K & L's Travel Blog

Shoreline Landing has suited our needs well. The view of the water is the star, and I can’t help but wonder if it has calming effect. Something has eroded my political anxieties as I had hoped. Just being in Canada is a big part, but I can almost feel myself relax listening to the sounds, watching the birds and noting the constantly shifting light off the bay.

The space is designed for two people, but it feels like plenty of room. There is an outdoor deck with two chairs, and an enclosed porch with windows that open onto Guysboro Bay. Again, it’s the water view that really makes this place, although the décor is eclectic and unique, the kitchen well-outfitted, the bed comfortable. And all in an aesthetically pleasing package and a perfect choice for us.

There’s a nice lawn surrounding the house and the Guysboro Waterfront Trail runs directly in front. The convenience of having an off-leash trail practically adjoining the house cannot be overstated!  The water changes daily. Today there are white tops with the high wind, but we’ve also had glass still water that reflects every color and fowl.

Kitty has made the most of the kitchen. She’s cooked up chicken with sweet potatoes, a lentil salad, breakfast spectacular with eggs and bacon, and a curried chicken salad. She has also discovered an air fryer, an appliance that I suspect might be in our future. Wasn’t that chicken fried?

The town boasts a lot of history, with numerous lovingly restored homes and buildings. Sadly, these are interspersed with a number of abandoned businesses: what looked like a lively pub and a fishmonger were among the empty. There’s still a nice little café that we’ve yet to visit but fully expect to: The Castaway Café on the waterfront looks like a perfect, dog-friendly hang-out. There’s a highly respected pizza place boasting salads that I expect we’ll enjoy. If we wanted fancy, there’s a hotel serving suppers. The most going business in the town seems to be a distillery on the outskirts. They rent yurts and I’ve read about a dog-friendly outdoor field there where canines congregate. We will be checking that out.

It feels like a great choice for our purposes. The vibe is just perfect.

I love the happy go lucky travel feel but aging does add anxiety.   For example, Lorena and my short term memory is wobbly.  At home, everything is so routine and fixed that the need for STM is reduced.  But traveling like this requires the little gray cells to flex.  For example,  Lorena almost left her lapis ring in a motel room.  That shook us up.  I spent 45 min hunting for my glasses one morning only to find them in the bedside table.  The door of the cabin has a key pad lock.  The code is 1971.  Lorena and I reminisced about 1971 in an effort to remember the code.  One day in trying to gather all items to go out on a hike (a feat in itself) I dash back into the  house and punch in the code.  It doesn’t work, I try again, it doesn’t work.  The frustration and shame mount, “I can’t remember anything.” Then I realized I had neglected to lock the door in the first place.  I try  to remember to be kind to myself.  But as I write this out I realize the younger Kitty would we howling with laughter at myself.  That is the happy part of traveling that is so much fun.

I think that we had an equal amount of screw ups, forgotten items and confusions in our younger travel days but as you grow older the fear of the future makes the events seem more significant. Once again travel invites introspection. Here’s to the confident and secure Kitty and Lorena.