- The "Fun Side of Life" brings me to Nova Scotia where I'm visiting a very special spot on the Cabot Trail. There's a cafe. There's a craft store. There's an inn. How did you cram all of this into one spot? And I'm mixing it up with one of Canada's master hot rod makers. Join me on the fun side of life. It's a gorgeous morning, and I'm in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton to be exact. I'm ready for another adventure on the fun side of life. The sun is shining, and I'm hitting the Cabot Trail for some epic scenery and to visit a very popular spot for tourists and locals. If you're ever on the Cabot Trail, this is the place you can't miss. But don't take my word for it. Here's Sarahbeth. We're on the Cabot Trail. We stumble upon this beautiful oasis. Sarabeth, what do we got here? This is awesome.
- This is Salty Rose's and the Periwinkle Cafe. I own it with my wonderful first cousin, Caitlyn Purcell.
- [Jim] There's a cafe. There's a craft store. There's an inn. How did you cram all of this into one spot?
- It kind of happened organically in that Caitlyn had a craft shop for five years in a different space. And so, we were always toying with the idea of what we could do together, all these things under one roof, 'cause they work really organically with each other.
- Co-owner Caitlyn is a talented jewelry maker. She sells not only her own creations here. She also proudly offers the work of countless artists and craft makers from Cape Breton and Nova Scotia proper. Caitlyn, beautiful office. Love it. What are you doing?
- My office? All right. This is my jewelry studio, and this is where we make most of the jewelry that you'll find here in the shop. I'm mostly working in sterling silver, one of a kind pieces. We do a lot of wedding rings, engagement rings, you know, heirloom jewelry that people are gonna hold onto for a long time.
- What kind of experience do you want visitors to have when they walk in?
- I think Sarabeth and I both really want people to feel relaxed when they come in.
- Everything's like house made or homemade, and we really want to offer a really inviting environment.
- We don't want it to feel too cluttered. So, even though there's a lot of things that may be, like, hitting you when you come in here, you want it to feel chill and good vibes.
- We really want them to take in a lot of the art that we have here and, you know, realize how many makers are in Nova Scotia making really, really fine and wonderful work. Also, we wanna be promoting that local mentality as much as we can. That's kind of our mandate.
- [Jim] I could only resist the cafe for so long, and that tasty looking cheesy muffin was calling out to me. Turns out it's one of their signature creations.
- We started doing the eggy bun for people like on the go this year. So, it's a savory muffin and with, like, an egg cracked right into the middle of it, cheese, bacon, onions, some local veg. Caitlyn and I might turn into eggy buns after the end of the season where it's kind of what we use to survive.
- [Jim] Yeah, I don't blame you.
- [Sarabeth] It's a really good grab and go.
- Sarahbeth wasn't kidding. This is one of the best breakfast treat I've ever had. I'm gonna have to order a thousand of them for the road. Speaking of which, driving around Nova Scotia is like driving through a series of life size postcards, each one as beautiful as the last. You could spend a lifetime exploring the coast of this picturesque province, but I gotta get moving because I'm headed back closer to Halifax to meet a very special guy. Wayne Bishop is the owner of Wayne's Hot Rods and Customs. He's one of the best car restoration experts in Canada. His work is exceptional, and he generously offered to show me around his shop and check out some of his coolest creations. What are we looking at here? This is a beautiful, beautiful vehicle.
- This is a 1926 Model T. Every person that you pass by on the road'll wave to you.
- So, it's easy to make friends with this car.
- Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Everybody loves it. 'Cause Halifax has a huge following for antique cars. This is, like, a traditional hot rod, you know, from the '60s, with some modern stuff in it, obviously. You gotta drive it.
- It's the nostalgia of it.
- Yes.
- [Jim] You're recreating an experience.
- Big time. And that's what gets a lot of my customers when we're doing cars for them is their memories. You know, mostly, dad had a car like this, or it is dad's car, you know, and dad passed away and now they want it restored.
- Do you find that you unexpectedly get emotional listening to some of these stories?
- Oh, definitely.
- So are these cars, or are these really toys?
- They're toys. They're definitely toys.
- I walked into Wayne's shop to see how his toys are made. And while I was checking things out, I met that guy right there. His name is Winnie, and his passion for cars was undeniable. Winnie.
- Yes, sir.
- Good to meet you.
- Thank you.
- On a scale of one to ten, how much do you love the work that you do?
- Twelve.
- Yeah.
- Fourteen. Sky's the limit.
- [Jim] Yeah.
- This is a dream job. This is something that I've done weekends and nights and helped people for the last 45 years, building cars and stuff. I'm not an artist that can paint a picture on a canvas and stuff. I take this stuff and turn it into what I feel is my picture, my canvas sort of thing. This is a dream job for me. I worked construction forever. Now, I'm doing this, and it's just, this is something I've had a passion for forever.
- At Wayne's Body Shop, cars aren't just toys. They're like a religion. So, tell me about your temple.
- Well, we do everything from muscle cars to hot rods, basically anything old, antique. This one here came in for basically a paint job, but it ended up being, we did transmission, new exhaust. Every car snowballs into something more
- Right. This is a big space.
- Yeah, yeah. We got, we grew over the last four years, pretty big, actually.
- [Jim] Right.
- Cars basically get stripped down to the bare metal. They get epoxy. Then they come in this side to get whatever needs to be cut out and welded, panels made.
- These are all beautiful the way they are now. I can only imagine that they're gonna be stunning when they're done.
- Yeah. Yeah. We try our best to do, you know, to make 'em as nice as possible.
- Yep.
- [Wayne] What we do is definitely art. I think so.
- What's the fun of having toys if you don't play with them? Wayne decided it was time for us to take a ride in some of his coolest creations. All right, Wayne, let's go.
- All right, man.
- Yeah!
- [Wayne] So it has a full frame, new modified front suspension, and all the rear suspension is all redone.
- [Jim] Wow.
- So, it's like driving in a modern car.
- Right.
- Basically.
- Right. Modern touches, classic feel.
- [Wayne] Right.
- Hey, it beats working in an office, too, right?
- Oh, when you get a chance to do this, it's a lot of fun.
- It beats doing accounting.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Exactly.
- [Jim] Wayne thought it was time for me to take the wheel. So, he put me in the hot seat of his own personal Model T hot rod.
- All right, push down on the hat.
- Down?
- And go back. There you go.
- Woo hoo! I'm gonna take it nice and slow here.
- [Wayne] Yeah. Yeah.
- Wow. Kudos to you, man. This is beautiful.
- Yeah. It is fun, man. I love it. It's just rattling. Don't worry about it.
- [Jim] Okay.
- She's fine. Drive it like you stole it.
- Okay. Driving this car is a special experience unlike any I've ever had on the road. It's the coolest toy I've ever had the privilege of playing with.
- It took me a couple drives to get used to it, and what the car was gonna do and stuff, but you just get used to it, right?
- [Jim] Right.
- [Wayne] Me and my wife drive it. We love driving it.
- [Jim] Right. Well, I never thought I'd be riding in one of these cars in my life, man, so, I thank you for the opportunity.
- [Wayne] Oh, yeah. No problem.
- What a day. I'm still buzzing from my time with Wayne's, and the ladies at the Periwinkle Cafe were so welcoming. The art, the food, the scenery. I know I'll definitely be back, but for now, I gotta get back on the road.
