Day 7: Rounding Out Nova Scotia

Yarmouth, Canada

We enjoyed a slow paced morning in Lunenburg by taking in the colorful streets of little storefronts, and making our way up the hill to Laughing Whale Coffee/The Shop On The Corner for breakfast. I decided to start the day with their iced coconut pineapple roobis tea, and as soon as I spot their naked carrot cake I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it. It is vacation… Right? Bryan opted for a large bowl of fresh granola, fruit, and vanilla yogurt with a strong cup of coffee. It was fun taking in the chatter and some of the knickknacks in the store, and then we decided it was time to head out of town to explore the remaining part of the South Shore. Only a couple kilometers down the road we made a stop to see the Blue Rocks. This morning they did not appear very blue to us, but still a very pretty scene with many stacks of rocks and several small snails. This active fishing village has a small shack sitting in the water that is supposedly the most photographed building in the country (see photos). Unfortunately as we approached Liverpool to see one of the beachfront areas, we hit our first bit of rain on the trip. At least the views were still lovely as we rode the curves along the coast despite the rain. We stopped to catch a few other views of the shore and were successful at taking some pictures as the rain eased up, but still found quite a bit of fog around. Just as we passed Liverpool, we decided to try the Quaterdeck restaurant for lunch. Boy has this place evolved over the years… Starting in the 1930s it was originally a roadside canteen serving hotdogs, hamburgers, and ice cream cones. From there it grew to include a few cabins, and now has matured into a villa complex and restaurant. We were surprised by how stunning the place was – the mix of white and natural wood, and lobster cages used as lighting made for a very beachy/modern spot with some classic nautical elements. After a quick review of their menu, we decided today was a perfect day for a larger lunch and lighter dinner. Although we had to sit inside because of the weather, we still had a beautiful view that overlooked approximately 1 mile of the providence’s nicest white sand beaches (many others have been rocky). We enjoyed watching the fog lift and return throughout our meal, and the many large birds flying overhead/landing on the rocks and beach. We shared some lobster fritters, I decided to try their lobster roll, and Bryan had their special of the day. The special was sautéed haddock prepared in a lemon pepper sauce that Bryan loved. From here we made our way to the Harbour Rocks Trail, part of Kejimkujik Seaside Park. Unfortunately, although the weather had cleared up we discovered that the forest fires were still largely impacting many of the park areas in this region of the providence. Although this was disappointing, we did notice that the public wharf (in Port Joli) area nearby still seemed accessible with no caution or warning signs. We also couldn’t see any signs of fire nearby, so decided we were safe to proceed. The views on this rocky inlet were gorgeous… The bluest water we’ve seen in the Atlantic during our entire trip. After some relaxing and exploring along this waterfront we hopped back in the car to head down to Yarmouth for the evening. On our way around the “lighthouse trail” highway we spotted a sign off the road for a local brewery called Boxing Rock in Shelburne. Bryan recognize the name of the brewery from the beer he had at dinner last night, so we decided we’d make a brief pitstop along our short drive back to Yarmouth. This ended up being a pretty fun detour… first, it happened to be located off Ohio Street, and as we pulled into the parking lot we noticed some people crowded around a target throwing axes! As we exited our vehicle we joked with the crowd, only to learn that it was actually the Priemer of Nova Scotia, Stephen McNeil (http://premier.novascotia.ca), doing part of his summer tour of local businesses. Wow, as guests to this Providence we suddenly felt very welcomed. All of the Canadians we have met have been beyond cordial, and he too was extremely polite and very friendly with us. We had a fabulous time tossing the ax and sampling some beers with him and the brewmaster/beer engineer (Emily). According to the local folklore Boxing Rock is where bickering seamen were left by their captains to sort out their differences. The choice: box until one could return to the ship or shake hands and share a beer. Either way it’s only a few short hours until high tide. Great experience at this three-year-old brewery! Although tossing an ax at a target proved to be much more addicting than I ever expected, we finally had to stop and get back on the road to round out the tail end of our time in Nova Scotia. As we got back into Yarmouth, the fog was still pretty thick. We had hopes of maybe doing a night sky tour tonight to see some of the bright starfilled sky this area is known for. However, today’s weather just simply didn’t allow for optimal viewing. Instead we checked out the small local Frost Park and grabbed a light dinner (chowder & salad for me, and Bryan couldn’t pass on one more round of fresh scallops from Digby) at Rudders Brew Pub & Seafood. It’s a cozy spot, that had a music festival going on outback. Made for a nice relaxing Friday night before our early ferry ride to Portland tomorrow. We laughed because as we looked up reviews on where to eat tonight, we saw the Red Shed was featured many times… We thought their menu sounded pretty good, and as we approached the address we were shocked we weren’t spotting a red building. Until we looked across the way and noticed literally a small red shed on the wharf that was a tiny food hut. We have no doubt that it is as delicious as the reviews suggest, but with tonight’s weather cooling off and the fog rolling in, we decided to opt for somewhere we could eat indoors. One day if we have the chance to return to Nova Scotia, hopefully we can make that stop! It’s hard to believe that our time in Nova Scotia has come to an end, but we have certainly enjoyed our stay. I will miss driving 110 (relax…KM/HR), unexpected dirt roads, the constant waterfront views, the kind people, and possibilities of moose sightings. Our full adventure throughout NS earned us a total of 2,887 km or 1,794 miles on the rental car this week! Looking forward to when we may be able to return again, and would love to explore Prince Edward Island, Five Island Provincial Park, the eastern end of Cape Breton Island and Sydney. Ps. I couldn’t commit to eating an entire order of poutine on my own, and I knew Bryan wouldn’t be interested in trying… So, I snagged a bag of Lays poutine flavored ones and found them to actually be somewhat enjoyable. Maybe on our next Canadian adventure I’ll save room to give them a try (just couldn’t choose them over all the delicious seafood options we had this week).