Road Trips - October 2013

Pumpkins, Apples & Butterscotch Pie - 
Fall On The Evangeline Trail

Evangeline Trail

Rich in history, agriculture and scenery, Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley and Avon River Valley make a perfect destination year-round.  However, during early October, with the foliage afire in its crimson and orange magnificence and produce ripe for the picking, the choice for our latest road trip adventure was sure to exceed expectation.  Having enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinners with friends and family earlier in the weekend, Monday’s holiday allowed us the opportunity to take in an autumn road trip and so, with a few extra passengers for good measure, Kelley and I hit the open road with the Valley in our sights.

Like many of our adventures, our day began with a hearty fry-up. In an effort to beat the breakfast rush, we left downtown Halifax around 8:30am and settled on the Esquire Restaurant, conveniently located on the

Fall foliage in Windsor, NS

Bedford Highway, to fill our bellies before making our way through Lower Sackville and onwards toward Highway 101.  With the recently twinned highway, we carried on Valley-bound until we reached the exit at Ellershouse and from there, continued along the Evangeline Trail taking us through the town of Windsor.  Although Windsor offers its visitors plenty to see and do, we opted on this excursion to simply enjoy the bright coloured fall foliage as we passed through the centre of town and carried on further opting for the town of Wolfville as our targeted destination.

Welcome to Wolfville, NS

As with all of our road trip adventures, a coveted treat is a factor in the choice of destination, and this trip to the Valley is no exception.  Being aficionados of a good piece of pie, we always choose to sample the wares at the Evangeline Inn & Motel while in the area however, as it was Thanksgiving Day, the place was standing room only when we drove by so we opted to check out some of the attractions and allow the lunch rush to settle down.  We decided to head into the centre of Wolfville which, considering it was a holiday, was a-buzz with people.  Traffic on Main Street was heavy, particularly on the west side of town as many people were enjoying a day of picking apples and choosing pumpkins, however we continued through making an obligatory stop at Hennigar’s Farm Market. 

Pumpkin People in Kentville, NS

It definitely seemed like everyone we encountered was in the mood to take in everything the Valley has to offer the autumn visitor.  After checking out the wares at Hennigar's we decided to venture further through New Minas on onwards to Kentville to see this year's Pumpkin People; Kentville is known for its annual display of Pumpkin people, which are caricatures of people crafted out of straw with pumpkin heads and staged throughout the town in various themes and poses.  Although Kentville, itself, is a fantastic destination for a road trip as it offers its visitors shops, restaurants and, being in the heart of the Annapolis Valley, a host of professional services, we opted on this visit to simply take in the spirit of the Pumpkin People and head back to Wolfville with hopes of procuring a piece of pie.

Evnageline at Grand-Pre, NS

As we made our way back through New Minas and Wolfville, we decided that no trip along the Evangeline Trail would be complete without checking out the Grand-Pre National Historic Site, located in Grand-Pre along the eastern edge of Wolfville.  The grounds of the memorial church in this historic park are always stunning but with the autumn foliage at its peak on this beautiful, sunny afternoon, they were particularly gorgeous.  Of course we could not pass up the photo opportunity to capture a shot of the statue of Evangeline, the heroine of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem set during the time of the expulsion of the Acadians, "Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie" (1847), before heading to our final and sought-after destination synonymous with this historic site.

As mentioned, there are many allures of the Annapolis Valley for both tourists and for people that call this area home; the rich history, the breath-taking scenery and the friendliness of the people...to name just a few.  But for anyone with a sweet tooth, the gem of this part of the world can be found at the onsite cafe for the Evangeline Inn & Motel.  We were here twice last year and were here

At the Evangeline Inn & Motel

again in the spring once we learned they were open for the season.  This time we were here to get one last piece of pie before they close for the season.  The crowd of hungry people that we saw when we first arrived in town had diminished by the time we got there but only because we learned that they were closing early for the day so the staff could enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with their families.  We knew what we wanted so we wasted little time in perusing the menu; butterscotch pie was served promptly and with the usual smile we have come to enjoy from the fantastic servers.  This treat made for the perfect end to the perfect day.  We bid adieu before jumping in the car to head back to the city, but not before advising that we will look forward to returning in the spring!

Photographs courtesy of Kelley Edwards & Jonathan King

Check out last year's adventures at my Road Trips 2012 blog: http://roadtrips2012.blogspot.ca/