Let me start with an apology for the break
in my blog entries. I’ve been traveling a
lot lately, but boy, has it given me something to write about! I recently returned from a two week business
trip to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I
can’t and won’t go into the details of my work, but I will say that it was a great
opportunity to see Atlantic Canada. I arrived and departed from Halifax (a great airport) and spent a few hours exploring the city. I
visited the historic Saint Paul's Anglican Church (http://historicsaintpauls.ca/) as well as several nice shops and tourist spots along the waterfront.
I would like to have seen more of Halifax, but I'm not sorry that I spent the majority of my time in smaller communities around the province. I had the opportunity to visit Sheet Harbour, Shag Harbour, New Minas, Kentville,
and Wolfville, among others. It was a marvelous trip, and one I would
recommend to anyone looking for an out-of-the-way vacation. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, below are some of my best shots and a few accompanying stories.
The Nova Scotia coastline is one of the most
beautiful areas I’ve ever seen. The tides are quite dramatic, and there are
picturesque boroughs around every bend. This picture was taken at Port Dufferin near
Sheet Harbor.
I had the very special opportunity to visit some of the
more remote coastal islands. This isn’t an opportunity that the average tourist will
get, but I saw some amazing places in the process. If you do want to visit areas like this, you'll need to have a proper guide and the right gear.
Of course you can’t have all work and no play…. It was
lobster season during my visit. I had the opportunity to meet several of the
local lobster fishermen. I watched them work and enjoyed the freshest, sweetest (and cheapest!) lobster of my life. I
got schooled in the proper way to cook and eat this delicious crustacean, but lobster wasn’t the only culinary adventure I had. I also tried several new things
including salt cod, solomon gundy, fiddle heads (immature
fern leaves prepared as a green vegetable), and partridge berries.
During my stay in Wolfville, I had the opportunity to walk
around town and visit nearby Acadia University.
There were lots of charming shops and B&B's. It had a great appeal for both tourists and younger, college types.
One of the best places I found was a used clothing store on the main street: Jane's Again Boutique. It had
reasonable prices, a great variety of sizes and styles, and possibly the classiest selection I’ve seen (http://www.janesagain.com/).
The University has a beautiful campus,
and I would definitely recommend a visit to the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre. I ended my trip by attending a local lobster boil and concert. I found the people in Wolfville, and all of Nova Scotia, to be wonderfully helpful and welcoming. I know it's a trip I will never forget and one I certainly hope to repeat.
Photos by Jenn Ballard and G. Boyd (Jenn and Lobster Fisherman)
