After clearing customs at the Yarmouth ferry landing, we rode up the hill to Route 3, which after a few miles connected to Route 1, the Evangeline Trail.  This road is so named because it passes through the Acadian section of Nova Scotia, originally settled by the French who were then forcibly re-located by the British in 1755 (more on that in a later post).  Evangeline is the fictional heroine of the famous Longfellow poem, written to commemorate the resulting Acadian diaspora; it is from this literary figure that the region takes its name.  The Evangeline Trail runs along Nova Scotia’s western shore and then along the north side of the province to the college town of Wolfville; Acadian heritage and history is evident all along the route.

The ride from Yarmouth to Digby (famous for scallops) is the most scenic of the trail, with outstanding ocean views appearing regularly on the left, and before long one can also see Digby Neck across the water.

Acadian culture is also evident in the many old churches one passes along the Trail; the architecture is somewhat unique in this regard.

Once past Annapolis Royal, the Trail becomes somewhat less scenic as it no longer follows the coastline.  We, however, missed the ocean views, so once we passed Kentville (a somewhat difficult community in which to ride as there are many traffic lights and much congestion) we headed north on #358 to Cape Blomidon, where we spent the night at a lovely B&B.

If you look closely at the above photo, you can see that the ocean, as it extends to the right in the picture, becomes increasingly red-colored.  This is because the tide was partially out when the picture was taken, exposing the red sand of the sea bottom.  Living in Maine, I am familiar with tides — but in Maine, you can usually throw a stick from the low-tide point to the high-water mark on any given beach.  But here, the tide goes out literally a mile or more in some places!  More on this in a subsequent post.

At any rate, on Cape Blomidon we found a wonderful B&B called the Lyons Cove Bed and Breakfast; host Doug made us a delicious breakfast omelet that included both nuts and cinnamon, something new for us.  This was a wonderful spot that we highly recommend to anyone traveling this way.  More on Cape Blomidon in the next post!