Two Weeks in Nova Scotia - Page 5: Halifax to Liscolm

Other than our final day marathon drive home from Saint John, New Brunswick, this was probably our longest drive.  The area from Halifax to Liscolm, and even further to Canso, is known as the eastern shore.  Before embarking on the drive the guidebooks say to fill up with gas, as services are limited.

Today's destination is the green pin, Liscolm Falls

Favorite Takes

1) Churches

There are a lot of very small churches here.  Most are Anglican.  I found it interesting that church cemeteries often surrounded the church building itself.

2) Clam Harbor Beach

 It was still earlier in the season but Nova Scotia beaches generally do not get crowded even in July and August.

3) Taylor Head Provincial Park Beach

This beach is a hidden gem.  It was not in the guide books and I don't recall any signs for it.  It's on the map, but there is no indication of a beach or park.  Hmmm ... Do the locals want to keep it to themselves?

In addition to Laurie and me, there were no more than six people and two dogs on this huge beach.  One was a local who told us that in the heat of the summer there might be as many as 100 people here.  He seemed to feel that was a lot.  I should invite him to Hampton Beach, NH.

4) Ecum Secum

Yes, that is a name for a town.  We were not too far from our destination of Liscolme Lodge in Liscolm Mills when we passed this fishing village.  

5) Liscolme Lodge

The view from our room.

 Chess Anyone?

Two Weeks in Nova Scotia - Page 4: Lunenburg to Halifax

The day's destination is the green pin, Halifax

Favorite Takes

1) Northwest Cove

This small cove on the western side of St. Margaret's Bay was actually the day's highlight as far as we were concerned.  Perhaps that is because of our preference for "picturesque fishing villages", which we affectionately called PFVs!

Side comment: I'd like to point out that signage is terrible on Nova Scotia and many of the roads we chose to take to find PFQs (often 8 or 10 mile dead end dirt roads) were not on the map.  In many ways that made the travel more fun.  But more than once the signage would stop as soon as we approached a fork in the road. At that point it was "eeny meeny miny moe".

2) Peggy's Cove

Predominantly featured in all the guide books, is Peggy's Cove.  Don't get me wrong.  We visited it, and it was indeed very attractive, but it was also our first experience with tour buses, of which there were four or five parked side-by-side in an oversized paved parking lot.  During the entire remainder of the trip, we never encountered more than one bus at any spot.  On the other hand, we made sure we traveled roads and sought small venues where we didn't expect but a few other travelers.

I worked hard to keep the hordes of people and tour buses out of the images. My favorite is the final image.  The hazy sky cleared up for this image, giving a nice blue with puffy clouds.  My favorite kind of sky.

Two Weeks in Nova Scotia - Page 3: Yarmouth to Lunenburg

The road trip from the ferry dock in Yarmouth to the city of Lunenburg was 180 miles.  This is  bit long for us because we like to stop and browse along the way, or better yet, get lost on side excursions.  But we had no problem checking into our hotel by a very reasonable 4pm.

The day's destination is the green pin, Lunenburg

Favorite Takes 

1) Shelburne

Our first favorite stop on this day was the historic district of Shelburne. The town was settled in 1783 by Loyalists leaving America after the Revolutionary War.  Though old, the town is small.  The current population is only 2,500.

Preservation of the historic district brought some money into the town in 1992 and 1995.  In the first instance, it became the setting for Fairfield, CT for the filming of Mary Silliman's War, a Revolutionary War movie. In the second instance it became the setting for the Scarlet Letter staring Demi Moore and Robert Duvall. I've not seen either move, but I plan to!

Below:  random images from the historic district.

2) Liverpool:

The Sherman Hines Photographic Museum is located in Liverpool.  Sadly, we were in town on Sunday... the only day of the week the museum is closed. Among other things, Hines is known for his interest in outhouses. You may have seen one of his annual outhouse calendars.

We did stop at a bookstore called Lane's Privateering Inn Bookshop and Gift Store, located inside an old inn and restaurant.  Here, Laurie bought her first of two Nova Scotia cookbooks, Maritime Fresh.

[Now, just a few weeks later, we've had the "Maple-Glazed Carrots", and the "Chicken with Mushroom Wine Sauce". Yummers.]

3) Lunenburg:

Most of these images were taken in Lunenburg's Old Town, a designated historic district. The famous schooner Bluenose, a Nova Scotia icon, was built here in 1921.  It is now the home of the Bluenose II, a replica built in 1963.

The Lunenburg Arms where we stayed.

The view from our room.

To the left, in the distance is the Bluenose II.