Update to yesterday’s Cape Breton post

First, I need to update yesterday’s post and give you the right contact info for our incredible guide, Dan the Man. After looking at Dan’s business card and talking to Mike, it appears that Mike booked the tour with Blackwell Tours, but Dan just contracts with them. He has his own company, Sydney Adventure Tours. His name is Dan McKinnon. Do Dan a big favor and book him on his own website (that’s the link in red). That way, he and his family get the total amount you pay for the tour as well as any tip you give him. And, of course, I know you all tip your guides very well ?. Also, if you book him there, you are guaranteed to get Dan. If you book with Blackwell or through a company like Viator you can get any guide they contract with. You want Dan.

Shelburne—the little village that couldn’t

Yesterday, we were in the tiny village of Shelburne, Nova Scotia…for about 20 minutes. In fact, I think the time we stopped there was less than the time we took to tender in from the ship. Okay, I am exaggerating. But not by much. But even in his daily talk, our cruise director said that Shelburne “is a cute little village you can see in under an hour.” He was right.

We arrived off Shelburne around 11:00 a.m., and the ship had the first tenders running into the port within minutes. Most people, like us, had lunch on the ship and let those who wanted to rush in get off before we went down to get on the tender. We headed down around 12:30. Kathleen decided to stay on board (I should have stayed too.)

Once we got to the port, we did a kind of cool thing that might be the best thing that happened yesterday. Mike had found a FREE app called PocketSites. You download it to your phone, and then it gives you free walking tours of thousands of ports around the world. Now, this isn’t going to work for big ports like Barcelona or Athens, but it might have a neighborhood walk you could take in some of those places. BTW: If you don’t want to use the app on your phone, you can also do it online. Their website explains how it works for the town and for you, the user. Besides the app is free, there are no ads. They make their money from towns that want to post tours of their attractions.

We had all downloaded the app, and when we arrived, we just started walking the route. At each historical site, we could see a photo (to make sure we were at the right place), and there was a description of what we were seeing. Some of the sights had some in-depth stuff as well. As I was reading one aloud to some of our party, a local woman walked by and asked me to repeat what I said about a particular place and then told me, “Really? I had no idea that was what it was used for.” So, the app really knows its stuff.

The entire tour of Shelburne has 24 stops. When we got off the tender, we were right in front of number 11, so we started there. The entire tour took us under an hour. Mainly because there really was not that much to see. There are a lot of historical buildings painted with really interesting colors that date back to the 1700s. There are two pioneer museums, but both charged admission so we decided to skip them. The buildings that housed them were pretty small, so we weren’t sure of the value. Others I spoke to after we got back on board had done the museum and told me we were right to skip it.

The locals did try really hard to make everyone feel welcome. A few dressed in period costumes and led tours. I kind of felt sorry for my fellow cruises who purchased walking tours here in Shelburne from Vista. They, too (like the folks who paid to get in the museum), probably did not get their money’s worth. I felt bad for the village because if cruise ships coming there were supposed to boost the city economically, it wasn’t working. There were very few shops and restaurants, and most were empty. Especially since the ship had arrived so late and people had eaten lunch before they left the ship. Usually, when I get back on a tender, there would be all kinds of people holding bags of stuff they had purchased in port. Yesterday, I saw one person with a small bag who told me she bought two small bars of homemade scented soap. Most people who got off walked the waterfront, took some photos and went back on the next tender.

And speaking of photos, I had hoped to get some super photos in Shelburne based on pictures I had seen. Sadly, many of those photos I had seen were taken from a boat in the middle of their small harbor. I didn’t have a boat, so those wouldn’t work. Not to mention the fact that the skies were the blankest shade of white. Nothing flattens out a day of photography like flat, white skies. Here are the few I feel comfortable showing you. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and feel free to look at these on your phone. They are that sad.

Pizza Night on Vista

Last night (after our Shelburne adventure), we decided to have a pizza party. In the evening, Vista’s Wave’s Grille (where you can get burgers, paninis and hot dogs during the day) turns into a pizzeria. So we decided to grab our usual table in the back of the buffet and have a pizza night. It was awesome. We started with salads from the buffet. Then we headed to the pizzeria to order. They make eight different pizzas and will customize those for you. So we ordered seven of them, plus a BBQ beef flatbread (that was amazing), some Chianti, and a beer for Mike, and we had a great meal. I have never tried so many different kinds of pizza and I have never been so stuffed. But everyone agreed it was a superb way to do dinner. Just something to think about doing on Vista.

Unless you are a pizza, the answer is yes, I can live without you. —Bill Murray