So Paul's parents own this lovely cottage in Port Hood, Cape Breton. The story goes that each year they'd drive Erin out to school in Antigonish in September, and after dropping her off they'd vacation in Cape Breton. One year, they heard of a cottage that was possibly going to be listed for sale - and well, they saw it and fell in love. The rest is history? Well, sort of, but not quite.
Retired as they were, they were fortunate enough to spend the entire summer season out east - June through September...for upwards of 10 years. Or more.
I met and started dating Paul in November/December of 2000 - and the cottage was ALL I heard about ALL the time.
I vacationed in Cape Cod as a child, but honestly don't remember it too much - I remember the beach and the salty taste of the water; the "too much fish" on the menus and the lack of white vinegar (seriously, fish and chips and vinegar with no vinegar??) and well, I distinctly remember Provence town (mom! that woman has a 5 o'clock shadow!) But seeing a spot as a child is appreciated at a very different level than seeing it as an adult.
So in late July of 2001 I went out to Cape Breton and like my inlaws did, fell in love. Of course, the weather was stellar that year, and we had great company in Chantal, Colin and Rich - but I was awestruck by the beauty of the island, and the sincerety of the people.
The following summer we went again.
And the summer after, newly pregnant with Missy P we went out again (but first detoured to Halifax on a visit, with Tanya and her insignificant other.)
We skipped Peyton's first year, but returned when she was 18 months old in the summer of 2005. Two weeks this time, but unfortunately, the first week, well, sucked. Weather was not great, Peyton was super active and still very much in that "what's this and how would it feel in my mouth" stage. And worse yet, she became quite ill - double ear infection, we discovered after driving to the community hospital at 2:00AM; we feared that it was worse, but an emergency chest x-ray outruled the suspected pnemonia. Ya, no fun. The second week was much better though; her infection cleared, the sun came out, my mom flew out to join us all (Paul's parent's included) and all was good. Paul and I suspected I was pregnant during this time; of course, we had no idea what was in store for us. Ha.
So Leah & Paige came in the spring of 2006. We couldn't make it out east that year. I don't remember anything that we did that summer. Good thing I have the blog :)
Paul's parents told us in late 2006 (I believe) that they were listing the cottage for sale. As much as they loved the location (despite the 16 hr+ drive) and they had very fond memories, I think the place lost some of it's appeal. The land around was being developed, some of their summer friends were not consistently returning, our family was growing (and Erin & Peter were about to head down that path too) and they were starting to plan to spend a great deal of time away in the winter months too - so that all added up to: it's time to sell.
So it was listed, and we didn't make any plans to go in 2007. In fact, we thought we weren't going to ever go back - with three small kids? But towards the end of last year, there was a definitive regret. Paul's parents were kind enough to leave an open offer to us to return, but we just didn't think we'd be able to do it and keep our sanity. But once our window of opportunity came and went, we thought - why not? And so was born the idea of attempting to bring out the family in the summer of 2008, if the cottage had not yet sold.
It's September now, so we've gone and come back, and while the trip there and back wasn't easy, Paul & I are so happy we did it! And while we sincerely hope - for the sake of Paul's parents - that the place does find it's buyer, if it hasn't sold by next July, you'll find the 5 of us down at the life guard beach in lovely little Port Hood, enjoying the Idle Tyme.
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