Monday:
Took a nice drive downtown in the afternoon. Learned that you can actually drive all the way around the Citadel, which was cool because I had planned on taking her there later in the week, but mainly just for the view....so we saved ourselves the inside trip there and just enjoyed the wicked view from the car. :) (I did the Citadel by myself last year, and was only going to do it again for Mom...and she didn't really care, so problem solved.)
After that, we drove down to the waterfront and strolled a bit. Wandered along the boardwalk a little ways, and browsed through the little touristy mall. Stood inside Cows Ice Cream and drooled over the smell of waffle cones....hehe.
Tuesday:
Peggy's Cove!
Made sure to head out at a reasonable time before lunch so as to make sure we had lots of time for the drive and some meandering once we got there. From our place it's actually only about an hour, but I had forgotten how long the road there is. Just when you think it will be around the next corner, you realize it's another 10 minutes away.
But it's worth it.
Once you do get around that last corner and start seeing all of those cool rocks all over the place, it's worth it. Glacial deposits. Natural phenomenon. Whatever you call them, they are cool.
We stopped first at the Swiss Air monument. Breathtaking view. Sad that it's not a happy place...but lovely that so many people stop to pay their respects there.
Then up the road and into Peggy's Cove itself. Touristy, sure...but not too terribly busy on a Tuesday. We looked around a bit, then opted to have lunch before heading out onto the rocks. The Sou'wester Restaurant has been there forever but I won't recommend it. We knew it was a tourist trap but I didn't expect the food to be as bad as it was. I won't make that mistake again ($10 for "chowder"...bullshit...it was potato soup with some fishy bits). We did enjoy gawking out the window at all of the folks gathered around posing with the live lobsters though...pretty funny. I guess if you are from a landlocked place, then shellfish are pretty exotic!
After that we wandered up to the lighthouse itself. It's pretty neat and I love lighthouses, but the true reason for going there is to see the ocean view and hop around on all of the smooth, huge rocks. Mom had the same reaction I did when I went for the first time last year....that even though she has spent her whole life on the ocean, this is just so different. The Atlantic seems a lot wilder than the Pacific (especially if you haven't spent any time on the wilder parts of Vancouver Island). We took a few photos and scoured the rock faces looking for the "petrified bear" but couldn't find it. I'll have to ask about it next time I go.
We decided to wander around the town a tiny bit. Photo ops, yummy (and cheap!) soft serve ice cream, some goats, a stop at a monument....built over many years by a local fellow who died before he could finish it...carved right into a huge granite deposit in the center of town. Lovely.
When it was time to head home, we opted to take the back way. Turns out that the highway is actually a huge cresent that just loops past Peggy's Cove. It was nice to see some different scenery on the way back.
Wednesday:
Lazy day around the house, followed by an evening trip to Fisherman's Cove over in Eastern Passage. Left too late and wound up stuck in rush hour and got lost. Not exactly fun on the way there, but good once we found it. Would have been a great spot if it was a weekend and probably even better if it was still Summer season. Fun to go somewhere I'd never been though, and the scenery was totally different than anywhere else I've seen around here.
We mainly went there because I'd had the restaurant there, Boondocks, recommended to me...but again I think it might have been better when it's actually tourist season and sunny and fun. We enjoyed our seafood platter and had a good laugh with Larry our lobster when he arrived in front of us, but the service was mediocre at best and the food was only so-so. We still had fun though, so that's what counts!
Thursday:
Off to Mahone Bay! It's about an hour and a half from our place...taking the scenic Highway 3 instead of the freeway. Which also led us to Lunenburg when I realized that it was only another 10km. I thought it was a lot further. Glad we did that because Mom quite enjoyed their waterfront, and we found a fantastic restaurant where Mom got to try a Lobster Roll and I had the best freaking fish burger EVER. The Bluenose II wasn't alongside while we were there, which was too bad, but there were a couple of other tall ships there to give the idea.
Back in Mahone Bay we were too late to stop at the sweets shop, which was probably for the best. We wandered through the few stores that were still open and made a stop at the Market there. I bought a local canteloupe that ended up being THE BEST freaking canteloupe I've ever had. Sooooo juicy and yummy. We also got a few homemade baked good that we devoured in the car while we were driving around looking at all of the cute waterfront homes and trying to find a good spot to take a picture of the three churches of Mahone Bay.
Friday and Saturday:
Not much. We had planned to do a cruise on the Harbour Queen and to tour the Bluenose II while she was in Halifax, but the weather disagreed with us. Too bad, as I've been dying to get out on the water since we moved here and now with Summer behind us I'll be hard pressed to get it done. (I think I'll just take the ferry to the Farmer's Market over in Dartmouth one weekend!)
Saturday morning we took a trip over to Dartmouth to the Farmer's Market at Alderney Landing. We picked up some fresh corn, a couple of squash (for half the price I would have paid at the store) and some fresh homemade egg rolls from the cute little egg roll lady. Her deep fried wontons were fantastic!
We did do a little shopping... showed Mom the Halifax Shopping Center, MicMac Mall, and Dartmouth Crossing. Those places are all mostly dedicated to clothes shopping though, so we could only handle so much.
Also had a yummy dinner at my favorite little restaurant, the Armview. Mom asked for a good burger place and since I don't know very many I chose there and it was perfect. Best service I've ever had there too...so that was great.
Sunday:
I was hoping for sunnier weather, but at least it didn't rain! Headed downtown again, but this time over to the Public Gardens. I knew Mom would appreciate these. I remember wandering in there last year, thinking it was just some nice park...only to be super impressed by the massive gardens. Beautiful! This time of year is a little late, but still quite spectacular. And the swans were still there for photo opportunities. Mom enjoyed it for sure.
Then, of course, I made her wander up Spring Garden Road for Starbucks and a stop at LuluLemon. She didn't enjoy that near as much as I did. Ha!
Sunday night, DBF came home from his visit to Winnipeg...on the redeye. So I stayed up and drove out to the airport at 1:30am in the pitch dark, bloody hammering rain....with one headlight. Yippee. But I forgot all about that when he walked down the stairs. :)
Stay tuned for the report on week 2. I was back to work so not so much in the way of touristy stuff. :)
Took a nice drive downtown in the afternoon. Learned that you can actually drive all the way around the Citadel, which was cool because I had planned on taking her there later in the week, but mainly just for the view....so we saved ourselves the inside trip there and just enjoyed the wicked view from the car. :) (I did the Citadel by myself last year, and was only going to do it again for Mom...and she didn't really care, so problem solved.)
After that, we drove down to the waterfront and strolled a bit. Wandered along the boardwalk a little ways, and browsed through the little touristy mall. Stood inside Cows Ice Cream and drooled over the smell of waffle cones....hehe.
Tuesday:
Peggy's Cove!
Made sure to head out at a reasonable time before lunch so as to make sure we had lots of time for the drive and some meandering once we got there. From our place it's actually only about an hour, but I had forgotten how long the road there is. Just when you think it will be around the next corner, you realize it's another 10 minutes away.
But it's worth it.
Once you do get around that last corner and start seeing all of those cool rocks all over the place, it's worth it. Glacial deposits. Natural phenomenon. Whatever you call them, they are cool.
We stopped first at the Swiss Air monument. Breathtaking view. Sad that it's not a happy place...but lovely that so many people stop to pay their respects there.
Then up the road and into Peggy's Cove itself. Touristy, sure...but not too terribly busy on a Tuesday. We looked around a bit, then opted to have lunch before heading out onto the rocks. The Sou'wester Restaurant has been there forever but I won't recommend it. We knew it was a tourist trap but I didn't expect the food to be as bad as it was. I won't make that mistake again ($10 for "chowder"...bullshit...it was potato soup with some fishy bits). We did enjoy gawking out the window at all of the folks gathered around posing with the live lobsters though...pretty funny. I guess if you are from a landlocked place, then shellfish are pretty exotic!
After that we wandered up to the lighthouse itself. It's pretty neat and I love lighthouses, but the true reason for going there is to see the ocean view and hop around on all of the smooth, huge rocks. Mom had the same reaction I did when I went for the first time last year....that even though she has spent her whole life on the ocean, this is just so different. The Atlantic seems a lot wilder than the Pacific (especially if you haven't spent any time on the wilder parts of Vancouver Island). We took a few photos and scoured the rock faces looking for the "petrified bear" but couldn't find it. I'll have to ask about it next time I go.
We decided to wander around the town a tiny bit. Photo ops, yummy (and cheap!) soft serve ice cream, some goats, a stop at a monument....built over many years by a local fellow who died before he could finish it...carved right into a huge granite deposit in the center of town. Lovely.
When it was time to head home, we opted to take the back way. Turns out that the highway is actually a huge cresent that just loops past Peggy's Cove. It was nice to see some different scenery on the way back.
Wednesday:
Lazy day around the house, followed by an evening trip to Fisherman's Cove over in Eastern Passage. Left too late and wound up stuck in rush hour and got lost. Not exactly fun on the way there, but good once we found it. Would have been a great spot if it was a weekend and probably even better if it was still Summer season. Fun to go somewhere I'd never been though, and the scenery was totally different than anywhere else I've seen around here.
We mainly went there because I'd had the restaurant there, Boondocks, recommended to me...but again I think it might have been better when it's actually tourist season and sunny and fun. We enjoyed our seafood platter and had a good laugh with Larry our lobster when he arrived in front of us, but the service was mediocre at best and the food was only so-so. We still had fun though, so that's what counts!
Thursday:
Off to Mahone Bay! It's about an hour and a half from our place...taking the scenic Highway 3 instead of the freeway. Which also led us to Lunenburg when I realized that it was only another 10km. I thought it was a lot further. Glad we did that because Mom quite enjoyed their waterfront, and we found a fantastic restaurant where Mom got to try a Lobster Roll and I had the best freaking fish burger EVER. The Bluenose II wasn't alongside while we were there, which was too bad, but there were a couple of other tall ships there to give the idea.
Back in Mahone Bay we were too late to stop at the sweets shop, which was probably for the best. We wandered through the few stores that were still open and made a stop at the Market there. I bought a local canteloupe that ended up being THE BEST freaking canteloupe I've ever had. Sooooo juicy and yummy. We also got a few homemade baked good that we devoured in the car while we were driving around looking at all of the cute waterfront homes and trying to find a good spot to take a picture of the three churches of Mahone Bay.
Friday and Saturday:
Not much. We had planned to do a cruise on the Harbour Queen and to tour the Bluenose II while she was in Halifax, but the weather disagreed with us. Too bad, as I've been dying to get out on the water since we moved here and now with Summer behind us I'll be hard pressed to get it done. (I think I'll just take the ferry to the Farmer's Market over in Dartmouth one weekend!)
Saturday morning we took a trip over to Dartmouth to the Farmer's Market at Alderney Landing. We picked up some fresh corn, a couple of squash (for half the price I would have paid at the store) and some fresh homemade egg rolls from the cute little egg roll lady. Her deep fried wontons were fantastic!
We did do a little shopping... showed Mom the Halifax Shopping Center, MicMac Mall, and Dartmouth Crossing. Those places are all mostly dedicated to clothes shopping though, so we could only handle so much.
Also had a yummy dinner at my favorite little restaurant, the Armview. Mom asked for a good burger place and since I don't know very many I chose there and it was perfect. Best service I've ever had there too...so that was great.
Sunday:
I was hoping for sunnier weather, but at least it didn't rain! Headed downtown again, but this time over to the Public Gardens. I knew Mom would appreciate these. I remember wandering in there last year, thinking it was just some nice park...only to be super impressed by the massive gardens. Beautiful! This time of year is a little late, but still quite spectacular. And the swans were still there for photo opportunities. Mom enjoyed it for sure.
Then, of course, I made her wander up Spring Garden Road for Starbucks and a stop at LuluLemon. She didn't enjoy that near as much as I did. Ha!
Sunday night, DBF came home from his visit to Winnipeg...on the redeye. So I stayed up and drove out to the airport at 1:30am in the pitch dark, bloody hammering rain....with one headlight. Yippee. But I forgot all about that when he walked down the stairs. :)
Stay tuned for the report on week 2. I was back to work so not so much in the way of touristy stuff. :)
2 comments:
Looks like you guys had an awesome trip! I miss the ocean!
looks like a blast. i love your lulu hoodie in the last pics. such a nice colour!
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