Digby to St. Stephens
Breakfast Report: The only place open – Just a Little Bit of Heaven, bakery and restaurant. And maybe there was a bit of heaven in the hearty wheat bread.
It was cloudy and cold and windy, so we nixed spending another day and booked a ferry from Digby to St. Johns. 3 –hour trip vs. 7 + hours driving. We missed the dramatic Fundy tides as the inlet narrows, but did get a taste of it in Digby, where the fishing boats at the dock dropped some 30 feet below the pier.
We found a town we would go back to – Annapolis Royal – the oldest town in Canada (I think), founded in 1602 by Champlain. But the English wrested the town from the French , in one of their many political tug of wars. A later French governor founded Port Royal nearby. We stumbled onto a Farmer’s market – organic, I think this trend well entrenched. Pottery, woodcarving, natural wool skeins, angora, and the last of the seasons veggies plus apples and several bakeries with croissants and baguettes. Potato pancake and smoked sausage vendors. There is a German influence in this area. There are many houses from the 1700’s – then the 1800’s, the photo of a B&B The Queen Anne. The town seems to have a craft bent,
We considered whale watching – this is supposed to be one of the best areas along the Atlantic. A Scottish couple touring told us how fabulous their trip was, but we passed on it.
Then one last fish meal at the restaurant in the fish market. Nix on the FF – but the fish cakes were good, a lot of potato, but fishy too. We arrived in St Johns at 5:30 and realized we wouldn’t make it to Bangor. But the race was on to make it to the border - while driving into the blazing low sun, and before dusk and moose-time. So here we are in St Stephens (our fish and chip mecca) and the only place in town to eat was the Esso station. We thought a landlubbers meal the better option – hot turkey and steak sandwich. ..and I must say it tasted good.
We are in yet another simple motel with rates that seem improbably high. This is a AAA 2-diamond - $104 and we have paid up to $135 for similar places. We are surprised at how expensive things are – especially lodging, but food as well. But I guess in these far-flung provinces, it is to be expected.
The people are cheerful and polite and welcoming with lots of red heads in their ranks. I love that a comment on the weather is a code for hello, to be continued or not.
Next time: I would stay in one of the inns with a restaurant on a remote coast for several days. We had the names of a couple of these, but it didn’t work out. I would also explore more of the South Coast , east side and around to the Acadian area on the southwest coast. I would also spend some time in St Johns ,New Brunswick and some of the inland towns.
No comments:
Post a Comment