Canada Day in Kentville, NS

Canada Day, sort of like the 4th of July in the USA, is  this coming weekend.  The Big Birthday Party for the country.  And, it's a long weekend.  So far, we've pulled into campgrounds with no worries of finding a spot.  But, we're smart enough to know this weekend, the Official Beginning of Summer, might make finding a spot more difficult.  True that!  After calling 8 campgrounds in the Annapolis Valley and finding no room at any inn, we were relieved to hear Marvin, at Highbury Gardens in Kentville say he'd find a spot for us.  After our conversation, I scurried to the map to find Kentville.  Looks like it's in the middle of the Annapolis Valley, putting us in the middle of where we wanted to be.  Perfect landing, as always!  Tomorrow will be a long drive (for us):  about 6 hours in one day.

At the Province visitor center, we collected a stack of literature, including a very good map, a list of farmer's markets, a brochure outlining the very best restaurants in the Province, and a list of art galleries.  Well armed, we drove to Kentville on very good roads, and found ourselves in a small commercial hub for the Valley, on a narrow road congested with tourists and locals.  Our host at the cg surprised us with the news he'd found a space with full hook-ups, knowing we'd be here a full week.  Sure makes our life more pleasant, even though our purse is lighter!  We settled in the quiet cg, knowing in a few days it would be jammed full.  Here are a few photos of what we saw for the next few days, in spite of the rain:








Lunch at the brew pub on the Cornwallis River in Wolfville, on a perfectly rainy afternoon.  Poutine is a local favorite.  Hand-made fries, in a delicious gravy, with lobster and local cheese curds on top.  Oh my!  This is an Acadian population, the remains of the original Acadians who were rounded up and shipped out by the British in 1755.  Sad history.



The rain stayed. It has rained almost every day for 3 weeks, including the week of Canada Day.  Those poor folks who had a glorious three day weekend away from work were soggy, but unbowed.   This is the view from our outside table at the restaurant, where we were the  only people to sit outside.  Under a nice canopy.  By now, I was beginning to feel a little depressed by all the gray.




We visited the National Museum dedicated to telling the story of the removal of the Acadians from Nova Scotia.  ohmy.  After having read about the Cajuns in L'siana, and having been to St. Martins, in the Bayou and seeing the statue of Evangeline, we are arenow at the point of expulsion, the beginning of the story. The British and French turf war involved these peaceful people, in a way hard to understand today.  The museum here is terrific, which included exhibits of wooden gates the Acadians used to drain the wetlands here to create awesome farms; a film that will bring tears to the eyes of anyone, and a view of miles of dykelands created by the Acadians before they were shipped out in 1755.  Highly recommended visit for anyone within 100 miles of this beautiful place.  The photo at left here, is the church built in the early 1900's, dedicated to the Acadians, and the statue of Evangeline, the fictional woman immortalized by Longfellow.



Another rainy day.  Hall's Harbor has a lighthouse, and is on the pretty Bay of Fundy, the North Coast of NS.  We drove up there, and found this tiny fishing harbor that is trying to survive with a little lobstering, and a little touristing.  It is surely pretty!

We arrived in the morning, at low tide, and the boats were on the hard.  The lobster boats were apparently out, these few pleasure boats were not going anywhere for another 6 hours.  Not far from Hall's Harbor, at Black Rock, just about 10 miles south of here is another lighthouse.  Our map shows several roads from Hall's Harbor, and we find ourselves on this one:

Yep, there was surely no maintenance.  And, there had been a heavy rain last night.  Well, I can back out of anywhere....we made it, much to the surprise of some locals later that day who heard our story.  No four-wheel drive on this truck, either!

When we arrived at Black Rock, we found this delightful house, just a few houses back from the shore.

In 1929, Charles William MacDonald began building 5 houses from concrete and local rocks.  He was a local man, who believed in the power of concrete.  Check out the website dedicated to his work, to read more about him and these funky little houses.  Four of them survive.  http://www.concretehouse.ca/uncommon/BlueCottage.pdf

We continued on to Black Rock, and found this lighthouse:  Built on a rocky ledge, it is still lighted.

One sign we've seen often indicated rough road ahead.  The road people don't use enough of them, imho!  But, we came around a corner down a hill to the coast, and found one that had been edited, indicating a sea dragon ahead!  Picture later, it's on the other camera (and I neglected to bring the card reader with me!).  I think this is called a "teaser".

Canada Day the skies poured rain.  All the local celebrations were either held in the downpour, or cancelled.  We watched people in our cg try to dodge the rain, and play games outside on this first weekend of summer, holding their beers under a raincoat or umbrella.  The next day, still raining, we drove to Port  Royal, at the head of the Annapolis Valley, to see the Habitation.  It was a small fort built by the French in 1605.  Short-lived, it was the first settlement by Europeans in the area.  The British destroyed it in 1613.  For that time, it was the Capitol of Acadia in the New World.  The remarkable restoration of the fort was worth the drive, and a tour in the rain.

The Annapolis Valley is beautiful farm land, and we have bought local peas, potatoes, carrots, cheese and greens. There is a farm market in every little village at least once a week, and local stands by every little farm, with hand-painted signs offering strawberries or peas or eggs.  A beautiful place to live, I think. Even though the Valley is so pretty, I am ready to move on, to anyplace that there might be some sunshine!