Nova Scotia Road Trip

Nova Scotia and the Maritime provinces of Canada have been places that I wanted to see for several years after I had taken my first trip to Maine in college.  When I took the contract in Massachusetts, my parents and I decided at the end of my contract would be the perfect time to drive up to Canada and get to see the area.  I had some friends, Maren and Jeffrey, who had spent a good part of the summer up there so I was able to pick their brains and get some good ideas of places to stop to add to the places I already knew that I wanted to see.

We left Friday afternoon after work and made our first stop in Portland, Maine.  Unfortunately, it was just a quick stop for the evening to try to break up the drive time.  We drove all day on Saturday with the plan to make it to see the largest tide change.  We were running a little behind on our way to Hopewell Rocks and I did not realize that I needed to plan an extra hour early because we were heading into the different time zone (oops!) so we actually arrived at mid tide instead of high tide like we were planning.  It was still neat to walk around and see where the mark on the rocks where the tide comes up to and look at the pretty scenery.

Sunday was mostly a driving day to make our way over to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  We made a stop along the way for lunch and I wish I could remember the name of the town and the restaurant we stopped in because they had THE BEST fried clam bellies that I have ever had!  They were huge and so delicious!  They were served with French fries and there were so many clam bellies in the to go box that I never even got down to the fries.

One of my favorite things in Halifax was going to the Maritime museum and learning the history of the area and its ties to the ocean and shipping trade.  We met the Brimeyers, friends from home, for lunch who happened to be on a cruise stop in Halifax on the same day we were there!  The waterfront has shops and restaurants that we perused during our time in the city.

We spent a day traveling down to Peggy's Cove, a very small town with a famous lighthouse.  We had only planned for a quick stop but decided on taking a little boat cruise and ate lobster rolls for lunch at picnic tables looking over the little harbor.  From there we visited another maritime town, Lunenburg, that was delightfully colorful with multicolored buildings and boats lining the waterfront.  There was a whaling museum there but we got there late and really only had time for walking around and dinner.  I enjoyed some of the best blueberry beer that I have ever had (and I've had quite a few!) with my dinner!

We made our way north to Baddeck, Nova Scotia and kept that as our home and jumping off point for 3 nights.  Baddeck is a small coastal town with a little street of shops and restaurants.  We stayed at the Silver Dart which was beautifully situated over looking the water.  I did not realize the significance of the hotel's name until we went to the Alexander Graham Bell museum that was located there.  He was not only the inventor of the telephone but also played a part in aviation and his plane was called the Silver Dart.

We made two day trips from there.  The first was over to the other coast to see the Louisbourg Fort. It is a replica of the fortress that was originally built there but is such a thoroughly researched and well constructed replica that you would never know when walking around.  The idea to construct the fort was originally brought about due to high unemployment in the area and was a way to bring employment to the area, first through construction and then by way of tourism.  It was well worth the drive over from Baddeck!

Our other day trip was around the Cabot Trail.  When I first started researching this trip, I read the Cabot Trail was Canada's answer to the Pacific Coast Highway and it was pretty spectacular and reminiscent of the PCH.  With hairpin turns gazing out over the ocean and a variety of blues greeting our gaze, multiple places to pull over and snap pictures or just stare at the scenery, it was a relaxing day with views I did not expect to see so far north in Canada.

Overall, our time in Nova Scotia was a joy.  It was fun to check out another part of the world and get to experience the beauty and friendliness of Canada.  The added bonus of amazing seafood just sealed the deal as a great place to visit!