On Monday morning, we picked up our rental car (thank you for the military discount!!) and embarked upon our touristy road trip. We really had no plan other than that I wanted to see Peggy's Cove and DBF was so not interested in that. LOL. He saw it as a kid and "it's only a lighthouse". The Budget guy helped me out though by telling us it's one of those right of passage things you have to do in Nova Scotia. My sentiments exactly!!
So, we decided to take the Budget guy's advice and took the highway up to Lunenburg and then took the scenic oceanside route back to Halifax. Lunenburg itself didn't have a ton of stuff to do, but it gave us a chance to stretch our legs and take in some sun. There were a couple of cool tall ships along the boardwalk leftover from the festival that took place over the weekend. More of a picturesque fishing town than anything.
Nova Scotia has several "scenic travelways" designed by the tourism department. We chose to hop onto the "Lighthouse Route" to follow the shoreline back to town. Mahone Bay was definitely the highlight of this route.
Brightly colored historic houses and shops. Postcard-perfect streets, views and churches. This is exactly what we pictured an East Coast town to be like! The weather was bright, hot and sunny....great for a short stroll around the main street. We stopped in a local pewter shop for a couple of souvenirs and stood out back to enjoy the cool breeze from the bay. Just lovely!! :)
Due to the lack of Starbucks out here (and extra especially in a tiny town like Mahone!) I convinced DBF to try out a Tim's Iced Cap....and although it isn't as grand as a Frap, he conceded that it did the trick to beat the heat. :)
We then set out for our stop at Peggy's Cove....enjoying the oceanside drive and even making a quick pit stop at a roadside beach just to say we did. :) In retrospect, I wish I'd dipped my toes in at that stop so I could say I'd been in the Atlantic!!
Peggy's Cove was just what I expected. Cute little town on a rock with a great lighthouse! I love lighthouses!! I don't know why, I just do....ever since I did a road trip on the Oregon Coast, I just love them. DBF thinks I'm a little wierd, but such is life. :) We walked and climbed over the rocks, enjoyed the late afternoon sun and had some good laughs at the tourists taking photos of seagulls and other local sealife. DBF laughed at me and my need to take multiple pictures of the damn lighthouse. Our plan had been to eat a local dinner here, but the restaurant has become pretty touristy over the years and the menu did nothing for us, so we opted to just browse the gift shop and then hit the road.
We made a quick stop at the SwissAir Memorial, which is located just up the road from the village. I remember the news about this tragedy at the time, and it was interesting to take a moment where it actually happened.
Back to Halifax after this, both starving by the time we got to town. We decided to take a wander down to the water....DBF was craving lobster...LOL, this is just too funny! Of course, he didn't want to settle for pub food, so we opted to give Salty's a chance even though we hadn't heard any good recent reviews. The atmosphere and service was great, the food was mediocre....but it was an enjoyable night nonetheless. And you can't beat lobster tail with garlic butter even if it was a bit overcooked!!
2 comments:
Sounds like you saw alot of what Nova Scotia has to offer....minus the Annapolis Valley (which is a gem!) maybe next time though :)
You sound like you really enjoyed your time traveling w/ dbf. It's nice to hear pleasant reviews about the city/province you live in!
Yup, we really enjoyed mainland NS and would have seen more but made a wrong turn somewhere (you'll hear in a later post). We could have lived without Cape Breton though (again, you'll hear in a later post!).
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