Nicky says thank you

Tags

Canada, dachshunds, elections, PEI

Well our Nicky is feeling better and he is a little tired of the rice and veal diet. But being born in Italy veal is sort of the thing for him. Nicky was happy for your good wishes and says in his native Italian, mille grazie a tutti.

Other items, well we are back to having to wear face masks everywhere indoors now. The big problem is Alberta out West where the hospital system is about to crash due to too many new Covid cases and the very low vaccination rate. Alberta is our West Virginia, very backwards. The Premier Jason Kenney use to be my Minister at the Federal level years ago, a complete incompetent fool, who caused by his inaction the death in his provinces of thousands of people because he deferred to private business over the public good, dollars before lives.

What is worse the Chief Medical Officer in Alberta Dr Heather Hinshaw went along with Kenney’s policy until yesterday after months of lying to the public, admitted that she was wrong, sorry folks she says. That is why we call them murder clowns.

Ontario is not much better, of the $2.5 billion dollars they received from the Federal Gov. for Covid to help the health sector, they instead sat on the money, did nothing with it. Another fool Premier Doug Ford, who created the fourth wave to help out businesses instead of the people of the province. This is the problem with those conservative premiers, they admire Trump and make no bones about it. I do hope people will vote them out of Office when the Provincial election cycle comes around.

Only 3 days to go before the Federal Election. Let’s hope Canadians will not elect a Trump wanna be.

Voting, Golf and BBQ

Tags

BBQ, Canada, Charlottetown, elections, Glen Afton Golf, Golf, PEI

On Saturday I went to vote in anticipation. In Canada you can do that a week before the actual date, which is 20 September 2021. Voting in Canada either at the Federal level, Provincial or Municipal is a fairly easy affair. I am registered to vote by completing on the Elections Canada site the info they need to send me a card. The info is simple, your home address, your full name. Elections Canada is an independent body and is not in any way controlled or subject to politicians or political parties. Anyone working at Elections Canada is and must be fully neutral of political views. Same for all the volunteers at polling stations, in some cases you cannot even wear colours which might suggest support for a party, like red or blue or orange.

The advance polling is open from 9am to 9pm and is in one central location. Whereas on election day polling stations are located in neighbourhoods, in our case one block away from home. So I went to vote and the atmosphere is a happy one, helpful staff and a very simple process. I also have to bring with my voter card a piece of ID with my photo and home address, issued by the Provincial Government or the Federal Government. It is checked by the fellow at the door who then quickly directs you to the next person who registers you, then you are sent to the actual voting area, the fellow there has a big paper list, checked my name and crossed it, gave me a paper bulletin to register my vote with a pencil. I voted then return the folded bulletin and put it into the Urn. It took all of about 3 minutes. I really like the paper and pencil way to vote, simple and efficient.

So I am done now for this Federal Election, you can only vote for the candidate who will be, if elected, your member of Parliament. NO we do not vote for the Prime Minister, no matter what people say, you can only vote for your MP where you live. So this means we have 338 candidates to elect to form the House of Commons. The Prime Minister will be one of them. Currently Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is an MP in the riding of Papineau in Montreal.

An interesting fact in our Canadian System, Justin Trudeau continues to be Prime Minister until he resigns. So on election night if the Liberal party is not re-elected with enough seats to form a government, Trudeau will still have to decide to resign or not. If he thinks that he could by doing the math, form a coalition with another party and have enough seats to govern, then he will advise the Governor General accordingly and a vote will be held in the House of Commons to see if he has the confidence of the House. As long as a Government has the confidence of the House, he can continue to rule. An example of this, in 2006 the then Prime Minister Paul Martin, lost the election to Stephen Harper. However for several hours until the next day, Martin did the math and looked around if any other party would help in supporting his party. He needed 51 seats. He quickly realized that no other party would support him and he resigned. Harper was called by the Governor General to form a government.

GOLF AND BBQ

Yesterday was our Club’s Annual Golf Tournament at Glen Afton on the cliff at Rocky Point, which has spectacular views of the Strait of Northumberland. Great sunny day with a bit of wind, nice and around 22C perfect for the game. I was at the Club and set up the BBQ on our deck its a 6 burner and from 2pm to 5pm grilled 65, 10 oz steaks. You really have to watch the meat and I had a thermometer with me to check so I was able to give people what they wanted from rare to medium to well done. Got an ovation from the crowd for my work and many compliments. It was great fun being on the deck and talking to everyone.

We had trophies for the best ball and best team, everyone got a small gift for participating, the President thought this was the most successful tournament in years.

Haviland Club in old Charlottetown.

Cold and rainy

Tags

Orwell Bay, PEI, pumpkin, squash

In a matter of a few hours we went from muggy and 27C to cold, rainy and 15C with high cold winds. Now it is suppose to rain for a week, but it is not rain but a drizzle with wind.

Today Sunday I was hoping for some Sun and dry weather, 2 people I knew were getting married and you need good weather not rain. Today was a nice day if a tad cool at 12C definitely fall weather now. Fashions changed overnight and sweaters have come out. We will still have some good warm days but Fall is on the way.

Today we went for lunch in the countryside at friends who live part of the year on Orwell Bay. We met their new little schnauzer Lucy only 5 months old. It was so nice to be out of town for the day.

Orwell Bay at low tide, the island is all sand and red sandstone. There is a lot of annual erosion every winter and the shore line use to be a good 40 feet further into the bay than today and this erosion is just in 50 years.

On the way we stopped at Mackenzie which is a farm off Highway 1. Lots of wonderful vegetables, got great tomatoes and some beets, their corn on the cob is buttery super good, blueberries, and two big pots of Mums yellow and red. Better to buy flowers at the farm, the price is 50% less than at the grocery store. I noticed that they were also starting to display a variety of pumpkins and squash of all size and types. I will go back in 2 weeks to get a pumpkin and will probably pay only a few dollars, again instead of the high prices of the grocery chain.

THIS is only a first sample of what will be on offer for September and October. The really big pumpkins are coming later. I am looking for a good 20 lbs pumpkin with a nice shape. The also have the little ones perfect for an arrangements on the table.

This week we are having visitors from Ottawa, our first visitors this year. Old colleagues from my days in the Foreign Service, we met in Cairo in 1989.

Wednesday we will take them out to dinner at The Dunes Gallery at Brackley Point, the gardens are beautiful and their restaurant is truly great, an excellent chef works the kitchen and the menu is imaginative. Next day both Nick and Nora will be going to Kensington to the groomer. Then on Saturday it’s the Club’s Annual Golf Tournament. I will be on the golf cart passing along adult refreshments and sandwiches. After that I return to the club to grill 60 steaks on our BBQ. It will be fun and I am looking forward to it.

Last week tragedy struck at the Federal Dock where the Coast Guard usually docks when on town and where HMCS Charlottetown docks on annual visit. Usually a lot of amateur fishermen cast their lines into the Hillsborough river, apparently its a good spot for fishing. However one of them fell into the water, a drop of 25 feet and the current is very treacherous and swift, the poor fellow drown in front a crowd, it all happened so fast and because of the current no one dared jump in. Only the police with their speed boat can intervene.

This week the weather promises more rain and cold weather. Will see has it can all change quickly.

I will finish by mentioning that the famous Canadian Schooner the Bluenose II which is usually in the port of Halifax came to visit PEI stopping in various coastal towns. The Bluenose is celebrating 100 years, it replaced the original Bluenose which won many speed records and is featured on our 10 cent coin. A beautiful ship.

The Bluenose II is the property of the Government of Nova Scotia and is used as a school for training sailors. Wherever it goes it attracts a lot of attention. Happy it came to Charlottetown.

Perfect weather

Tags

Brackley, Brudenell, Dunes Gallery, life, Montague, PEI

The Summer has been so so in PEI for people in general, though farmers are happy, a wonderful potato harvest is on the way. Corn also looks very good. This weekend is the last of August and we went to two sites outside of town on sunny days, with light winds and little humidity. Very nice all around, the tourists are leaving, THANK GOD ALL MIGHTY!!!!!

We had a funny crop of tourists this Summer, first they arrived in July when non-residents of the Island were allowed to come with proper documentation on vaccination. Then later Americans were allowed across the border but few choose to come to PEI.

So Saturday we drove towards Brudenell and Montague, two small communities about 35 minutes from Charlottetown. This area before 1745 was called Trois Rivieres (three rivers) and was home to French Speaking families (ACADIANS), they were connected to the French Fortress of Louis Bourg on Cape Breton or Isle Royale as it was then known.

Captain Jean-Pierre Roma established at Three Rivers a trading post and built 9 large building plus a large dock to load ships. What is today the Georgetown area is the deepest and best seaport on the North Coast of PEI, a great spot for trading. Roma did have some difficulties in developing the area. This was wild country, marshland and thick old growth Acadian Forest. He and his men cleared a lot of the land and managed to cultivate it. Interesting to read that in the 18th century people did not know or if they did, would not eat potatoes, thought to be poisonous, because it is part of the night shade family. So the food they grew was what you would find on tables in Europe.

In 1745 it all came to a violent and crashing end, Roma and his family had to flee to Quebec City while advancing British troops coming from New England would destroy and burn all in their path. The Acadians who were caught, were deported in an act of Ethnic Cleansing.

The site was abandoned, but then after 1765 and the end of wars in Europe between England and France, Acadians were allowed to return to PEI only if they could purchase land that formerly belong to them. Often they would find Irish refugees deported by the British on their old farms or Scots who were also cleared from their homeland in the Highland of Scotland and shipped to Canada. Both the Irish and the Scots did not own land, they were renter farmers and the owners were absentee British Aristocrats.

The Roma site at Three Rivers is interesting, you can visit the trails on the site which cover a large area, buildings have been rebuilt recently to showcase what life was like and many archeological digs in the 1960’s unearthed a lot of information and artefacts. The area where the docks were are clearly visible, the view is quite beautiful of Georgetown across the bay and Panmure Island in the distance. You can also have a nice lunch of typical Acadian food served on chinese ware as it would have been back in the 18th century.

The flag they fly at the site is the White flag of the King of France. It was quiet and beautiful like so many sites on PEI.

On Sunday we drove to the Dunes Art Gallery at Brackley Point Beach. Our friends Peter and Nash own this gallery. The expansive gardens are full of wonderful flowers, Asian stone statuary and they grow a lot of the vegetables and eatable flowers in the garden for their restaurant. The restaurant does lunch and dinner service and the food is truly first class. They have an excellent chef and this is one of the classiest places to eat, surrounded by wonderful artworks and large views of the flower garden and the sea. Really a magical place and so relaxing.

Not to worry Summer only ends on 21 September, so relax!

Rebuilt original building of the 1732 period when Jean-Pierre Roma and his settlement were in operation.

Brudenell Point where the Montague and Brudenell rivers meet. Georgetown named after George III. It is an excellent spot for Oysters known as the Brudenell Bullies and mussels.

The harbour of Georgetown which is a natural deep harbour but is underused. Currently a lot of Oysters and mussels are cultivated in the area and of excellent quality. Seen from the old dock area of the ROMA settlement.

A buddha statue in the beautiful gardens of the Dunes Art Gallery in Brackley. The garden is full of these statues in water elements surrounded by flowers. Peter and Nash brought them back from Indonesia and you can buy them for your home garden.

The sunflowers towered over my at a 8 feet height, the stocks where impressive. A team of 4 gardeners work every week and it shows, impressive results.

The restaurants also gets all its vegetables from this garden.

The Dunes gallery and more flowers

Mid-August

Tags

life, PEI, Summer 2021

Our Summer Carnival or Festival is called the Gold Cup and Saucer Week. It started basically as a daily horse harness races culminating by a trophy the Gold Cup and Saucer presented to the winner by the Lieutenant Governor of PEI. It’s a big thing for the Island, somewhat like the Kentucky Derby. You have high quality races and proud horse owners with a tradition to uphold.

Until the pandemic struck some 19 months ago and created a vacuum in terms of social life many annual festivals were cancelled out right. Now that the Island is 80% fully vaccinated things are returning to some kind of normalcy. Though people still wear their masks out of precaution in grocery stores and markets, the risk is lower compared to the mainland where matters were handled very differently.

With this weekend the end of the Tourist Season comes to an end on PEI. Many tourists will depart and with school and University starting up again, we will see a different type of tourist, the over 65+ with no kids. This will last until about end September. So far the Season has been very short this year and only a handful of Americans came, looks like many came by car as far away as California and Arizona. I cannot imagine driving that distance, even in a big luxury car or SUV.

In fact today I was already thinking of Thanksgiving which is on Monday 11 October. Summer has gone by quickly and the weather has not been very Summer like.

Otherwise not much has or is happening.

One thing I have noticed is how much islanders resent the tourists, the resentment comes from the fact that tourists bring traffic congestion and more garbage. We were without tourists for 14 months and though some businesses claim to have suffered, I have not seen signs of it. There is also the pernicious problem of low wages in the hospitality industry which is facing a critical shortage, restaurants having to open only for dinner or lunch, closing early. However one of the richest business person on PEI who owns hotels and restaurants was recently advertising for dishwashers at $13 per hour. not a living wage by any stretch of the imagination. At the same time bitterly complaining of not being able to find staff. Another very popular restaurant advertised the same position at $21. per hour, no problem hiring. Business owners in PEI in general are very greedy and quick to complain. This pandemic has created a unique problem for them. I see no solution in sight until the offer and salaries in that sector improves, this will require a lot of employers to educate themselves.

Dundas Terrace on Water street

Oscar Wilde & Charlottetown

Tags

Canada, Charlottetown, Oscar Wilde, PEI

On October 11, 1882, Oscar Wilde who was then 28 years old came to Charlottetown and spoke in the Old Market Hall, which is now occupied by the Confederation Centre for the Arts. He was on a speaking tour of North America. The local press was present and on the look out, after all Oscar Wilde had a reputation and the press where waiting for him. He also spoke in Halifax and in St-John where he had to return by popular demand to deliver another lecture on Decorative Arts. Both the Daily Examiner and the Patriot sent reporters, both papers disappeared some years ago.

In Charlottetown, the local press showed clearly a strong prejudice against him in the article about his talk. The reporter wrote only about how effeminate he was, he manner and speech were unmanly, he dressed poorly if compared to a British gentleman, the press faulted him for not wearing evening dress. His hair was long though in a sleight to French Canadians, the reporter noted that some men in Quebec wore their hair longer. According to the reporter Wilde could pass for a mannish woman. Not one word about his lecture or the topic. In other words Wilde was dismissed as of no importance and what was all the fuss about this fellow.

Wilde was described as the Apostle of the Beautiful, you can imagine that on a poor agricultural island in the midst of a grave economic crisis with the steep decline of the wood ship building industry, he did not impress the locals. The audience was described as splendid and maybe too enthusiastic given that a similar welcome is never given to local Islanders. This prejudice against anyone not from PEI is still very much in evidence today.

The Charlottetown Central Market Hall 1823-1958 destroyed by fire.

Back to the big Potato

Tags

Beach, Cape Road, life, New London, PEI, vacation, Yankee Gale

If New York is the Big Apple, Charlottetown is the big potato. The ride home was nice and quiet on deserted country roads about 50 min all together. We arrived on the Pride Weekend and the parade, well more like a walk really, went by our house and ended in the park across the street, every politician was there. The Pride festival and the walk/parade is unlike other such events, here it is more of a human rights, affordable housing, BLM, Trans, Native rights, anti-racism, Feminist rights, #Me too, etc sort of thing, not really what Pride was or is suppose to be. No party boys here and no floats or the sort of thing you see in other cities.

The tourists are back in town, a lot of plates from elsewhere in Canada. Some Americans but not many given that the requirement is to show full vaccination certificate at the border. Probably a lot more will come after 9 August, the official date for the re-opening of the US-Canada border.

The weather at the cottage was cool at night around 15C and one night around 12C which is cold and we put on the heat to warm up the place. Nonetheless it is a very nice place and we already booked for next year but later in August. I was happy just to sit in the sunshine or read a book, go for a walk on the beach or go for lunch and enjoy the seafood off the fishing boats as they come in, you cannot get fresher than that. People are also more calm and pleasant than here in Ch’town. Compared to the extreme weather elsewhere in Canada, Maritime weather is fine and enjoyable.

Posting below some of the pictures I took of our vacation.

The Beach House Inn is now called Cottages on the Cape since February new owners
bought it from the retiring previous owner who had operated the B&B for 40 years.
Cape road ends about 600 feet from their front door at the beach. The house itself dates from 1830 but has been renovated completely. The new owners are quite nice.

We did read more about the area and it is an interesting story. PEI started up by being a place of refuge for Acadians fleeing the British Army in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Many Acadians walked to Quebec City and other points controlled by the French army others crossed the strait to Ile Saint Jean, now PEI. The British eventually came to the Island and around 1750 deported all the inhabitants. In turn the British then populated the Island with the people they did not want back home, mostly Irish and Scots. So the area of what is Cape road today also known as Lot 21 was at first a settlement of Scottish Protestants who had been told it was the promised land by speculators in Scotland. The people who came to the area where from Northern Scotland, a town called Durness, on a map you see a small town on the northern tip near the Kyle of Durness. Of the settlement they built around 1773 nothing is left except for a cemetery with old tombstones dating to 1800. The Cape road had originally another name and was the main street of their little settlement, nothing is left today, many died of disease or hardships, others moved to other settlements like Park Corner just over the hill. Interesting to note that Captain Holland who was a surveyor with the British Army made the first accurate map of PEI and divided it in Lots which were awarded to the friends of King George III. People living on the Lots where serfs but this abusive system quickly led to revolt given that all land owners were absent living in London.

The area today is fields and marsh with the New London lighthouse and beach and another cemetery called Yankee Hill. American sailors came to fish Mackerel yearly, many perished in the famous Yankee Gale storm of 1851, destroying hundreds of fishing boats and killing 250 fisherman. Many of the graves are anonymous and can be found all along the North coast of the Island. A group of volunteers and researchers studied the tombstones and gathered info from other families who are also buried there like the Couzens or Cousins. A French Huguenot family who migrated from Normandy to New England and at the revolution moved to Canada. Descendants are still living in the area of Park Corner or Cousins Cove. All the chapels or meeting halls are either Presbyterian or Methodist in this part of the Island.

All the land around the Cape is owned by the Island Trust, meaning that the land cannot be built on, it is however rented to farmers to grow hay and other cereals.

The Red Sandstone of PEI.

Sunset

The New London Lighthouse seen from the beach

The ruin wharf on the sand dunes remnant of an other age.

Sono in Spiaggia

Tags

Beach, home, ice cream, life, PEI, Summer, vacation

For the last 2 weeks we have been at the Beach, so this is why there has been no blogging. What I cherish most here is the perfect quiet, the only noise is nature itself, the many variety of birds and the surf. We are surrounded by forest, marsh and the sand dunes of the beach. It is so pleasant that living in the city you forget how it can be.

The nearest small town is 10 minutes down the road where there is a liquor store and a small grocery store with all the conveniences. Many nice cafés and little restaurants here and there in and around Kensington. The big town is Summerside 20 minutes away, pop 15K, we go there for the Ice Cream at Holman’s which is located inside the former mansion of the Holman Family with its beautiful garden of old trees and plentiful flowers. By far the ice cream at Holman’s is made daily and in small batches, once sold that’s it. The taste and texture is wonderful and the owners follow high standards to produce it, it is well worth the drive down the road to Holman’s.

In PEI usually you hear a lot about COWS ice cream which is owned by a big Corp. ADL and is a major producers of dairy products. The quality is industrial and it is flogged at the tourist crowd.

Going to Kensington on country roads where you share the road with farming machinery, surrounded by farms, you should know to slow down once you see the sign up ahead for the town, the speed limit drops from 80Km to 50Km and the police cruiser is hidden in the field, they watch for speeders. In fact the small police force of Kensington (5) has a FaceBook page and they are well known for their humour.

The weather of our first week was quite nice with walks on the deserted beach. Now since yesterday a big storm has come in and it is windy and rainy with big waves. It appears that it will be like this for the next day or so. We return home on Saturday, I wonder how I will find the city with its noise. Both Nicky and Nora will be happy to see us and probably will stick to us like glue, creatures of habit that they are.

Last night 21 July was our 14th Wedding Anniversary, we married between assignments, I completed my Beijing posting came home to Ottawa, the house had sold and in those few days we prepared for our next post Rome. Got married with our long haired dachshund Reesie present, he would be coming with us to Italy. A friend had offered her beautiful garden for the event. It was small and simple and with a few friends present. Then a few days later we flew to Rome and wonderful years in Italy. Now all this seems so far away.

For our anniversary we have this habit now in PEI to go to The Mill in New Glasgow, the award winning chef is Emily Wells, her food is beautiful and the dishes always very well prepared. She is a chef who knows how to bring out the flavour of each ingredients and balances it all carefully. The restaurant was once an old mill built in 1874 on the banks of the Clyde River, simple but beautiful dining room on a quiet river surrounded by parkland. The meal was great and so happy to see Chef Emily again.

So at the beach I brought one book to read, but while we went to Summerside we discovered a bookstore Seaside Books owned by a lady called Nancy, it is a second hand bookstore on Water street, the selection was eclectic and very interesting. I found books by John LeCarré and by Lord Jeffrey Archer. However the style of LeCarré I like because it reminds me of my former life. Archer writes about detective stories and it has the feel of a TV script which I find annoying. I also bought a book on Jung and his mystic approach to psychiatry. Though Jung himself often said he was not a mystic and did not believe in it.

The greatest find came from Nancy who showed us a book of paintings on Venice over a period of four centuries, with accompanying text. It’s a big coffee table book, cloth binding weighs about 20 pounds, in mint condition. A spectacular book which Will loved at first sight.

Tonight we are going to the theatre in Rustico which is a fishing village further East from us. The Watermark theatre produces great summer stock plays, we are going to see the Gin Game by D.L. Coburn.

Such a nice staycation just 50 minutes from home but feels like we are thousands of Km away.

P.S. photos to come

Good news

Tags

French River, life, PEI, Southwest River, vacation

Today the Chief Medical Officer had some very good news for Islanders, given our high proportion of vaccination at 85% and climbing fast, and the fact that we have 1 active case now and no new ones for quite a while, it will no longer be mandatory for people fully vaccinated to wear a mask. Though she did say that everyone should evaluate their personal circumstances and health status.

It also looks like people from other provinces will be able to come to PEI if they are vaccinated and seek permission to enter much sooner now than previously thought. The situation in Canada is good now and as a country we lead the world in vaccination. Good job on the part of the Government of Canada all around. The economy is also doing very well and job growth is strong.

The house is in order and we are leaving tomorrow afternoon for French River. The post tropical storm Elsa is a non-event it did rain but really not much and it was not heavy. It has stopped raining now and there is some clearing. According to the radar it will have past us by noon time tomorrow and then its sunshine.

The babysitter will stay home with our little ones, so this is a vacation for us. I do not know how much I will blog while at the beach. The photo shows our beach and the little lighthouse of New London. A very quiet and pleasant area, with the French River and the South West river emptying into the sea.

The weather

Tags

covid, lobster, PEI, vacation, Vaccinations

We are in preparation for our vacation to the beach. The weather currently is cold about 14C which is not normal for this time of the year at all. It also has been foggy and somewhat drizzling rain on and off. So looking ahead we have to plan accordingly.

Now Will got his second shot of Moderna and I a got mine (Pfizer). So we will be fully vaccinated and we are both happy about it. More tourists have been arriving from other Atlantic Provinces but I have seen also an influx of Ontario plates which means these are people who have family here and are vaccinated so they can cross the bridge from the mainland. However the Prime Minister did say categorically that tourists, Americans and others cannot enter Canada if they have not been vaccinated. So the message is clear, if you want to come here, get your 2 shots.

The Bar-B-Q at the Club went very well, I was manning the 6 burner barbi and cooked up a storm. Was very happy with the results and my fellow members loved the burgers and bratwurst. The cake was also very good and we got the Mayor who is our Club Patron to cut the cake.

I did not have to pay for my drinks last night, several people bought me drinks, which was nice. It was great fun.

Nicky is doing much better, I am relieved because I worry about him. The Vet was very nice, she was fully booked but told me to come any way and she would examine him. He poisoned himself by eating a begonia, a flower which is dangerous for dogs. He would not eat at all and could not keep food down. However years ago I was told by the Vet that it was important for a dog to stay hydrated and he had access to a lot of water and slivers of ice. We also gave him chicken broth which he loves. It was so funny when I went to pick him up at the Vet, he ran to the car and jumped in as if to say, now let’s get out of here quick. Got home and all he wanted was to snuggle and sleep.

The Lobster fishing season has come to an end and now for July it’s Lobster Fest with many restaurants presenting their version of the Lobster roll. The trick is to know where the best lobster roll is and with the most lobster in it. Usually it’s 4 oz of lobster per roll, but some restaurants will add a bit more and some claw meat. The bread also is important, freshly baked and crusty is very good, the old hot dog buns just don’t cut it. Terry at the Wheelhouse restaurant in Georgetown has a pretty good lobster roll, the best I think.