BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia

Subject: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: Naemanson
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 07:27 PM

Well, Rebecca and I have decided to go to Nova Scotia for our honeymoon. I have been browsing the travel guides but I also thought I would put the question to the gang. Where are the really great sites in Nova Scotia?

Some of the things we think we'd like to see include Louisbourg, Lunenburg, Peggy's Cove, and the Highlands. We only have a week so we may not be able to do the trip up right.

Any suggestions on where to go, things to see, and places to stay would be appreciated. We have no desire to stay in the big city but that shouldn't be too much of a problem in Nova Scotia, should it?

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: The Pooka
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 11:23 PM

I think all of Nova Scotia is wonderful. You're right, a week won't do it full justice---but it'll be great anyway. I love Cape Breton Island best of all. Spectacular---highlands, Cabot Trail, Ceilidh Trail, made me want to trace me Clan roots and don the kilt. (Jaysus! Threason! Aposhtasy, begob!) We've stayed twice at MacDonald's Cabins at Cape North----waaay north. Rustic, quiet; lovely land. Whale- and bird-watching cruises, great. There are various music festivals throughout the province in tourist season, if you wanna do that. If you can do Cape Breton within the time alloted, maybe you could get good local info from Mudcatter & Islander Mediocre_Shepherd. In addition to the specified profession, he's a musician of various instruments. Including tin whistle, which he told me he plays to his Sheep. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: The Pooka
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 11:47 PM

Also - Have you looked at the Tourism Page, with excellent links, of Nova Scotian & Mudcatter Extraordinaire George Seto? In case not, Click here

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: CarolC
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 12:07 AM

Hey Brett. Check out this website. The link was given to me by a native of Cape Breton, and the site is owned and maintained by one of his relatives who lives there. There are tons of interesting links about Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton in particular. You'll have to scroll way down to the bottom of the page to find the links. And every link you go into gives yet more links. It's a great site.

http://members.tripod.com/~lemac2/

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: mooman
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 05:04 AM

Dear Naemanson,

Places I love in Nova Scotia are, in clockwise order, Halifax itself, Peggy's Cove, Chester, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg, Blue Rocks, Briar Island, Digby (for the best clams in the world!), Bear River, Annapolis Royal, Wolfville, Cape Blomidon, Maitland area (for upriver rafting on the tidal swell), Pictou (take the ferry to PEI for a couple of days, favourite place there Victoria, or alternatively via the PEI bridge from the tip of New Brunswick), Antigonish (the most "Scottish" town in found in NS), then over the causeway to Cape Breton, Judique, Mabou (a must for music - say hello to Ike and Bernadette for me if you stay at their farm!), Cheticamp (Acadian French-speaking village) and then the whole of the Cabot trail (breathtaking!), Glace Bay, Ingonish, Louisbourg, Baddeck, Sherbrooke (now a reconstructed living museum) and back to Halifax via Dartmouth.

Best places I found for whale watching were at Briar Island and Cheticamp: minke, humpback and right whales each time!

Yours in envy,

mooman

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: kendall
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 09:40 AM

My favorite place, The Cabot Trail. My UN favorite place, the Novascotian (hotel) in Halifax. I was there on business in 1965, and there was a honeymoon couple in the next room. The walls were paper thin, and, I didn't sleep a wink, because THEY didn't sleep.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: GUEST,Geordie
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:05 AM

My advice would be to stay away from the really touristy places. Although Cape Breton is beautiful, there are many great places on the mainland... Check out MacLeods Cottages at Green Bay..best spot in Nova Scoria and handy to Lunenburg, Rissers Beach and many other great spots. Here are some of my favourite unspoiled, so far, places....Whistlers cove, Prospect and Terrence Bay..all very near Halifa. Green Bay and Lunenburg county in General. Hall's Harbour on the fundy coast, although it has now sadly been engulfed by tourist ugly. The Eastern shore is a jewel and has yet to be discovered by many travellers. For Music...The church at Broad Cove, Lunenburg County and The Red Shoe at Mabou. If you get off the main road, the area around Mabou, Cape Breton is wonderful.

Hope you enjoy it..it is a truly special place, Nova Scotia.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 11:13 AM

What time of year are you going, that will make some differance as to what is available. It is a BEAUTIFUL PLACE. Good choice. I agree, Lunenburg county has it all. The best of Nova Scotia for sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: Beer
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 02:59 PM

Are you comming in through New Brunswick or taking the ferry from Bar Harbour? Would make a difference.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: gnu
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 04:37 PM

Guest has it right... the time of year. And, the time you choose may be impacted by what you want to see/do. I've been all the way around it and across it, Cape Breton too, and it's all beautiful.

But, I will agree on the Lunenburg area as being truly representative... and it's got a lot to see/do in a relatively small area. I spent all my weekends visiting a young lady from Lunenburg one summer so many years ago. Ah, memories. BTW, you can flip across to "The Valley", Annapolis that is, from Lunenburg in an hour and a half... what a gorgeous part of the country; it has the climate and the feel of southern New England, which might not excite you too much, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm sure there are Nova Scotians who can tell you a lot more than this here New Brunswicker.

Bon voyage

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: lamarca
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 04:37 PM

We went several years ago and circumnavigated Nova Scotia by car in about 10 days. Our wise friend Lucy said she wouldn't tell us where to go, because half the fun of such a trip is making your own discoveries.

That said, we had a few plusses and a few minuses on our trip:

Good Stuff
1. The Canadian Tourist Board-they have the most wonderful system of Provincial guidebooks which were free when we went. The "Tourist Info" booths have copies, or you can write to the Tourism Office. The Tourist Info kiosks had complete listings of every kind of lodgings including inns and B&Bs, and will book reservations for you on the fly.

2. Digby scallops-we took the car ferry from St. John, NB to Digby, home of "The World Famous Digby Scallops". If you love seafood, Digby is the place to start! (we basically ate our way around Nova Scotia, conducting an unscientific comparison of seafood chowders from different parts of the province - our conclusion was they were all wonderful!)

3. Camping at Meat Cove-on the very Northern tip of Cape Breton, there was a dirt road out to a minimalist private campground, where we pitched our two-person tent near the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea (getting up at night for a pit stop took some care...). The next morning we woke with the sun and watched the eagles fishing off the cliff from our tent door. Way cool.

Disappointments 1. The Tidal Bore at Truro-after reading about the excitement of tidal changes on the Bay of Fundy, we went to Truro to watch the river change direction on the incoming tide. We were expecting a magnificent wall of water progressing upstream. We checked the tide tables, and went to watch near sunset. What we (and the other tourists waiting along the riverbank) saw was a nice little 1" ripple moving upstream as the tide came in. We shrugged our shoulders and went to have another incredible seafood dinner at the Truro Inn.

2. Peggy's Cove-very picturesque light house that is visited by large tour busses full of American senior citizens on group holiday. Buy the post card.

3. Provincial campgrounds-the couple we looked at were mostly organized for RV camping, and the tent sites were all right on top of each other in exposed places, no privacy, no view.

My advice is to get some info on inns and B&Bs, book a couple nights in ones in different parts of the province and do day trips out to see the beauty and hear the music. Congrats!

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: Beer
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 06:38 PM

Like "Big Mac's"? I don't. But stop in at a MacDonald's and see if their "Lobster Burger's" are in season. Cheap and really good. I have to agree with larmaca, the provincial parks are not the greatest. But there is an exception. Just about 10 minutes outside of Halifax there is a park called Porter's Lake Provincial Park. Lots of privicy and water just about all around you. In fact they built a causway to reach an island which was locally known as Brennon's Island. Great fishing also. Do take the old number 7 highway and explore the Eastern Shore. Lot's to see all the way to Cape Breton. Best of luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: Jacob B
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 06:43 PM

The Clockmaker's Inn was very elegant, and struck me as the kind of place I might want to stay on a honeymoon.

The Lunenburg Fisheries Museum is definitely worth a visit.

And don't overlook the town museums that you find in nearly every small town. They seem to serve as communal attics, giving people a place to bring their precious clutter, and I found something that I was glad I had seen in every one that I stopped in.

Jacob

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: GUEST,Geordie
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 08:20 AM

I agree that some of the Provincial campsites could use an upgrade. However, there are some very good ones..check out the one at Rissers Beach....three wonderwul beaches nearby and lots to see and do. There are also many wonderful private campsights..one of my favourites is MacLeods near Inverness Cape Breton.

You should send for the Nova Scotia doer and Dreamers Guide...great info...it is a free Government Publication. For the some of the best eats try out the many suppers put on by local churches and volunteer fire depts. Look for one that id offering a planked salmon dinner...wow.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: Naemanson
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 04:45 PM

Thanks all, this is really great. I will print off your comments and suggestions and discuss them with my fiancee. Who knows where we will end up but wherever it is it will be in NS.

We will be visiting in July. I expect that will be one of the best times to visit. We will be taking the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth and back.

By the way, I am quite familiar with a small portion of western New Brunswick as I am originally from Houlton, Maine.

Subject: RE: BS: Honeymooning in Nova Scotia
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 05:36 PM

Brett - there's a great bait shop in Sherbrook where you can pick up some more giant flourescent squigglies, surely a must for honeymoon hanchy-panky. Tell 'em that Charley Noble sent you.

I'm particularly fond of the greater Lunenburg area, which includes Mahone Bay and Blue Rocks. I'll be happy to highlight your chart.