Anyway, I digress.
Today was a typical Nova Scotia morning, foggy with little breeze. As I looked around my little cottage I realized I had a lot of stuff to cram back in the truck. Better get going!
What I've found with myself during this tour is that I'm taking my time to do stuff. I don't rush. I don't need to rush. I have a place to stay for the next night and I can take my time getting to where I'm going.
Talk about stopping to smell the roses!
Packed up and ready to roll about 10:30am. I did look around for A to say good bye but no sign of her. I said my "bye" to the little town and headed west on highway 103 for Yarmouth. I had taken some of the smaller routes already so I decided the main highway was good to go.
I found that in Yarmouth the highway just ended! There were a few signs directing me to Digby but not much to help me so I followed the virtual map on the nav system. Needing a Tim Horton's by this point I stopped at the one I saw and laughed when I saw a whole flock of ducks hanging out in the drive through. There was one duck that was really big (fat?) and she was calling to the others and they were all yakking back at her. It was really funny. Everyone in the drive through was amused. I wonder if they're there all the time? Still funny.
Coffee in travel mug and good to go. It is Sunday morning and I wouldn't expect any traffic but I didn't expect NO traffic. It was like a ghost town in this part of Yarmouth. I must admit I was in the "strip mall" part of town but really? No one? The most excitement was at the Tim Hortons's with the ducks.
The harbour was the same way. Few boats and fewer people.
On the road again I guess.
I found highway #1 by being on it! Again, using the virtual map on the nav system I found a road that looked like it should be the "scenic" route and it was. Yay!
This route follows the coastline pretty much all the way along and it goes through some little Acadian towns that flip flop between really proud and seemingly with some cash behind them and ones with literally nothing, boarded up homes, no schools and no businesses. In my travels though this part of Canada I have found that if there is no major business then the town really doesn't exist. Tourism isn't a business large enough to sustain a town or hamlet, at least not in Nova Scotia. The kids attend consolidated schools which must be a real thrill to travel to as they are not very close to one another (I guess that's the point).
I did see a sign that someone had posted outside a now derelict inn and it said "no ferry=no people=no patrons=no jobs=life savings gone" I can only surmise that someone anticipated or had built and inn to house people coming from a ferry ride and the ferry has been cancelled so everything has folded.
The economic downturn is really more apparant on this side of the province. So much is dependant on the sea and at that it must be timed with the dramatic tides. If you're out, you are not coming in and if you're in you're not going out, simple as that.
There is a lighthouse right behind me as I take this picture and the fog horn is going (naturally) and it's a two toned one. It was echoing across the water. So eerie and very cool. If the waves were high and it was rough the sound would be something else. With the overall quiet the fog horn was very dramatic as were the cliffs.
Continue on the route to Digby.
I stopped in Weymouth which used to be a major port for boats to meet the railway and transfer goods back and forth. The river has a tide as well and companies would have to time their deliveries to the minute to make sure they would all get unloaded and the ship back out to sea before the tide went out. Many companies had built their own wharfs just to accommodate deliveries. 20 years ago the train stopped running to Weymouth and the ships stopped coming the town nearly closed up. Most of the stores were closed but there was an information place and a diner. Hmmm, hungry and there seemed to be a number of people in there when I drove by the first time so I figured it can't be really bad stopped so I stopped in.
Clean, nice service and they had a Western sandwich on the menu. Oh yay! I've been wanting one of those for a while.
It was really good and totally hit the spot! You just never know what you'll find when you go to a little place but I was pleasantly surprised.
Finally in Digby I drove around a bit, where I could because they were wrapping up their Digby Scallop Days! Oh yeah!
Think of it as Pumpkinfest with a scallop.
Once I found my lodging I headed back into town.
The weather started to turn nasty with lots of rain and wind so I stopped for some dinner at a recommended place and it was so-so but the waiter was so great because when I asked for change into quarters (I need them for the laundromat) he offered to transfer $10 into a roll of coins. Right ON! this will work out perfectly. I thanked him over and over.
Though the meal wasn't super amazing the service certainly was! Maritime hospitality.
The lady at the front desk at the Admiral Digby Inn reminded me that they give wake up calls for the ferry (first ferry departure is at 8 am). I said I didn't need one as I was taking the one at 4 pm on Wednesday. She asked if I had booked it yet and I said no. She kind of "hmmphed" and that to me was an indication that I needed to do that.
So, as of writing I have booked my ferry ride (to the tune of $142.00 which includes me at $40, the vehicle at $82 and a fuel surcharge at $20.00). I always think it's weird that they charge for the vehicle and person separately. Very strange. The vehicle can't get on the ferry without a person attached to it I think. But rules are rules.
On a roll I have booked my place in St. John New Brunswick after I get off the ferry.
Then Bar Harbor Maine with an ocean view (I think) and then I don't know where I'll be heading in the states so I'll evaluate that as I get closer. I like to keep a few paces ahead though.
Now I can enjoy my time in Digby. Tomorrow, scallops for sure!
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