I meant to hit the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest today, not for the pumpkins, but for the car show. First I had to meet up with my old pal Kipling at the Teviotdale Truck Stop for breakfast.
Kipling is complaining about how hard it is to find bison burger patties for the BBQ. There used to be a vendor at the Cambridge farmer's market who stocked them, but no more.
The problem with bison burgers is you need a place to graze the bison. There's a bison farm just a few miles from Falling Downs that's been around for awhile and seems to be making a go of it. Problem is, with the price of farmland being what it is these days, it'll take multiple millions of dollars to set up a viable operation.
So we got to speculating on the possibilities of setting up such an operation out east. Around here a 100 acre farm is a million bucks, give or take. In Nova Scotia or PEI you can still find them for under two hundred. Not that you're going to have much of a bison operation on a hundred acres, but it would give you a start.
There's other opportunities to turn a dollar in the Maritimes. Forty years ago there used to be a guy selling fresh lobster out the back of a rusted pickup just off the 401 in Aberfoyle. He'd fill up his massive plastic container strapped into the bed of his rusted out truck in New Brunswick, drive all night, and put out his shingle the next morning. Apparently his grandsons are running a fleet of a dozen trucks now doing the same thing, and the trucks aren't rusty anymore.
There's also the seaweed business. Kipling has been to Tignish to pick the brain of the guy in this story. Seems a shame there's a valuable crop rotting on the shore for lack of a few hundred thousand in processing machinery.
We've covered bison, lobster, and seaweed before our food shows up! I used to go up and down that highway all the time back when my children were growing up. It used to be a 24 hour operation. That changed unexpectedly.
I was a little late leaving Guelph one night, and the gas gauge was a little low, but I figured I could make it to Teviotdale. I did.
It was closed! That was a long night...
I've dined here many times over the years, and this breakfast doesn't disappoint. For $10.95 you get three eggs, and instead of having to choose between the bacon and sausages and ham you get ALL of them, not to mention the genuine home fries, toast and jam. That's some serious value.
They've taken out the lights at the Teviotdale corner and put in a roundabout instead. What a concept! They're popping up everywhere these days. I guess there was a time when having traffic lights was considered more modern, but there's a lot to be said for roundabouts. Best of all, when you do have an accident, everybody's going nice and slow. Chances are you'll walk away.
Kipling is quite an accomplished herbalist, and I was half way home with a baggie of his finest when I realized I'd forgot to fork over the cash.
Sorry man! Guess we'll have to schedule another breakfast soon!
By the time breakfast is done we're noticing there's quite a few vintage cars mixed into the traffic. It's been a steady drizzle falling. There goes a '64 'vette. A very pretty '61 Chevy pulls into the parking lot. These guys are already heading home from Pumpkinfest...
Maybe next year.
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