Nova Scotia

I'm going to do two or three posts about my holiday instead of just one -- today: photos from Nova Scotia, plus lots of links in case you're planning to visit.

lighthouse at Peggy's Cove

On the day we left home to start the trip, we drove to Saint John, New Brunswick; the next morning we took the ferry to Digby, Nova Scotia, and drove across to a campsite near Peggy's Cove. This was my first trip to Atlantic Canada, and I found it just as spectacular as I'd hoped. The coastline was lovely, the ever-changing ocean was dramatic, there were pretty lighthouses all over the place, and the people have one of my favourite accents ever.

Peggy's Cove

We spent some time in downtown Halifax, which included the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (with its excellent exhibit on the Halifax Explosion of 1917) and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (with a whole gallery devoted to Maud Lewis!), but unfortunately not Pier 21 (next time!).

From the Halifax area, we headed up to Cape Breton Island, with Hurricane Hanna hot on our heels. We found a room for two nights in Sydney; it rained, and there wasn't much to do, but we did encounter the local flea market and spent $20 there on knick-knacks and fudge. (I have absolutely no self-control at flea markets, and I may even have purchased vintage salt & pepper shakers shaped like naked ladies.)

sheep within the Fortress of Louisbourg

The rain passed, and we headed to the Fortress of Louisbourg, which was great. Reconstruction of the fortress began in 1961, partly as a make-work project for unemployed area coal miners; what's there now is about a quarter of the French town as it would have looked in the 1740s. I love stuff like that -- people wearing historical costumes, "soldiers" firing cannons, women making French bobbin lace, etc.

lighthouse in Louisbourg

We also went to the Cape Breton Miners' Museum in nearby Glace Bay, which was excellent. We took the tour underground, with a "retired" coal miner named Abbie, where we wore hardhats and hunched over to walk through dark tunnels just 4.5 feet high. When I feel like my work is too hard, I'm going to think about being a coal miner and get over myself.

view of Cape Breton's east coast, from the Cabot Trail

From the Sydney area, we set off on the Cabot Trail, which involves driving up and down mountains almost all the way around the coast of Cape Breton. It was a grey day, but the views were dramatic nonetheless. We drove as far as Chéticamp that day and decided to stop there and stay at a motel, since another storm was coming. We went to La Co-opérative Artisanale for an Acadian supper -- mmmm, cod fish cakes; eww, canned peas -- and after eating we went into the attached gift shop, which was filled with traditional hooked rugs. I fell in love with them, and when the woman working there showed me how the rugs are made, I had to buy a small kit. (More on that another time.) Chéticamp was super-charming, and it was also the beginning of the most stunning section of the Cabot Trail. We didn't stop too often for photos, but there were lots of Oohs and Ahhs.

off the Cabot Trail, south of Chéticamp

After a quick detour into a wool shop on a farm in Mabou (more about that another time, too), we drove on to Caribou, where we caught the ferry across to Prince Edward Island....