To the Atlantic and back; fiddling and touring
- Lisa Butchart
- Jun 19, 2019
- 3 min read
We have driven so often to Nova Scotia fro. Now that we are retired we can take our time and enjoy the scenery- and the fiddling. We set off this April and our first stop was in Sherbrooke Quebec. The Ile De Garde Bed and Breakfast was once part of a convent.
The session in Sherbrooke was at the coffee chop Baobab. The next day we drove to St. John , driving through picturesque Vermont to arrive in the New Brunswick port of St. John. Our accommodation was at the grand Chipman Hill Suites, a mansion once owned by the mayor of New Brunswick. The Cask and Kettle pub had a great session and I love the quote on the wall of the pub of the Irish President. "New Brunswick's example of peaceful co-existence is its greatest gift to Ireland." It is a reference of how the only officially bilingual province has peaceful relations between the francophone and anglophone citizens.
Halifax, like Sydney Nova Scotia, has many pubs that support traditional celtic music. You can either listen to some of Canada's top celtic musicians perform or join one of the many open sessions in the city. There are two on Sunday afternoon ,the oldest is at the Old Triangle and the musicians play for an Irish dance group. The second is in Durty Nelly's . On Tuesday the Old Triangle hosts another great open session . The Lion's Head Tavern in Halifax has a weekly Wednesday session that is particularly welcoming to beginner players. And EVERY night there is live entertainment to found with a lot of the top celtic musicians performing at various venues.
Dartmouth, the port city across Halifax Harbour has a charming pub called the Celtic Corner. I love taking the ferry across to Dartmouth and back, taking in the water views and watching the boat traffic of the busy port. The weekend we were there musicians played a tribute concert honouring Marc Boudreau, a talented young Cape Breton fiddler who sadly left us too soon. On Sundays the Celtic Corner has Fiddles and Fish performances and you can see top celtic musicians perform and enjoy the pub's fish and chip special. On most Mondays the pub hosts a Cape Breton session which is always a lot of fun.
We spent the week in Halifax, but decided to leave Sunday morning so we could stop at the Old Triangle pub in Moncton. What a fabulous place! The musicians were both French and English but as they say music is a universal language. Lots of Irish music and some Acadian tunes that were toe tapping treats!
After the afternoon session in Moncton we continued west and stayed the night in Grand Falls at the lovely Maples Bed and Breakfast in the picturesque town of Gran Falls . We enjoyed a great breakfast there. Usually I choose historic bed and breakfasts over commercial hotels but when we drove to Montreal that day we checked into the Comfort Inn as it was directly across the street from the pub Hurley's, a place that hosts Monday evening sessions. Once again there was both French and English speaking musicians (most were French) and they were all so welcoming and I assured them we would return again when we drive to Halifax and back again.
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