Nova Scotia is not new to hurricanes or tropical storms. In 2003 Hurricane Juan made landfall just south of Halifax and ploughed through the province causing millions of dollars in damages. Most homes were okay but others suffered damage from trees, stripped off shingles and siding and smashed windows. An emergency worker was killed when a tree fell on his ambulance.
Yesterday in Nova Scotia bottled water is being stripped from grocery shelves and generators are becoming a scarce commodity. With Juan in mind the people of Nova Scotia are stocking up on non-perishables and preparing for a long-term loss of power.
Hurricane Earl strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm on Monday after ripping through the northeast Caribbean islands. It is expected to hit the U.S. East Coast tomorrow.
New York’s Long Island coast is now added to the list of areas under a tropical storm warning as Earl barrels toward the Eastern Seaboard. In addition, the National Hurricane Center also issued a hurricane watch Thursday for areas of Massachusetts and a tropical storm watch for other parts of the state and several places in Maine. This means travel advisories and evacuation preparations are in place for the American south Atlantic.
“I have, since 1969 . . .started to branch out from the money pit are with exploration and I have found evidence as much as 180 meters away from the money pit area where . . .people have worked deep in the ground.”
Dan Blankenship – partner in an ownership group of Oak Island.
Dan Blankenship is a very patient man. How patient, you may ask? Try waiting 41 years for a permit to dig for the lost Oak Island treasure. What is invigorating for Blankenship is that the province of Nova Scotia plans to repeal the outdated Treasure Trove Act and create an Oak Island Act and enable him to finally begin digging for the elusive treasure
What the province wants to nip in the bud is the growing legion of treasure hunters who are pillaging the watery graves of ships, many of which are classed as War Graves. With the new act is still in the works so Blankenship is still not convinced that it will be his golden ticket to the elusive Oak Island Treasure. However, at least there is movement in his direction and he will know the details in the early fall.
For more information on the history of the Oak Island Treasure go to Oak Island Legend.
A week ago the government of Prince Edward Island and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) were getting a lot of flak for paying $1 million to bring up the Live! with Regis and Kelly to island of Green Gables. Of course anyone with any marketing sense at all knows that the only act bigger than Regis and Kelly is Oprah Winfrey and that makes them a draw even if they shot the show from inside a cave. In other words it was a remarkable coup and I hope the idea people get rewarded.
During the first of the projected four broadcasts of Live! With Regis and Kelly produced on Prince Edward Island, the province climbed almost to the top of the list of most-searched topics on Google in the U.S.
$1 Million: Not Really a Lot of Money Anymore
For those in the public who do not agree, let me explain this in dollars and “sense.” $1 million is not a lot of money anymore. With transportation and the production staff this amount probably doesn’t cover all the expenses, rather it covers the bases. The real advantage is the ratings the show gets when it is taken to a new location. This boosts television revenues.
P.E.I Regains its Place as a Tourist Draw
When Kelly Ripa came to P.E.I. she didn’t stay in her hotel room. Instead she went sightseeing and horseback riding. Then she told the world about how great the island is on her highly-rated shows. Regis wasn’t idle either. He went on a lobster boat and that little snippet probably gave a tremendous boost to the sagging lobster industry as a whole. And just think of the thousands of people who flocked to the island to get a peak of the dynamic duo.
(Kelly just told the viewing audience. . .”You should get on a plane and come here now. . .This is really that great of a place!”)
Nova Scotia Spin-Offs
For many tourists coming to P.E.I. would include a tour of Nova Scotia as well. So even though this province is not getting the direct benefits of Regis and Kelly the whole Atlantic region is reaping the rewards from the publicity. This includes secondary markets such as transportation, B & B’s and hotel rooms. And this is sorely needed when the Nova Scotia tourism industry has taken the hits of a dismantled southern ferry service and a depressed American economy.
Whatever your private thoughts on television celebrities Regis and Kelly coming to Prince Edward Island it is definitely causing a stir in all of Atlantic Canada. Despite the price tag of $1 million the spin-offs from having the small province hi-lighted on a major U.S. daily show like LIVE! With Regis and Kelly for 4 whole days will be noticeable in a time of shrinking tourism dollars.
From her arrival Kelly Ripa has been expounding the virtues of P.E.I especially the mussels which have been a favorite of hers well before she had ever heard of Prince Edward Island. It seems that P.E.I. mussels are a stale of New York cuisine.
Fans began braving the rain on Sunday evening to get the best seats for the first of a scheduled four of the LIVE! With Regis and Kelly shows to be broadcast from the Charlottetown waterfront this week. There are approximately 3,000 seats for each show. By 7 a.m. this morning more than 1,000 people were at Confederation Landing Park and more were streaming in. There will be sporadic rain until Wednesday.
For more up-to-date info go to Regis and Kelly.
(Note: Four members of the R.C.M.P just escorted them out on stage and the rain has held off!)
White Point Vacation Home is in full swing for the summer and is about to open the Rumrunner Suite. This suite is dedicated to the wild bunch of Nova Scotia fisherman who made a good living during the days of American Prohibition in the late 1920′ s and early 1930’s by providing Canadian whiskey and rum to American buyers.
Most of the decor has been refinished including the tongue-and-groove interior doors and closets as well as the walls.
The Rumrunner Suite has its own private deck overlooking the orchard and you can hear the ocean crashing against the rocks below. It also features a King-bed and a full kitchen so you can get cooking as soon as you get there.
And like the Captain’s Deck and Beachcomber suites the Rumrunner is only 200 yards from the gold course at White Point Beach Resort.
From its beginnings as a hunting and fishing lodge in 1928 to its present-day clientele of people from all over the world White Point Beach Resort has seen the incursion of all types of people from the wealthy to soldiers guarding the South Shore coast in World War II. You can see many of the pictures of early White point Beach Lodge, from 700 pound tuna on a Liverpool dock to bathers from 1912. Now many of the back stories of the great property will be chronicled in new book by Lunenburg County author Frances Dickson.
“It’s people who make history come alive,” said Dickson, who was in Queens County last week conducting research for the book, Destination White Point (working title).
Dickson, a long-time visitor to the resort, has seen many people come and g, and many who keep coming back. In fact, the resort has a few multi-generational families who come year-after-y – some for as long as 50 years or more.
And not only are the visitors on Dickson’s radar. A key source of her information is the staff, some of whom that worked at the resort as far back as the 1930s. In fact there are a few third generation employees at White Point.
As a frequent visitor to the Banff Springs Hotel in the 1970’s I often see the parallels between the two historical resorts. Although the Banff Springs is 40 years older the present version is the same age as White Point Beach Lodge because the original wooden structure in the Banff township was destroyed by a fire in 1926 and the new hotel opened in 1928, the same year as the Nova Scotia lodge. And both are said to be haunted!
Although having many stories to sort through, for the next several weeks and maybe into early summer Dickson is still looking for people to relay their White Point tales and stories. She is also on the hunt for photos that staff or guests may have taken over the years.
Anyone interested in communicating with Dickson can contact her by phone, (902) 766-4016; email, fjewel@eastlink.ca; or through White Point. Her website is www.voicesetc.ca
As “Restaurant of the Year” in 2005 the Quarterdeck Grill ranks as one of the top 10 restaurants in Nova Scotia gaining a reputation as the Sandy South Shore’s finest for fresh seafood. One of the favorites is fresh lobster tails stuffed with scallops and shrimp. In addition, planked salmon, a famous dish on the South Shore, is salmon fillet seasoned and then grilled against a wood slab in an outdoor wood fire pit. They also prepare great pastas, steaks and grilled fresh fish.
While the food is fabulous the oceanside view is amazing. And if the weather is not to your liking you can dine inside or outside on the Grill’s all-weather covered deck.
The wine list is unending and dessert includes a Triple Chocolate Fix, or authentic Blueberry Cobbler.
So, while you are enjoying your stay at White Point Vacation Home hop over the the Quarterdeck and see the sea from a different angle while enjoying a great dinner.
As the builder of the manor house at White Point, Angus Doggett was the local fish buyer and set up shop at Hunt’s Point Wharf. When the American Prohibition Act was passed in 1920 this turned a relatively-steady, sea-going South Shore area into a hot bed of activity.
To slake the thirst of the American Speak-Easy’s the Canadian liquor industry went fuill-bore into production. However, since most of the land transportation links were closely guarded the purveyors of booze looked to the experienced sea captains to deliver their precious cargos. This not only filled the coffers of the liquor barons but also spawned a newed boom in ship-building.
Over the years Angus Doggett and his heirs were known as rum runners and the manor house was their headquarter. It is even rumoured that Al Capone met with Dogget on one occassion as the gangster was headed to his liquor warehouses on St. Pierre-Miqulon in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Today, Doggert and many of his family are buried in the little cemetery on the 4th fairway at White Point Golf Course.
In honour of Angus Doggett, White Point Vacation Home has named their third suite the “Rum Runner.” The old kitchen still echoes with talk to run running deals while up in the loft the tongue-and-groove beadboard leaves no doubt that the home was built by shipwrights.
Check out the Rum Runner Suite at White Point Vacation Home.
Yes, Virginia, wine is made in Nova Scotia from locally-grown grapes. In fact there are 10 wineries in all.
Because the province is situated in one of the climate limits for vines Nova Scotia has had a long history for growing grapes for wine, in fact back to the 1600s. In fact, Nova Scotia was one of the first areas in North America to cultivate grapes. So it it with a sad feeling that the owners of St-Famille Wines Ltd of Falmouth, in the north Annapolis Valley region, announce that they are passing their great winery to a new generation.
St-Famille Wines has been in the grape business for 31 years, bottling wine for 21 of those years. Suzanne Corkum, president and vinter at Sainte-Famille Wines announced this week that she and her husband Doug are listing the winery for $1.9 Million CDN. In a classic case of “grow or go” they have decide that, at their respective ages, they should look to a new generation of vinters to build the winery to market expectations.
The price of the winery includes:
- 20 acres of grape-growing land fitted out for the vines
- Warehouse and wine making facilities
- Beautiful home
- Wine exhibition area
- Gift shop
Corkum admits that the Nova Scotia Liquour Commissions new and lower mark-ups on locally-grown wines have really helped their business. “We’ve been in the liquour corporation since the end of August,” she says, “and already I can see the difference.” This means that many stores are now carrying the wine where before it was a large cottage industry.
Just when you think that nothing but a last-minute, back-room deal could save the sea route from the U.S. to Nova Scotia another great idea comes out of nowhere. Well, it seems like it came from there!
The Boston-Halifax Overnight Cruise Ferry Project team is considering several specific cruise ferries for a run from Boston to Halifax. As their website states says:
“Our group remains open to finding the right arrangement and the right partners. These range from chartering a ship with bridge and engine room crews to purchasing the ferry in a joint venture partnership with the ship owner. There are many possibilities. It is critical to the long term success of the venture that the team invest time now in getting the right vessel on the right financial terms.”
Unfortunately, it seems that 2011 is the earliest practical date for the service to start.
“The overnight ferry will depart each port in the afternoon and arrive in the morning at the other, with layover in either port during the day. This will give the traveler a sense of a “floating motel” in which much of the trip can be done while sleeping. Existing travel services often require hotel links on either or both ends, consuming extra travel time and additional cost. Should you want to bring your own car, ship layover will also allow vehicles to drive onto the waiting ship, instead of queuing up in assembly parking areas. Leaving the ship will also be less frantic due to on-board clearances and convenient parking layout.”
The ship will be a downtown-to-downtown service which means that travelers do not have to take a long bus ride to get to where the action is. The ship has not been chosen yet but will patterned after the successful European car ferry/cruise liners that join the Baltic countries with Great Britain, Germany and Denmark. These ships are small cruisers that feature bands, gambling but can hold up to 400 cars and 44 tractor/trailers along with 1300 passengers.
Will it fly? Well, it’s a good start. It takes the ball ut of the politicians’ hands and rolls it among the people. After a few years of lousy Cat service (and if there is a blank summer with no ferry in 2010 ) they will fill the vacuum.