Somehow the Welch's had heard the main ferry was out of commission, but there was a back-up ferry for such occasions.  We could simply look out their sun porch windows and see that the ferry was operating, so we had our coffee and quick breakfast, packed our belongings and said our good-byes.  They waved to us as we drove away.  

There were only two vehicles ahead of us in the line up and a few came behind, but we weren't in a hurry today.  Our plan was to take the two ferries and retrace our steps back to Digby, NS.  We had rushed through the quaint seaside town and we wanted to linger there a bit longer this day.

All of a sudden a half-ton pulls in quickly beside us and we turn to see Phil and Gracie waving and rolling down their window!  Walter obliged and rolled his window down - "We just wanted to let you know the ferry schedule is a little behind but you should still make the other ferry in good time!"

"Thanks for letting us know!"  Walter replied.  "I'm sure we'll make our connection just fine."  We smiled and said good-bye once again.  Small town hospitality.  They drove over rather than call our cell phone to give us that information.  It gave us a warm feeling.

Within minutes, the back-up ferry was pulling up and we were directed on the ferry.  Being the novices that we were, we didn't notice much difference between this ferry and the main one.  It got us across the channel to Long Island and we were cruising along that winding highway to Tiverton, on the next ferry without much delay and onto Digby Neck.  

It was cool, windy, chilly once we got to Digby.  My idea was to find a place for lunch that overlooked the harbour so we wound our way to the Old Downtown district.  We parked and thought we would walk a bit for exercise and exploration purposes.  Soon that icy wind drove us into the nearest open restaurant, which turned out to be a lovely dining place.  It was not busy on this midweek day, so we were seated at a table by the window directly facing the docks and various boats and fishing vessels.  Perfect.  We ordered scallops and shrimp, as they are the specialties of Digby.  I ordered hot tea, which came in the same glass lightbulb tea decanter that I drank out of at St. Mary's restaurant.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of it alongside a cup and sending it to Merrill!  He appreciated the humour!

After a tasty and relaxed lunch, we headed out to find a gift shop.  I wanted to pick up a souvenir representing our trip to the Maritimes.  Had I mentioned Walter had brought something from the Welch's?  On the shore of their cabin, a hump back whale carcass washed up.  Apparently it smelled nasty and was a wretched sight as it decayed that summer.  Phil had harvested some valuable rib bones and vertebrae that he cleaned up and sunbleached.  Of course, he insisted we take something back with us - how could we take such items on the plane back home?  Well, Walter conceded to taking a vertebrate, which was about two feet in length, figuring it would fit in his suitcase.  I shook my head.  How can you say no?

So I looked for something small and easy to pack in my suitcase but the selection of gifts was so varied.  I finally chose a torquoise glass anchor with a white cotton nautical rope tied to it: a Christmas tree ornament.  Walter chose some coasters that boasted colourful stained glass designed lighthouses.  Beautiful.  And much smaller than a whale bone!

It was time to drive to Halifax and I was excited to drive on a highway that we'd never been on before.  Liz Fawcett grew up in the Annapolis Valley and described the landscape and some fun places to stop and check out if we had time.  As we left Digby, it was snowing and raining.  So Walter concentrated on driving and we had to be satisfied with seeing the signs for the places Liz mentioned!  The drive was pretty through trees, by some little towns and villages and then it opened onto lush pasturelands and dairy farms dotting the countryside.  I would have loved to explore the museums and landmarks of the Acadian people - the French Canadians who had been expelled when the English controlled the region.  (I wrote a paper on this subject in grade 10 social studies - fascinating and tragic part of our history).  Alas, we kept on driving, arriving in Halifax just as rush hour traffic was at its height!

We found our way to the Best Western on Chocolate Lake.  We'd been there on our last trip to the Maritimes and so it felt familiar.  We had supper and I managed to get two loads of laundry done that evening.  Settling into the room for two nights made it feel like home.  With that, I say good night!