This morning, we had to get up at 5am to get our sorry (and sore!) arses out the door in time to catch the ferry from St. John to Digby, Nova Scotia. We decided to go this route to shorten up our trip getting to the Southern end of NS as we already travelled through that area 6 years ago when we were here. This allowed us to have a bit more time in Yarmouth.
The ferry crosses the Bay of Fundy and when we landed in Digby, we spent a bit of time in the old downtown core by the water. There was a farmers market going on on the city green so we wandered through that and bought some delicious, locally made blueberry dessert wine. We had lunch in Digby and then decided to head north a ways to visit Annapolis Royale before heading down to Yarmouth.
Annapolis is a VERY significant town in the history of European settlement in Canada. It was the first area where the French set up camp when they landed in 1604. It is unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people and was the centre of early European colonization which was called Mi’kma’ki by the Mi’maw, Acadie by the French and Nova Scotia by the British.
It is one of the most contested places in North America and it changed hands between the British and French half a dozen times while fighting also happened on an ongoing basis with the Mi’kmaq as they tried to maintain their own culture, way of life and preserve their own land.
Fort Anne is open to people wandering through, free of charge, and it is shaped like a star which was, at the time, considered to be the most efficient design for defence. There is an officers quarters building which has been restored as well as the gun powder house, a sally port and the Black Hole (originally a powder storage bunker which was later used by women and children to hide in and then as a jail.) There also remains part of the Queen’s Wharf which was where all the ships docked, bringing supplies and people in an out. It was also one of the locations where the Acadians, later in history, were put on ships and sent away during the expulsion of the Acadians. Some of my ancestors on my mother’s side were Acadian and were part of this expulsion by the Canadian government which is why many of them ended up in Louisiana and part of the “Cajun” community down there. It’s just one of the many sad and terribly unjust parts of our colonization history in Canada so it was moving to stand on the wharf, knowing this was a place where some of this history happened.
Finally, after 200 years, we have agreement between the French and the British!
We wandered through Annapolis and were, as always, taken by the lovely old architecture of the homes and commercial buildings here. We swung by the local pier and had an icecream on Main Street.
As we made our way back south towards Yarmouth, the clouds gathered and grew darker and darker. Suddenly, our sunny day socked in with an angry looking sky and, about 50 kms before Yarmouth, the sky opened up and dumped on us with fury. We were like drowned rats by the time we arrived at the Lakelawn B&B and Motel where we were warmly welcomed by Matthew, the owner. Matthew is a delight. He’s hilarious and immensely generous and he got us squared away in cozy rooms. The Lakelawn is a fabulous place. It was originally a house built in 1836 as a private residence for a local physician and remained a home for 50 years. In 1886, the existing cabins were guest houses and more cabins were added over the years. The B&B is located in the original part of the house. It is one of the oldest ongoing businesses in Yarmouth and is a local historic site. We would highly recommend the Lakelawn if you’re staying in Yarmouth.
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