We only had three days to visit Nova Scotia. Three days is not enough time (Nova Scotia is big), so we narrowed our focus to a couple of areas and decided not to visit Halifax or the Cape Breton area. We headed to the Peggy's Cove area for a couple of nights. We took delight in all of the tiny inlets and fishing villages along the way (all with a different name). Extremely picturesque. For lunch we landed at The Finer Diner and enjoyed a lobster roll and fish and chips.
We stayed at
Oceanstone Resort which offers a series of studio-style cottages. We had a lovely view of the ocean. Apparently, during the weekends, weddings are popular; since we stayed during the week, the place was very quiet.
For dinner we went to the restaurant associated with the resort: Rhubarb. An upscale dining facility that offers a brief view of the ocean. They offered a variety of seafood dishes and a decent wine list. We ordered the seafood pasta and lobster ravioli - both good with an Italian red (incongruent for most, but not for us). We would have probably raved about this place if the service had been better and the bar had been better stocked. The bar could not make a Manhattan because of the lack of vermouth and did not offer an alternative. Our waiter was either new or non-caring.
But, we really came more for the scenery than the food. The Peggy's Cove area is an alien wonder. Large granite stones are scattered throughout the landscape. It seemed like giants had been playing marbles and at some point got up and left their toys behind. Add to this the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, boulders and ocean waves crashing into them, tiny fishing villages, and a memorial to the Swissair Flight 111 which crashed in 1998 off the coast of Nova Scotia. Hard to describe in words and difficult to really capture the experience from a camera, but here are a few photographs. We were able to capture the area in various weather and times of day (very cool opportunity).
While staying in Peggy's Cove we took a two hour journey along a winding, scenic road to Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a British Colonial-era town known for shipbuilding and fishing. Bright and colorful with a thriving water-front, lots of shops and restaurants, and an incredible distillery (
Ironworks). Definitely worth visiting. While in Lunenburg we saw the Amistad docked. The last we saw this near-replica schooner was in Mystic Seaport several years ago. Lunenburg is also restoring the
Bluenose II (which launched on September 29, 2012).
For dinner we went to Shaw's Landing. Located right on the water, we had salmon and a very hearty seafood and fish chowder.
After Peggy's Cove we headed over to Wolfville. Before we arrived we happened upon a sunflower maze along a country road. We just had to stop.
Just before we arrived at Wolfville we stopped at the
Grand Pre Winery to taste some of the local nectar. The native white grape is the L'acadie. The wines were well-made and they also feature something for the travelling tourist - Sparkling Maple Wine.
The winery also had a restaurant
Le Caveau. We dined al fresco. This was the best meal we had in Nova Scotia. We enjoyed smoked arctic char, marinated flank steak, and tofu and shrimp pad thai. And imbibed a Katnook Cab from Australia. Very, very delicious. Highly recommend eating here.
In Wolfville we stayed at
Blomidon Inn. An impressive building that at one point was used as a dorm for Acadia University. The inn includes a continental breakfast and afternoon tea. The rooms were luxurious and comfy. If you stay in the room with the connected fire alarm, Don't Be Tempted! Someone did while we were staying at the Inn and we had to evacuate at 2 AM. The Inn apologized profusely and gave us a discount on the room rate.
The town of Wolfville was a typical college town with a main street dotted with a variety of shops.
For dinner we ate at the Inn. A very traditional dining room and mainstream offerings including salmon and filet and lobster. Dinner was decent, but not mind-blowing. We rewarded ourselves however with a lovely Cotes du Rhone.
Once again we marveled at the scenery in this Canadian province and we only scratched the surface.
