Mid September, Scots Bay lost a landmark establishment to an early morning fire. In recent days, it was known as The Sand Dollar Cafe and before that as Dee Dee's Dinette. If you came out this way to hike Cape Split, to visit the summer cottage, to go rock hounding on the beach, or just to tour the area - chances are, you stopped in at the store to get some hiking supplies or grab a bite to eat. I even know of a few book clubs that met there for lunch before heading out to explore the landscape that inspired The Birth House.
I regret to report that the building was completely lost and the remains are currently being dismantled and hauled away. I had thought about posting a photo of the charred walls, but every time I went to pick up the camera to do so, it felt sad and wrong. So, rather than showing you the rubble, I thought I'd post images of happier times. While I don't have any pictures of the building as The Sand Dollar Cafe, I do have some snaps from the first year we lived in the Bay when it was still Dee Dee's Dinette.
Dee Dee's was among the long list of things that made me want to put roots down here. It was a quirky, fun destination and Pat and Justin made me feel at home whenever I walked through the door. The first notes for The Birth House were made in "my booth" at Dee Dee's. I often held out Pat's Butter Tart Crumble to myself as a reward for completing a long day of writing. My oldest son was always up for going down to Dee Dee's for a "frog in the pond" (a toasted egg sandwich where the egg is cooked in a hole in the middle of a piece of bread) and to watch the toy train go round and round on a track that was suspended from the ceiling over the dining area.
If you happen to have any memories of stopping there - either as The Sand Dollar or as Dee Dee's Dinette, I'd love to read them! ( and I'm sure other people in the Bay would love to read them as well.) Please feel free to post and share.
Thanks!
Ami
5 comments:
How sad! Dee Dee's was always a stop on our many day trips to Scot's Bay--sometimes for a meal, sometimes just for one of their huge cones of ice cream. It's always sad when such a landmark disappears.
Oh, I was so sorry to read this. My husband's parents live in Scot's Bay - Dee Dee's was always the sign that we were ALMOST THERE when we went to visit. The crazy colours and that airplane were friends to me.
In the thirteen years I've been visiting Scot's Bay, I have only been there once - earlier this year. We took our almost-two-year-old and Nana and Poppa to The Sand Dollar for supper. The food was great, the staff was friendly, and we had agreed that we would make it a date each time we came down to The Bay. I checked our photos, but unfortunately I couldn't find any of the building.
Scot's Bay won't be the same without Dee Dee's...
I did not hear about this until now. I will miss it. Many memories and many ice cream cones over the years from this location.
Oh, Dee Dee's. A must to visit when visitors were here for a tour. They were the first establishment to serve me chicken and mango (together) in a sandwhich and I will never forget how mind-blowing the taste was. And who could forget the brunch dishes. Does anyone remember when there was a counter set up in the middle of the room and you could sit on one side and watch the sunset. Halcyon Days, indeed.
My Aunt and I stopped to enjoy a GIANT ice cream dessert for lunch there about 6 1/2 years ago. I was visiting my Mother one last time before her death, and Dee Dee's was a much needed fun break from a hard reality. We vacationed in Scot's Bay a few times when I was young...stayed at a wonderful relative's cottage. Dee Dee's will always have a happy place in my memories! I hope it can be rebuilt!
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