Bear River Revisited

I love Bear River, this little tidal village just inland from Digby, Nova Scotia. The last time I wrote about it was in April 2009 and everything was closed as the season hadn’t begun.

Last week-end Jeff and I headed to Digby Pines Resort for our 40th Wedding Anniversary!

We decided to stop at Bear River to have our picnic beside the river. There is a lovely garden, complete with picnic tables and benches.

The roses were in full bloom,

and a wonderful perfume filled the air.

I’m not sure what this lovely white flower is – a member of the geranium?

Or these?

I think this must be the remains of an old wharf at the riverside.

Bear River has some great little shops and galleries.

The Flight of Fancy is a fantastic shop with art, pottery, glass, jewellery, rug-hooking, carvings …….

Myrtle and Rosie’s.

This Bargain Book Shop seems to sell a lot more than just books!

We saw the sign for the Sunday afternoon market and headed back to the river.

There I met Flora Doehler – a Facebook Friend, artist and writer of a Blog about her life in Bear River.

Our Bear River Adventure

These young folk filled the air with lively Irish music.

It was a hot day and we continued our travels to Digby Pines for a swim in their outdoor pool. (another Blog to follow)

Architecture at Bear River

As I said, Bear River is built on the Bear River, which is tidal. Some of the buildings in the centre are built on stilts over the river. The buildings are wooden and brightly painted.

The architecture is varied, with a mix of European and American.

The red and grey house was definitely influenced by the German school.

The yellow with the blue trim is simpler, but colourful.

I think the old unpainted building must have been a little house, otherwise why the elaborate detail above the door and windows.

The spire of the United Baptist Church towers over the other buildings.

Have you ever seen a horse on a weather vane?

There is one on this lovely wooden stable.

Bear River is one of those special places and I’m sure we will have more trips there, if we can stand the 3 hour drive. Property is very cheap, so maybe a holiday house would be a good idea.

Spring is here!

Yesterday was Good Friday, so we decided to have a trip to Digby on the Bay of Fundy, as we haven’t driven that far yet. Digby is a little  fishing town, famous for its scallops and is also the port for the ferry to Saint John in New Brunswick. It was almost a 3 hour drive, but it was a beautiful morning and the roads were empty, despite it being a holiday.

Digby harbour is not very different from any other but you can see what a fabulous day it was.

There wasn’t too much to interest us in Digby, most places being closed either because of the holiday or because they don’t open for the season till June. We had a look at the map and decide to head up the River to Bear River. We had no idea what it was like, just saw the name and followed the road signs. There was still snow at the sides of the road and in the woods, but this scene in a garden at Bear River was the first colour we’ve seen this year. I see these are called Chionodoxa or Glory of the Snow, which is an apt name for the first flowers after the snow.

Bear River is built on the Bear River!!! The first building we spotted was the Tourist Information Centre in a traditional Dutch windmill!

This Flights of Fancy store is a very nice Gallery shop with some really unusual crafts.

Unfortunately, it was closed and we could only window shop. One of the carvings in the window is from an elk’s antler, the other from a whale’s vertebrae. You can see me taking the photo and Jeff peering for a price label – which incidentally was $2,300!We had our picnic with us, so weren’t too concerned that the Changing Tides Diner was closed.

Or that Inn Out of the Fog, hadn’t yet started its season.

There was so much to see in this tiny community, that I will add a second article on it in a few days, so that you can see some more of the photos.