.  Yet another sport, and another experience to add to my growing Maritimes resume. Editors Note: Saturday night (April 24th), Mark and Kevin will be at St. Luke's for games night.  Everyone is welcome.  The fun begins at 7pm.