We spent the day touring around the Digby and surrounding area. This is a part of Nova Scotia we have not seen before so we are excited to see new things!
First I had to do a few things in my office (lol) – our clam tent has been great – bedroom, kitchen (if raining which we have never had to use), and then my office! It is nice having hydro on your sites when you are travelling so we can easily charge up our electronics and also for our plug-in cooler that we took along. Very handy – we just keep it in the back seat and plug it in to the pole on the site when camping, and then into the lighter when driving.
Don’t get me wrong – I also like to travel with all the luxuries, but I sure can travel pretty simply – like living out of the back of the truck and a tent, or living out of a cycle and panniers for a few weeks. My husband always laughs as I always say everything “is so easy!”
We went to Port Royal Historical Site. I was thinking it was a fort, but it actually was a French colony/trading post/habitation. For thousands of years the Mi’kmaq indians used this as a summer encampment. When Champlain came in 1604 and found this perfect harbour “that 2,000 vessels could be secure in” and then the French came the next year. First it was just the men that came for business – trading with the Mi’kmaq Indians and then in 1636 their families came and they settled here at Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal.
The day before we passed this funky looking market in Cornwallis that I wanted to stop at. Well so I thought. We stopped today and it is actually a restaurant. It was a very cool place and brought you back to your childhood with all the old stuff including lots of vintage toys. Frank & Dora’s had lots of customers in the time we were there. You can see it is a favorite spot for lunch and their prices are very reasonable and the portions and food were excellent. I think this is what my sister Betty should open up in the little town of Ridgeville.
We found the one Winery in the area – Bear River Winery in Bear River. As mentioned before it would be nice to spend one more day in this area so we could do more wineries in the Annapolis Valley. Next time!! Bear River Winery was nice. It is in an old barn and is a gravity winery – with it naturally going down hill. We had a tour of the winery, and then tastings and then purchases of course! The first vines were grown here in 1611 by the French. I think he said the first winemaking in Canada started here.
We drove through Bear River to get back to Digby and ended up on the other side of the water (the tide is low here). I think that is the winery on the other side.
About a month ago Bart picked a movie for us to watch – Maudie. It was based on a true story about an arthritic Nova Scotia woman who works as a housekeeper while she hones her skills as an artist and eventually becomes a beloved figure in the community. Maud Lewis is a famous Canadian folk artist. This replica house was built by a friend Murray Ross and is on his property which is about 5 km away from the original house so we visited. We found out that the original house was taken apart and rebuilt and is on display in the Art Gallery in Halifax. Dang – we were right there at the Art Gallery a few days earlier – if we knew we would have visited to see the original home. Either way, Murray Ross learned how to paint so he could replicate the house as best he could. It looked really good to me and a nice dedication to the artist to have this in the area where she lived. If you haven’t seen the movie you should – it was really good!
Bob and Tracy are back! We met up with them at Lazy Bear Brewery in Smith’s Cove just outside Digby. We had a lovely spot in their backyard and made it just in time as they closed at 5 p.m. One thing we noticed is that things are not open as long as what we are used to, for example many restaurants close by 7 p.m. So now when looking for a place to go, we always make sure to check the hours, and otherwise we just might be eating some of our emergency food out of our truck like a can of brown beans!
For dinner we met up at the Crowes Nest in Digby. The view is much nicer than the food. We were in Digby 2 nights for dinner, so it was nice to try both the recommended restaurants in town. Hands down my choice would be Fundy Restaurant. Their scallops were amazing – like eating the best steak straight out of the sea! and the atmosphere with huge patio outside was really nice. Fyi – they also have rooms to rent.
It was recommended if we want to see a really nice sunset to go to Point Prim Lighthouse, which was just 5 minutes away from us overlooking the Bay of Fundy! We got there just in time and wow!! It was a fabulous spot to catch the sunset.
Another great day in Nova Scotia!!
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