Nova Scotia - Digby Scallops, Acadian Shores & Cape Forchu
/Once we returned from the Digby Neck, I was particularly interested in visiting Digby, the ‘Scallop Capital of the World’. I love shellfish and scallops are a favorite, but expensive.
Digby, Scallops Capital of the World
We strolled hand-in-hand along the town’s shoreside path, Admirals Walk, on a beautiful summer morning. The waters of the Annapolis Basin were shimmering in the sunlight.
Admirals Walk- Digby, Nova Scotia
Digby Pier Lighthouse, recently refurbished, stands proudly as the centerpiece of the walk. After several years of neglect, this lighthouse was moved to New Brunswick. A renewed interest in this landmark brought the lighthouse back to Digby.
The Digby Pier Lighthouse wasn't always located in Digby, but it's back now.
The town’s main street is lined with shops, hotels and restaurants. We checked out several menus, but scallop dinners were through the roof. We did find a pair of preserved giant lobster claws in a showcase in one of the restaurants, however. This 40-lb giant was estimated to be about 163 years old. Sigh!
This Big guy escaped a lobster trap for an estimated 163 years before he was hauled up by a lobsterman.
Determined to have some scallops without breaking the bank, we made our way to the harbor. What better way to find some fresh scallops than to check out the scallop fleet?
Digby’s scallop fleet
Sure enough, we met a couple of old salts down on the wharf and after chatting a bit, asked about fresh scallops. Without hesitation, they immediately directed us to the Birch Street Fish Market where we purchased a pound of beautiful, plump, giant scallops. At $21/lb, they were dear, but affordable considering that a pound would feed both of us and scallop dinners in town were priced at $30+ each.
Fresh scallop at the unassuming Birch Street Fish market
Evangeline statue at Grand Pre Credit: Parks Canada
Continuing along the coast road on the southern coast to St. Mary’s Bay on the west end of Nova Scotia, we were in Acadian country once again. In fact, nearby Annapolis Royal was the location of the original Acadian colony in the early 1600s. The highway here is called the Evangeline Trail. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow memorialized the plight of the Acadians in his poem ‘Evangeline’. You probably remember it from high school… ‘This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks…’ It recounts the sad story of two lovers separated by the Great Expulsion (Le Grand Dérangement) of the Acadians from British Canada.
A quick stop at scenic Gilbert’s Cove Bay netted us a few steps as we explored the light and climbed up to the cramped, hot top of the lighthouse for great views of the bay below. David got a chance to try out the manual fog horn. Definitely loud!
We passed through many small Acadian coastal towns, all neat, tidy and displaying the distinctive Acadian flag with a Stellas Maris (star of the sea) prominent in its canton.
The Acadian flag, French national colors with the gold Stella Maris in the canton.
A replica of the original Church Point Light was definitely a photo opp.
Church Point Light
Coming upon Eglise St. Bernard was a most pleasant surprise. A monumental labor of love by the parishioners, the church took 37 years to complete. Over 8000 granite blocks were cut by hand and pulled via ox cart to the construction site. It remains one of the largest stone buildings in Atlantic Canada.
Eglise St. Bernard, a testament to the hard work and perserverance of its parishioners.
The wooden Eglise St. Alphonse de Ligouri was built by local parishioners in 1922, yet another testament to the faith and devotion of the Acadian people.
Eglise St. Alphonse de Ligouri
We sought out Parc du Phare au Sainte-Marie (Cape St. Mary Lighthouse Park) for a leg stretch. Located on a dramatic cliff side, the lighthouse was built in 1898 and is undergoing renovation. A monument to the Acadians who were displaced by the Great Expulsion and the number of people who died was explicit and a sad commentary on the times. December 13th is the day set aside by the Acadians as Remembrance Day and is a unique legal holiday in Nova Scotia.
Heading towards Yarmouth, we went out of our way to catch a glimpse of the World’s Smallest Drawbridge in Sandford. Built in 1915 as a convenience for fishermen and visitors crossing from one side of the Sandford wharf system to the other, there’s some contention as to whether it’s actually the ‘smallest’ drawbridge in the world. The Somerset Bridge in Bermuda is only 22 inches(! Just wide enough to allow passage of a sailing dinghy mast) wide. I’ll let Nova Scotia and Bermuda duke it out.
Sandford Drawbridge, smallest drawbridge in the world???
Finally, we arrived at Yarmouth. We’d visited Yarmouth in 2001 via FastCat from Bar Harbor, Maine and again in 2002 when we sailed to Nova Scotia. This time we had the opportunity to view it from land and explore a bit more from a different point of view.
We stopped first at Yarmouth Bar, a working fishing village on the way to Cape Forchu Lighthouse to admire the colorful Buoy Wall.
Yarmouth Bar's Buoy Wall
Out in the bay, we spotted the Beacon Light, known locally as the Bug Light
Bug Light
The highlight of Cape Forchu is its distinctive red and white vertical striped ‘apple core’ lighthouse. Samuel de Champlain first explored the area in 1604 and named it Cap Forchu, ‘forked cape’.
The Cape Forchu Lighthouse has stood as a beacon on this rough and jagged coastline since 1839.
We walked the nearby Leif Ericson Trail… short but interesting. It was here that the ‘Rune Stone’ was found leading many to believe that the Vikings had stopped here at some point in their exploration of Canada’s east coast. The rune stone is now on display at the Yarmouth County Museum.
We also met Foggy the Finback Whale or at least his skeleton. The carcass was found on a beach and the skeleton was preserved and reassembled by a local fisherman.
We’d gone on a scavenger hunt earlier in the day for a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Grigio and fresh corn on the cob - the makings of a gourmet meal which we intended to enjoy for our evening meal. We found a local campground for the evening, and after laundry, showers and several Blanche chores, we were ready for our scallop feast. While other campers enjoyed wieners and burgers, we enjoyed scallops lightly pan-seared in garlic butter and Provençal spices, a cold, crisp white wine, and fresh corn on the cob. It was decadent… and outstanding!
Pan-seared Digby Scallops - Outstanding!
Next time, we’ll continue our exploration of the Nova Scotia coast and give Blanche a much-needed spa day before heading to New Brunswick. Join us!