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