Showing posts with label Pictou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pictou. Show all posts

Saturday, August 13, 2011

The Kidnapped Duck from Piper’s Landing

Marble Mountain (A) to Pictou (B)

Dan's maple-glazed salmon.

Four wooden ducks displayed on high shelf.

Wooden duck with note.
We ventured down to Pictou  this morning—about 100 miles southwest of Marble Mountain (see map) to enjoy the Hector Festival that celebrates the spirit of the first Scottish settlers who arrived in Pictou in 1773 aboard the ship Hector.

After a busy day experiencing reenactments, music, touring the Hector and genealogy, we drove out to Piper’s Landing, a restaurant on Pictou Harbor for dinner.  The restaurant is furnished with antiques and has large windows that provide a spectacular view over the harbor.  Dan’s choice of maple-glazed salmon and my choice, their signature seafood casserole, were both excellent. 

While waiting for our meal to be served, I noticed four wooden ducks displayed on a high shelf.  One duck’s head was covered by a hood  to which a note was attached.  This piqued my curiosity and I asked the waitress about it. 

A while back the owners, Brenda and Matt, noticed that one of the four ducks was missing and mentioned that the duck had been stolen.  After several months, the duck suddenly reappeared—left at the front of the restaurant in a paper bag with the following note attached:

Brenda and Matt
(Mom and Dad):
 Ransom is not so bad.....I’ve been treated very well—fed good, etc.  I can’t tell you who did this as I’ve been blindfolded the whole time—don’t even know what town I was in.  I’m glad to be back home though.  My name is now changed to “Humphry”.


So the duck wasn’t stolen after all, just kidnapped


http://piperslandingrestaurant.com

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Off to Pictou, Nova Scotia

We’re off to Pictou, Nova Scotia for the weekend.  Pictou is located on the Northumberland Shore of Nova Scotia and is considered the “birthplace of Nova Scotia or new Scotland”.  It is here that the first settlers arrived on the ship Hector in 1773. 

There is a Hector Festival this weekend celebrating the region’s Celtic music and heritage and recognizing the role the Ship Hector played in Canadian history.

Lots of activities: singers, dancers, pipers and fiddlers, a  Highland Dance competition, The Calling of the Pipes, crafts, food.  We think it’s going to be fun gadding about in Pictou.