VanRamblings was up early to begin a day of birthday celebration.
Overnight, for the second night in a row, there’d been a spectacular thunder and lightning storm, the rain pelting down with gale force velocity. Just the kind of overnight weather VanRamblings loves!
Still, upon arising, the skies were blue, the sun was shining. Another spectacular day in the Maritimes, and a great day full of promise in Annapolis Royal. And, did we mention, it is VanRamblings’ 60th birthday!
After our usual breakfast (granola, yogurt, blueberries, tiny home-baked muffin, and coffee), we headed over to the Market Square for the Farmers’ Market, the mid-week summer market about one-third the size of the spring, summer and fall Annapolis Royal weekend market. Upon our arrival at the Square, we spotted a gorgeous hand-crafted wall-hanging quilt, and were stunned to find the price was only $10! Needless to say, we’ve been admiring our tremendously-priced, and beautifully-crafted, purchase all day.
Over the course of the hour we spent at the market (there was an Acadian fiddle player that kept us enraptured), we also picked up a jar of Gilbert’s Cove crab-apple and cranberry jelly, and a glass jar of French Shore organic strawberry jam (nicely wrapped and now in our suitcase); a colourful print of a hand-painted depiction of Annapolis Royal, as well as a hand-printed ‘post card’ of the same (which we sent off to our friends, at work, in Vancouver); a tiny cinnamon bun and a couple of squares of milky fudge.
After returning home with our purchases, with camera in hand we headed out for a morning photo session, the results of which we hope to publish in a SlideFlickr photo slideshow presentation this weekend.
(VanRamblings, by the way, will be leaving Annapolis Royal at 8:35 a.m. this next Monday morning, after which we’ll spend a couple of days in Halifax before boarding the plane home on Wednesday, August 18th.)
Home for a late lunch (Corinne’s terrific feta cheese and olive salad), and out again for more picture-taking and sightseeing, and then home for a pre-dinner nap. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that we did a wash this afternoon, and hung the clothes on the line where they dried in nothing flat, and looked for all the world as if they’d been ironed (nothing like wearing a clean T-shirt that has been dried by the sun and a wafting breeze off the Annapolis River). We also played around a bit on our computer.
Once Corinne and VanRamblings were dressed for dinner in our finest duds, we headed over to the Café Restaurant Composé, a charming gourmet Viennese style restaurant with tremendous food and great service situated near, and overlooking the Annapolis River.
Maria was our server, a young, tremendously competent and engaging young woman who’s returned home for the summer on a break from her university studies and who, when she’s not working at the Café Composé, acts as the summer house manager at Annapolis Royal’s Kings Theatre.
Okay, okay, we won’t keep you in suspense any longer: on to dinner (have a look at Ruth’s photos). And yes, just in case you were wondering, we sat on the patio terrace overlooking the Annapolis River.
Corinne opted for the Lobster Risotto (rife with fresh-caught local lobster, scallops and shrimp), about which her praise was unending. VanRamblings had our heart set on the ‘Neptune platter’ — a huge serving of fresh-caught local haddock, Bay of Fundy scallops and locally acquired shrimp, presented in a delicate and creamy white wine sauce, with roasted potatoes, and carrots served with a low-fat zucchini purée. After coffee and dessert (warm, home-baked caramel apple pie and ice cream), we strolled along the boardwalk, and looked to the north eastern sky for the Perseid meteor shower, an annual birthday tradition in the VanRamblings household.
All and all, a low-key August 11th birthday in Annapolis Royal. “You’re finally beginning to relax,” Corinne suggested. And so we are, and so we are.
