Day in Digby

We both slept very well last night. We got up around seven and then got ready and went out looking for breakfast. Breakfast is not included here. When we were at Tim's yesterday I saw a spot that said they served breakfast all day so that is where we headed. It was a cute little place with a very friendly waitress. We had a very nice meal and then we headed out.

While at the diner ( Josie's) my cell phone rang and it was Lynn Brown, Ken's cousin. We chatted and arranged to head for Hillgrove to visit with Lynn and Dale and Heather. We received a grand welcome and soon memories were being revived and happy smiles all around. I brought paintings for them and they were very well received.

Before we knew it the time to leave arrived. 

We drove back into the city and had lunch at Dairy Queen. WE decided that since we were not expected at Sunny and Diane's until three we had time to go to the Maude Lewis memorial. It was a beautiful warm sunny day that could not have been more perfect. The site is beautiful and serene. 

There is a steel replica of their little house, story boards to tell of her life and beautiful flower beds and benches to hit on and just appreciate the time.

Our last stop was at Double Lake Road to visit with Sunny and Diane Banks. They have been friends of Ken since they were boys. They were so happy to see us. They have a wonderful home on a beautiful small lake. Today it was ideal. I brought them a painting. It was one that Diane had admired on Face book so she was very pleased. She gave me a beautiful zippered bag that she made. She also gave me plans for a Xmas craft. We had a great visit and she prepared a tasty meal for us. 

Soon it was time to leave . We did not want to be on the road after dark.

I am not sure what we will do tomorrow. We have dinner reservations for dinner here and we may use the pool but basically it is a free day.

Message to S&D... wonderful to hear from you... my e-mail is comquot@gmail.com

October 4th and off to Digby

This morning I took some pictures of the beautiful fall decorations around the Motel.

 We enjoyed breakfast. It was the best yet. There were very good choices of food. Scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, waffles, several cereals, toast, muffins, coffee and juice were included in the selections. The dining area was very nicely decorated in a fall theme and the walls were painted with lovely murals featuring scenes from Nova Scotia.

We headed out with plans to visit light houses and special sights to see on our way to Digby. We stopped at Cape Saint Marys It was the most glorious of days. It was beautiful, the sun shone, the water was beautiful and the site was empty we had it all to ourselves. 

  

We next stopped at Saint Anns church. It was the largest wooden church in North America. It took 3 years to build( 1903 -1905) and it is truly magnificent. Unfortunately it has been allowed to decline and it is now unbelievable. Why was this magnificent structure allowed to fall into ruin?? So Sad!!

 Just a few miles up the road was another amazing church. This one took 32 years to build. It is made of granite. The stone was brought from Shelbourn and carved stone by stone. One layer was done each year.

The church appears to still be in use. Apparently the sound is so amazing that concerts are often performed here.

WE also added the lighthouse to Belevieu's cove to our list. The last time Ken was here the rock breakwater was not there.

Soon it was time to head for Digby and The Pines. Because we were early we had to wait and return in 2 hours. We drove around the town and Ken showed me all of his childhood haunts. We had soup at Tim's and then returned to the Hotel. It is a beautiful structure and we learned it is partly owned by our native people. 

 Our room is satisfactory, not elegant but clean and classic. 

I called Diane and Ken called Mark and Heather. We will see what we do tomorrow morning. We are scheduled to visit Diane and Sunny at three.

Yarmouth

 The distance to Yarmouth was farther so we had to drive for almost 4 hours. Again we were blessed it was a beautiful day. We enjoyed the ocean views as we traveled.

We diverted to East Pubnico so we could add another lighthouse to our list. When there we saw large lobster pounds. I had never seen these on land before.

We arrived here around one and I decided to see if we could check in early. WE were in luck and as was the case the day before we were supposed to be on the second floor and because of no elevator we were able to get our room changed to the first floor.

The room is very nice and it reminds me of a mini suite on a ship. There is a large bed and a sofa and sliding glass doors, but thankfully the bathroom is much larger.

WE had a small rest and at 3:30 as was planned Gwen called. She came to our room, we had a lovely visit. I gave her the painting I had brought for her. She seemed very pleased.

Then we headed to an eatery which the clerk at the motel recommended. The Dinner Plate. This is a small , not at all fancy diner with GREAT seafood. Ken and I shared a seafood platter. The platter included large and small clams, haddock, Digby scallops, fries coleslaw a lobster chowder, WOW. It was amazing . Gwen treated us to dinner. Thanks Gwen, it was wonderful and memorable.

We returned here and after an hour I managed to conquer the card reader. All of the photos are loaded and tomorrow when we at at The Pines I will try to insert photos into the blogs from the start of this amazing holiday.

We left the Halifax area

 Bridgewater 

Bridgewater was our next stop.

In the morning we had our usual good breakfast. There was no need to hurry this morning it would not be a long drive to Bridgewater. Our luck continued and the day was beautiful, sunny and warm.

We arrived at Walmart at around 11:00. I had checked on the computer and it said that Walmart had card readers.... Google was correct and so I now have a reader and you should get photos soon. We also went to Dollarama in the same shopping area. We needed a nail file and of course that meant buying some snacks.

Next we headed for Petite Riviere. This is the home of Ken's cousin Dawn and her husband John. I gave her a painting of a lighthouse. It was well received. Ken and Dawn revived some memories and had a good visit. She also asked about our travels. 

She made us a lovely lunch and before we knew it time marched on and it was three o'clock. We said our good byes and headed to our accommodations .

 We are booked into the Days Inn. They do not have an elevator and we were booked into an upstairs room. When we realized that we asked for a change of rooms and luckily the receptionist was able to accommodate us.

When settled we decided to go out for dinner. They had a Swiss Chalet and that was our choice . When we arrived we saw 2 BLUE KNIGHTS in the parking lot. I went over to them and asked if I could take their picture for our friend Larry who was a Blue Knight. They were so obliging.

We arrived back here around six and for some unknown reason we both were tired so we were all tucked in by seven thirty.  Ken watched a little hockey but that did not last long either. I slept well until midnight. A loud alarm began beeping. I jumped out of bed and hurried to try to turn off Dr. Cox. We soon learned that it was not Dr Cox. There was an alarm clock on the night table and we were finally able to get it turned off and silence returned.

It took awhile to get back to sleep and I was awake at 6:15. I tried to conquer the card reader and failed. 

But I was able to conquer it tonight so there may be photos in the blog tomorrow. 

Visit to Hammond Plains

 This morning began again with Nova Scotia fog.

We had a good breakfast here. I had a wonderful waffle and some excellent coffee. We were scheduled to visit Harold and Carol Hawkins. These people have been good friends of Ken since he was a boy so he was really looking forward to seeing them again. I can't say I was excited about it because I did not know these people. I had met them before but only briefly.

I was so wrong!! They were so welcoming and warm that I felt like an old friend.

We left the motel around 9:20 and as had been the case Dr. Cox was a great guide. He told us of every bend in the road and every turn. We arrived at our destination at 10:03 and we were invited to arrive at ten.

On the way we were shocked to see the results of the Nova Scotia wild fires. We could not believe how the fire had jumped the highway. It was truly a miracle that no lives were lost.    

    

I gave Carol my mainly blue painting and she seemed to really like it.  

A wonderful lunch of a salad, home made chicken soup and delicious pumpkin pie was served. Carol is indeed a good cook.

We spent over 5 hours in their company and all through the afternoon you could hear the laughter as the 2 men remembered past good times.

We said our good byes with hugs and hopes that we may someday meet again, and stay well in the mean time.

Dr. Cox took us back here using a slightly different route but we got here safely and in good time, something we have come to expect.

Tomorrow we go to Bridgewater and a visit to Ken's cousin Dawn.

So Sorry!!

 I am sorry to tell you that it appears as if I will not be able to acquire a card reader. I guess they are not usually stocked and have to be special ordered and take about 10 days to be delivered. 

I will continue to take pictures but I will not be able to add them to the blog until I return home.

:-(

A Day of NS fog

 When we woke this morning we were greeted by Nova Scotia Fog. That brought back many memories.

We had a good breakfast and relaxed for a bit. Then we headed off to Porters Lake to visit with Heather Kaye. Dr. Cox was excellent as usual. Yeah Dr Cox. Heather is the widow of Barry Kaye. Barry and Ken grew up together and so there were lots of stories of childhood adventures, memories of happy times. But the conversation turned to how Barry died. He died of diabetic complications. It is thought that he had a diabetic coma from which he did not recover. The opinion was that had he taken better care of himself he would still be here to share all of the childhood memories.  

We enjoyed muffins and brownies and coffee and before long it was time to leave and say our good byes with lots of hugs and promises to meet again.

Ken knew the way back to the hotel so DR Cox was not really needed.

Back here we relaxed and before long it was time to head out again. We were meeting my cousin Clem at the ferry dock on the Halifax side. Because we had been there yesterday we did not need Dr Cox. We parked at the same parking lot and made our way to the Ferry . We did not have coins so we had to pay with a 5 dollar bill. Unfortunately the clerk could not make change. She directed us to the change machine. It ate our 5 dollar bill. The attendant came and after banging on the machine concluded that we would be given our 2 transfers and that we should call to get our dollar returned to us. We appreciated being given the fare and transfer but we will not call to get that dollar returned.

The ferry came within a few minutes and we boarded and sat on the main deck, we had sat upstairs the day before. The trip was uneventful and when we arrived we began to people watch and wait for Clem to arrive. We were early because we did not really know when we would get the ferry. We were scheduled to meet Clem on the water front in front of COWs at 3:30. The people watching kept us entertained until Clem arrived.   

He arrived and we exchanged big hugs. With him was his beautiful lady friend. She is from Uganda and her name is Faith. WE had a quick visit and decided to head uptown because we saw the waterfront yesterday. We made our way to Scotia Square which much to our surprise was mostly closed. This was Reconciliation Day. We were able to find a place to eat at the food court. We decided on Thai food. The entire time was spent visiting and catching up. This was the first time Clem and I had seen each other face to face. I gave Clem the paintings I had brought for him and Linda. Because Linda had a cold she did not come along. 

Before we knew it time had come to make our way to the ferry again.

The trip back was uneventful and again we did not need the help of Dr Cox.

Tomorrow we visit with Harold and Carol Hawkins.