Western Portion of the Annapolis Valley

Saturday, May 12, 2018--From Middleton to Clare and Back

We had a good breakfast at our B&B--yogurt with strawberries followed by a plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, jam, fruit, and coffee.  We visited with a young couple also staying here who had returned for him to play in an alumni basketball tournament at the local high school.

Today's explorations too us further westward.  Our first stop was the highlight of the day--the town of Annapolis Royal which is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement (by Europeans) north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It was founded in 1606.  It is a beautiful small town with at least one building still existing from as early as the 1600s.  We wandered the streets downtown and looked across the river to the nearby Port Royal which is also pretty. We explored the grounds of Fort Anne which was occupied by both the French and the British at different times as the two countries battled to see who would win the rights to rule this northern area of North America.  Then down the street we wandered the large Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens filled with blooming flowers and trees after first perusing the offerings of the farmer's market being held in the parking lot out front.  The town seems to be a really wonderful, special place.

Heading further westward, we turned off the highway for a detour to Bear River which gives the feel of being in the mountains with a stream flowing through it.  It is known as a community of artists.   It seems to be a unique place, but it is also very small. 

The next stop was Digby.  It is home to a large scallop fishing fleet and is where a ferry comes to Nova Scotia from New Brunswick allowing people living here to take a shortcut when heading elsewhere in Canada.  The town is full of small seafood restaurants which are supposed to be nice places to eat.  Unfortunately for us, it wasn't mealtime.  But the owner of our B&B told us about one place there which serves seafood, especially scallops and lobsters, caught by the husbands who are fishermen and cooked and served by the wives.  We walked along the downtown streets and far out onto the pier where the fishing boats are moored, but it is mainly a town for dining rather than a town for seeing.

Next, we continued further west to the area of Clare which is a group of communities that have retained their French culture in this Anglo province.  We saw the unbelievably large St. Bernard Church built by the Acadians.  Then we stopped in the community of Church Point where we toured the small campus of St. Anne Universite which was celebrating its commencement at that time inside the old St. Anne Church (now a museum) which is located on the university campus.

Returning to Middleton, we turned off the highway to go to the top of the nearby ridge of mountains for a nice view overlooking the Annapolis Valley.  It is the productive area of Nova Scotia with wineries, orchards, and farms.

Just before Middleton, we passed through a very small community called Paradise.  There was a small building like a 1950s walk-up Dairy Queen with the name Pearle's Seafood.  It's parking lot had about 25-30 cars in it!!  Ten miles later back at our B&B, we asked the owner of our B&B about it.  She said it was very popular and recommended that we eat there.  There is no indoor dining.  There are outdoor picnic tables, but many people eat within their cars.  She gave us two plates and cutlery and suggested that we order the "haddie bits and fries" which would be big enough for the two of us.  When we arrived around 6:00, the parking lot was still full except for one place which we took.  I ordered the food, and it was almost 25 minutes for our order come out.  (In the meantime, at least 10-12 other orders were called over the speakers as being ready for pickup.)  The food was good.  The haddie bits (haddock fingers about the size of the chicken fingers at Raising Cane's at home) were juicy and tender.  There were about 14 of them in the order.  And the fries would probably have filled a liter container.  They came with coleslaw and tartar sauce.  When we left afterward, the parking lot was overflowing and there were long lines of people waiting at the windows to order.  My guess is that people have returned home to see their mothers for Mother's Day tomorrow and were going to their old favorite haunt to relive the seafood and fries experiences from their childhoods.