Yes, Nova Scotia is the “spiritual” home of the wonderful cold-smoked salmon — beloved by New Yorkers — known as “Novy.” HG/BSK buy Novy at By the Bay Fish Mart in St. Peters, Prince Edward Island. Very inexpensive. HG/BSK dine on many pounds during their stay on the Island. On a clear day, you can see Nova Scotia from PEI’s beaches. The province produces many good things. HG’s pre-dinner drink always has a base of Blue Lobster Vodka produced by Nova Scotia Spirit Co. It’s the best and at 80 proof carries a wallop. (The spirit has won many international prizes). BSK’s favorite cheese is Feta produced in Aylesford, Nova Scotia, by Holmestead. The company’s motto is “Far away taste made here at home.” The Feta is crafted using traditional hands-on artisanal techniques to produce an authentic Mediterranean taste evocative of Greek and Bulgarian Feta. BSK stuffs omelets with the cheese and showers BSK’s salads of home grown tomatoes and cucumbers with this flavorful Feta. HG/BSK have happy memories of dining at Maple, a great restaurant (long closed) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The chef was Michael Smith who went on to renown as the host of a Canadian TV cooking program. Currently, he and his wife own and run the beautiful Inn at Bay Fortune on PEI. As expected, the cuisine is extraordinary. HG/BSK and family have enjoyed his special multi-course feasts where everything but the freshly shucked (all you can eat) Colville Bay oysters, is cooked over wood fires.
Just discovered your travel musings while looking up Santa Fe shops that carry PEI mussels! On our way home to Galisteo and already missing our routine of hake, haddock or mussels with a bit of mackerel or Island beef on the off night. May and our return to PEI seem far away.
Thank you for your writing. I’ll start at the beginning and pick up lots of ideas for road trip restaurants on our way back next spring.
P.S. Love your prose and your memories. I feel the same nostalgia when I listen to the playlists for Bob Bittner’s Memory stations in Boston and Mid-Coast Maine on our drives up and back.
Thank You!