Peggy’s Cove
We got up early one morning to drive to Peggy’s Cove and it was cold, rainy, and foggy. It seemed the perfect mood for visiting a lighthouse. Along the way the fog would clear up and then it would get foggy again, things would appear and then they would disappear again. It provided dramatic visuals that we quite enjoyed.
This cove, with a lovely lighthouse which is still operational, sits about 30 minutes south of Halifax and is one of the most photographed lighthouses in all of Canada. It sits on the eastern edge of St Margaret’s Bay and is not only a major tourist attraction but also a small fishing community. It’s uniqueness lies in the rock formations which sit at the base of the lighthouse and can be explored at any time giving different views of the lighthouse and the surrounding area.
The fishing village was shrouded in fog and we were the only ones there (besides the fishermen) and the fog changed constantly. Again, the mood it set was terrific. The fishing village was quaint and charming and had the ambiance you would expect.
A local artist, William E. deGarthe, has a gallery located across the street from the Visitor’s Center and one of his works is a 30m (100 ft) sculpture dedicated as a lasting monument to Nova Scotian fisherman. It was pretty cool to see.
This area is also known as the location close to where the Swissair Flight 111 tragically crashed in 1998. Many of the members of the local community were the first to approach the crash site and many first responders used Peggy’s Cove as a staging area. Sadly, all 229 aboard lost their lives. A memorial now sits close to Peggy’s Cove. It was a sad yet fitting memorial.
Lunenberg
This UNESCO village sits on a natural harbour about 70 miles southwest of Halifax on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. It’s Old Town has about 40 buildings on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The town’s industry comes not only from tourism but from fishing, shipbuilding, and also has Canadas’s largest secondary fish processing plant. The town has also been the setting for many film productions.
Lunenberg is also known for being the home port of Canada’s famous Bluenose II which is a replica of the fishing schooner Bluenose and is still used today offering public sails and tours. It also still participates in Tall Ships Challenges and is scheduled to be part of the Great Lake Talls Ships Challenge 2019. We were lucky enough to see the Bluenose II escort the Picton Castle tall ship into the Lunenberg harbor. The Picton was just finishing it’s 15 month round the world journey #7. The Picton Castle is registered in the Cook Islands but it uses Lunenberg as it’s unofficial home port.
Blue Rocks
Blue Rocks is a small community just south of Lunenberg that is a fishing community and was discovered by photographers and artists int he 1940’s for its natural beauty and being so picturesque, quaint, and charming.
Mahone Bay
Another quaint, charming town (there’s so many of them) on Mahone Bay is called Mahone Bay and it had been the fastest growing municipality in Nova Scotia in 2016 with business startups and entrepreneurs choosing this location. It offers a host of resturants and fabulous views. We can see why this town is growing so fast.
Chester
This charming village sits on the Mahone Bay and is one of the welathiest communites in Nova Scotia due to its tourism with many resorts and many seasonal and year-round estates and mansions. It is a lovely town with a yacht club and a full assortment of dining options with a beautiful setting. It is also hosts keelboat races every August.
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