TvlLeaders: LaVonne visits Nova Scotia

LaVonne visits Nova Scotia

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This is a fairly easy trip to make. You fly non-stop to Boston, change planes and a quick one hour flight to the beautiful city of Halifax. Some sights to visit are Pier 21 which is like Ellis Island, the Public Gardens which have beautiful flower beds, the Citadel and the historic area of downtown Halifax. We enjoyed dinner at McKelvie’s in the old fire station. The food, atmosphere and service were wonderful.

Nova Scotia is a very large peninsula, so you will need to decide how much time you have and what you would like to see. You can choose to drive the western loop, the eastern loop, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. We only had three days for touring, so we chose the western loop. The coastline is very rugged with quaint fishing villages and wonderful picture opportunities.

Peggy’s Cove is a very popular spot to visit, but try to arrive first thing in the morning before the tourists from the cruise ships. There are great pictures to take and good shopping. Peggy’s Cove is named after the only survivor of a ship wreck, a young girl they named Peggy. We continued driving along the coastline to Chester, Mahone Bay and Lunenburg (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). This is a wonderful drive and would be a great ride for motorcycle enthusiasts on the windy, twisty coastal road. In Lunenburg we ate delicious seafood at the Dockside Restaurant on the second deck overlooking the bay. We explored the town and then continued on to Shelburne, where we spent the night. Shelburne is a nice town with an historic waterfront. There have been movies filmed here – the Scarlet Letter with Demi Moore and Moby Dick was planned to be filmed there just after we had left. The film company was restoring some of the buildings for the movie and built a temporary church as well as another building on the bay, which were to be removed following the filming.

We headed toward Yarmouth on the freeway and then jumped back onto the more scenic coastal road, Highway 1 toward Digby, stopping at Smuggler’s Bay along the way. We spent the night at the Garrison House Inn in Annapolis Royal. The seafood we had was excellent. Fort Anne was right across the street where we explored and then walked around town. The next morning, we went to the Farmer’s Market in town. We discovered handmade items, food, bakery goods, two local wineries giving samples and selling their wine, as well as antiques. They have a beautiful garden in town, but it was too cold to visit. Leaving Annapolis Royal, we headed toward Paradise, stopping at the Pearl of Paradise Drive-In. Our waitress at the Inn said they had the best Haddie Bits (strips of Haddock) and deep fried clams – they were excellent. We continued on to Port George, which used to be a docking point for ships bringing items to Nova Scotia and purchasing items for their return trip. The wharf is gone now, but the lighthouse still remains. There is a shop and museum here, which was very interesting. The lady explained that the Bluenose sailing ship (the Bluenose was a Canadian fishing and racing schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921) was so named because the sailors wore hand dyed blue mittens and rubbed their noses when it was cold turning their noses blue. The first Bluenose, built in Shelburne and launched in Lunenburg, after a season of fishing defeated Elsie (out of Gloucester), returning the International Fishermen’s Trophy to Nova Scotia. During the next 17 years of racing, no challenger, American or Canadian, could wrest the International Fishermen’s Trophy from her. We drove on to Margaretsville, Harbourville and Halls Harbour. There are several wineries along the way that you can visit. We stopped at one in Grand Pre and one in Wolfville before returning to Halifax.

Nova Scotia is a great place to visit with a variety of things to see and do, depending on the amount of time available to you. Plan a trip to Nova Scotia to enjoy the rugged beauty.
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