Goodness, I’m behind on these blog posts. (opps!) But, you know what, life happens and moving to a new city (and province) for school kind of takes precedence.
So let’s take it back to the last weekend of July when Mum, Dad, and I decided to take a trip to our favourite town in Nova Scotia – Annapolis Royal. AR is the cutest little town. It’s definitely a seasonal town. The majority of the adorable downtown shops close up for the winter and only about 400 people live there year-round. Thankfully, two of the people that live there all year are my mum’s cousin, Cathy, and her husband, Peter. Cathy and my mum are close in age and are very, very alike. (They frequently break out into song, singing the same part of the same song, and usually they both end up crying from laughing so hard at least 3 times a visit). Cathy and Pater have adopted me as their niece so, to me, even though Cathy is officially my first cousin once removed, she’s Auntie Cathy to me.
When Cathy and Peter retired from medicine they sold their house in Ontario and moved to the east coast where they bought their beautiful home in AR and where we are lucky enough to stay when we visit the town. Seriously, check out that backyard view!!
Mum, Dad and I took the Fundy Rose from Saint John to Digby on the Thursday afternoon and then were chauffeured to AR by Peter. The first evening we visit is always catch-up time: “How are Aunt Selena and Uncle Jim?” “What’s new with the Fiber Art Society?” “Can you explain your MSc research proposal?” The laughs start here and continue until we said good-bye at the Ferry.
Friday morning is chilly in the valley so we opt for a quiet morning in - drinking coffee, cuddling with the cats, chatting and reading in the sunroom.
Once it warms up a bit, Mum and I head 5 minutes down the road to the big booming downtown (lol). As small as it is, the downtown has adorable shops where you can find things like homemade soap, organic snacks, beautiful jewelry, lotion made with Nova Scotia sea Kelp (Shout out to NS Fisherman’s Lotion that I looove), locally brewed coffee (another shout out to Sissiboo Coffee Company which has been fuelling my apartment move-in in Newfoundland) and homemade chocolates (hello sea salted caramel).
The downtown is also the waterfront so, whenever you walk out of a shop, you get to smell the salt air and, I have to say, I love that smell. To me, walking out and seeing and smelling the ocean, is everything. It means the East Coast. It means somewhere beautiful. It means somewhere I love. It means home.
Late in the afternoon, Mum and I decide to take a walk down the road from Cathy and Peter’s to the Historic Gardens. These are prize-winning gardens that are the pride and joy of the AR community. It’s really no wonder the community is proud; these gardens are absolutely stunning. They’re not huge but they are well kept and really have a large variety. My favourite parts are the Rose Garden and the huge piece of driftwood. I’m also a fan of all the birch trees. (Gray, I don’t even hate them after gluing the bark to many, many triangles for your wedding.)
Saturday morning brought with it my favourite part of visiting AR in the summer – the farmer’s market. I LOVE this market. (Actual conversation. Dad: “Hannah, when do you want to go to AR this summer?” Me: “Don’t care but we HAVE to be there on a Saturday.”) This market has everything you could ever want: my favourite jams and jellies (Nona’s Preserves), Sissiboo Coffee, Belgian waffles, tea cozies (in the official AR tartan), fresh fruits and veggies, breads, French pastries, local honey, and many other things. Mum, Cathy, and I had taken a big basket with us and, by the time we left, the basket was overflowing and we had many other things to carry in our arms. Some of the things we bought there today are now sitting on my apartment counter in NL and it is awfully nice to have those little reminders of summer and of my fav little Nova Scotia town.
Saturday evening, we piled into the car and headed back to Digby so the Wallace Fam could head back to SJ. After we arrived back on the other side of the bay and a quick stop at the house, I was off to the Belleisle . . . the summer was just really busy . . . but that’s the way I like it.
H.
Thanks to Uncle Peter and Auntie Cathy for being a part of my fabulous summer including meeting up in Trinity, NL - our last stop before arriving in St. John's!