La Scie
La Scie is a small town by most standards, but the largest
on the eastern end of the Baie Verte peninsula.
It has an arena, a ball field, a couple of gas stations and several
small stores, but no big shopping centres.
There are three places to eat, including the Outport Museum and Tea
Room, which unfortunately we didn’t get to visit (and the two reviewed in this blog). At the end of town is an RV park for camping,
near a beach. The next nearest large
centre is Baie Verte, about 45 minutes away.
The harbour is dominated by a fish plant, but with the cod
moratorium, the plant was closed.
Although fishing is still a big industry in the town, everything is now
shipped out for processing.
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| Entering La Scie | Scenes from La Scie |
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| Scenes from La Scie | Scenes from La Scie |
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Scenes from La Scie
(Get similar picture on a mug and a magnet) | Scenes from La Scie |
La Scie also boasts some scenic trails. We were fortunate to have the entrance to two
right behind our B&B, next to the arena.
The first we did was the Overfalls Trail, which is marked with a wood
border and covered in loose rock, so it’s easy to follow. It winds through the woods with a gradual
slope, finally crossing a small river where there was just a trickle of a
waterfall, but which is probably beautiful when the river is running
strong. The trail ends at the
cemetery. We decided to walk back via
the road, and the whole trip took just over an hour at a leisurely pace.
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| Not much water in the "falls" |
The second trail is Boone’s Hill Trail, also accessible from
the arena. We did this trail at the end
of a long day, so we went just far enough to watch the sun setting over the
water. The trail starts out fairly
easily, but becomes a steep slope covered in loose rocks after crossing a dirt
access road. With the slope and loose
pebble covering, I found this section very slippery and difficult. However, once you get to the top of that
section, there’s a bench where you can sit and look back over the town, and the
trail flattens for a while and leads out to the edge of the cliffs over the
harbour. From there, you can continue
towards another climb to a lookout platform a little higher on the hill, or
down towards the RV park and Island Cove Beach.
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| Looking back towards the town | The trail goes down to a beach and up to a lookout |
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Beautiful sunset
(Get similar picture on a canvas) |
Supper on our second night was at
Critch’s Restaurant & SnackBar. With a casual name, we expected a small place
with a couple of diner tables along a large counter, but attached to the area
with the counter was another room laid out with several small cloth-covered
tables and a surprisingly varied menu.
My husband decided that the chicken tasted
exactly like KFC. I had a
wrap that was stuffed full of meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. The staff were friendly, not only remembering
us from stopping by earlier to get some sandwiches for the road, but sitting
down with us and chatting about things to see and do in the area. The snack bar portion also has a selection of
ice creams, slushies, and desserts as well as some quick take-out options.
I definitely recommend at least two full days to really get
to visit each community along the peninsula, and although there are a lot of
similarities, each is unique with its own beauty. What follows will be a series of posts about
each of the communities we visited and some pictures of what we found there. One tip:
Most of these communities are very small and do not have or need a lot
of public services, so don’t expect to find places to eat or access to
washrooms. You will need to plan
accordingly.
Next post: Shoe Cove
