Sunday Drivers at Savary Provincial Park

Savary Provincial Park at Plympton

Today's edition of Sunday Drivers takes us to Savary Provincial Park, just past Digby, on the Fundy coast.   Both Laur and I were immediately reminded of Seabeck State Park in Washington State.  We arrived just before lunch and low tide was mid-afternoon, but there was already a lot of beach exposed. Just right for discovering treasures.

One of the first things we discovered was this pod of eggs clinging to the bottom of some kombu in the beds of rockweed.  These beds are beautiful in their repeating patterns of bulbous green stalks.  It's Mother Nature's version of bubble wrap - they pop and snap when you walk over them!

Some sort of egg case on the bottom of some kombu

Close up of the egg case. Does anyone know what this is?

 I was initially surprised at the lack of crab hunkering under the innumerable flat rocks.  We did find a few, though. It wasn't until we got home and did some research that we realized these little beggars are bad news!  In retrospect it's a good thing we didn't find so many of them....

This is a European Green Crab - a very bad, bad crab. In fact, it's one of the 10 most unwanted species in the world. Excluding people, presumably.

A small brook emptying into the bay.

Ubiquitous beach garbage.

More beach garbage. Boy enjoyed a good splash.

Even more beach garbage. Except this one says, "I'm on top of the world!"

Holding on for dear life.

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever spinning reel.

I'm guessing this means the park does not mow the lawns.  But the vegetation is quite short.  Ninja goats.

Laur had the foresight to scoot over to Timmy's on our way out of town.  After three hours looking for treasures on the beach, our bagel snack hit the spot.

I thought I ordered herb and garlic cream cheese, but my guess is that they are experiencing budget cuts and are only offering herb and garlic flavour on a toasted bagel.

I don't know what this is about, but he was "hiding".

After Savary Beach it was time to head up the road to Gilbert's Cove.

The plaque reads : "Anchor given by W. Laurence Sweeney whose Ancestors lived in Gilbert's Cove 1837-1860"  The body of this anchor was likely manufactured from one continuous billet of iron using an industrial air hammer.

The Gilbert Cove Light - built in 1904 and manned by the Melanson family until it was automated in 1965. After automation, the lighthouse fell into disrepair until 1984, when it was restored and turned into a tearoom and gift shop.  It is now a provincial heritage site.

 After Gilbert Cove we headed back in a homeward direction.  By this time I was hungry (again) and we decided to grab some grub in Digby.  I was hankerin' for some world-famous scallops and Laur and the boy were game - Boy can always pack away a burger and fries and Laur is constantly on the lookout for the area's best haddie and fries.  And I gotta tell yah, it was pretty tasty!  The scoop on Kalen is that he's actually only four years old.  The proprietor told me she's rebuilding her fathers fish and chip business for the future of her grandson.   We'll definitely be back!

These nefarious fellows were in the parking lot, ogling us.  The one in the back started cracking his knuckles and egging "Leftie" on.  Apparently Leftie had a sawed-off baseball bat under his right wing (that's why he was sidling up to us). We got a bad vibe from them, so we skedaddled.