Lobsters. You will see lobsters here, possibly lobstermen or, at the very least, lobster traps.
Lighthouses. Coves. Maybe a moose. Maybe a bear. Almost certainly, one way or another, you’ll hear bagpipes and accents you’ve never heard before.
Beaches. Trees. Lots of trees. If it’s not fall, you’ll wish it were.
Graves of Titanic victims.
Haddock cooked every conceivable way. Seafood chowder, thin or thick but always white and always good.
And one real city.
Nova Scotia is very cool. In fact, during one of those weeks in August when Chicago was sweltering, again, Nova Scotia temperatures were in the mid-20s — which, at current exchange rate, is in the mid-70s U.S. (On a related topic: The Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar are now worth about the same thing. The party’s over.)
For visitors from south of the international border or even from Saskatchewan, there are essentially three reasons to come here: Halifax, because it’s just about unavoidable and therefore not to be missed; cute little fishing villages on cute little coves with cute little inns and B&Bs and cute little restaurants serving lobsters (MKT price, and not cheap) to people wearing cute little bibs; and Cape Breton.
We’ll discuss all those things here.
First, Halifax, described by Heather Britton, a resident, thusly and fondly: “Not too much chaos and mayhem.”
It should be mentioned that Ms. Britton, 31 and blond, said that in a dripping wetsuit, having just emerged from surfing the Atlantic off Martinique Beach, minutes from downtown Halifax. That’s an image you rarely imagine when considering a trip to the Maritimes.
Back to business.
Metro Halifax has a population of about 372,000 folks. The pubs-to-folks ratio in Halifax is, in all respects, favorable. It is on a harbour (similar in all respects to the U.S. “harbor”) that pedestrians reach via sidewalks that slope abruptly down to it, which — along with a tendency toward general dampness and rain showers — give the city a vague resemblance to Seattle, with hints of Toronto.
It’s a city of parks and colleges and old churches. The Public Garden is a knockout. (A pond there is home to hundreds of ducks — and a floating, so far, model of the Titanic. There’s probably a story there.) There is no shortage of restaurants, mainly seafood but plenty representing your favorite ethnic persuasion, notably pizza.
There is a boardwalk along the harbor that features fast and slow food and all manner of boat rides.
There is also, in Halifax, an old British fort overlooking the city, the Citadel, which never saw wartime action. It, like the reconstructed French Ft. Louisbourg a few hours up the road (even the forts are bilingual here), should be visited by every Canadian schoolchild; for the rest of us, there are pubs.
And museums. A couple are especially notable.
Pier 21 was the Ellis Island of its place and time. In the last decades of the steamship era, from the late 1920s until the facility was closed in 1971, this big old hangar-like thing was a port of entry for Canada-bound immigrants, mostly from Europe. Many were refugees from wars and political upheaval. More, perhaps, sought a better life.
And this is good: Right after World War II, Pier 21 welcomed 48,000 war brides, most from England, and 22,000 of their children. Considering 494,000 military personnel shipped out for Europe from this pier during the war — not all of them eligible bachelors — Canadian men are to be congratulated for their efficiency as well as their service to the cause.
The building reopened as a museum in 1999, and it’s a good one.
In the heart of the boardwalk action is the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. If you’re really into boats, passenger and otherwise, you’ll love this museum. If you get here before Nov. 4, you’ll see a “Pirates!” exhibit that features the actual top of the skull (yo-ho!) of an actual pirate.
This is also where you’ll learn about the Halifax Explosion, a man-made blast exceeded in world history only by the one that flattened Hiroshima. It happened in 1917 when two ships (one loaded with munitions) collided in the harbor, and there are pictures and accounts.
This museum, too, is where you’ll see chunks of the Titanic.
The iceberg that sank the unsinkable was about 800 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. When word came, ships out of Nova Scotia sailed to search for what was left. Some of what was left is in this museum: a deck chair, sizable remnants of a staircase and archway, a piece of life jacket worn by John Jacob Astor.
What those ships brought back, as well, is in Halifax cemeteries.
Fairview Lawn Cemetery contains the graves of 121 passengers. Every marker represents a story, many that will never be known; some of the markers — the few with more than a number or a number and name — do tell us some things.
Barry Oakley, a guide for Ambassatours Gray Line, tells us more.
“She was here,” he said of the Finnish woman whose DNA sample provided a clue to the identification of a heretofore unknown child buried at Fairview. “Supposedly she was asked by the people here if she wanted his name put on the headstone here, and she said, ‘No, I don’t want to change anything now. It’s been like that since 1912.’ “
That was in 2002. Just this year, more research and more samples determined the child wasn’t this woman’s Finnish relation after all. The victim was a 19-month-old English boy.
Name on a stone a few steps down the row: “J. Dawson.” Another story. Fans of the movie will recognize the name . . .
There’s more to Halifax, of course, but it’s time to explore a bit.
We’ll go west first, along the south shore out of Halifax. The scenic route — “the Lighthouse Route,” in provincial promotion-ese — mostly follows the coastline, past many coves.
Most famous is Peggy’s Cove, home to an unusual rocky shoreline, a classic lighthouse, a village that’s mostly little stores selling a variety of stuff, and a large restaurant whose large gift shop sells a few nice things and lots of junk.
Peggy’s Cove is a disappointment.
“It certainly has its charm,” said another town’s visitor information person, “but with 10 buses at any time, it’s just crawling with people. The dead of winter, if you go there it’s more special than at this time of the year.”
Mahone Bay is a summer town that’s exceptionally well-dressed. Nice place, no doubt, to inherit a cottage. But pushing on, we find Lunenburg.
Founded in the 1750s, it grew into a major trading, fishing and shipbuilding port. It adjusted as the world changed around it, but the historic essence of the town was preserved — to the extent that in 1995, UNESCO added Lunenburg’s Old Town harbor district to its World Heritage List.
Lunenburg does not disappoint.
“We want to keep it how it is,” said Cheryl Corkum, a Lunenburg lifer who has been welcoming visitors here for 35 years. “You won’t find shopping malls. You won’t find McDonald’s. You can get that in Bridgewater.”
We don’t get to Bridgewater — despite the possibility of scoring a McLobster ($5.99 Canadian for the sandwich, $7.99 for the Value Meal. True.) — but a short drive away is Blue Rocks, another cove with a village attached like mussels on pilings. No restaurants, and not many people. Walk softly and bring a camera.
Now, driving east from Halifax along the water, we have the “Marine Drive.” Here, among yet more coves, we take a culinary plunge.
The donair is a meat sandwich that resembles the Greek gyros or the Middle Eastern shawarma or the Mexican tacos al pastor or the Turkish doner.
“Nova Scotia is the only one that has it,” said Joanne Toulany. In her Head of Chezzetcook food shop, she proceeds to cut a few slices off a dull-brown cylinder of cooked meat product (“It’s pressed beef,” she insisted) standing vertically on a spit. “When you have it, you’re going to tell the world about it.
“It’s good, but it’s messy.”
Not far from here is the Fisherman’s Life Museum, as simple as the life of the fisherman who owned the little house and outbuildings. Except that this fisherman and his wife had 13 daughters. No sons.
None of the 13 became fisherwomen.
“They were very superstitious people,” said interpreter Linda Fahie, ignoring the reality that this family could have stopped at 12, “and they thought it was bad luck to take a girl on a fishing boat.”
Brief timeout: This narrative is going way faster than the actual drive did. Distances are fairly short in Nova Scotia — you can drive the length of the province in 8 1/2 hours — but there are distractions.
Back on the road.
Sherbrooke. Very cool. A town that once was a medium-big deal (lumber, gold, fishing), it was dying when, in 1969, the appropriate powers got together and turned most of it into Historic Sherbrooke Village. The “living museum” preserves a town frozen, mostly, in the late 1800s.
Nancy Beaver, born in the town in 1955, shows visitors around the 1854 Presbyterian church.
“These buildings are our actual buildings,” she said. “They aren’t buildings that were brought in to make a town, like some museums are.”
Port Bickerton. Wonderful lighthouse set on a fragrant hill. The government was going to turn the area into a dumping station for PCBs. The town said no. The restored lighthouse and visitor center opened to visitors in ’97.
Country Harbour. Waiting for the ferry with rubber-booted mussel workers. A Prince Edward Island company owns the mussel farm, but the farm is here. “Ours,” said Michelle, “are the best.” Explained Carl: “Clean water. Cleaner harbor. It’s all pure saltwater here.”
Cape Breton. The Cabot Trail.
One of the great drives in North America.
It takes about 4 1/2 hours to make the 185-mile Baddeck-to-Baddeck loop around Cape Breton. If you do it in 4 1/2 hours, congratulations, but you did it wrong.
The drive features 24 scenic overlooks, two major waterfalls, some great beaches — a couple that are busy and more that you and someone you like a lot can have almost to yourselves. It’s Scottish early and French late and Irish from time to time, and you can hear it in the accents.
Some of the overlooks are absolutely dreamy.
There are trails to hike, craftspeople to meet, whales to scan for.
“They’re always around from May to October, just maybe not where you want them to be,” said Mary MacDonald, a Cape Breton Highlands National Park interpreter who, on this day, was stationed at Lakies Head with whale exhibits to show and several pairs of binoculars to share.
There had been sightings, she said, notably of fin whales. “That would be the largest whale you’d see around here,” she said. Of all living animals, only blue whales are larger.
At Bay St. Lawrence, we chat with fishermen bringing in snow crabs. At Meat Cove, reachable by dirt road, we see one of the dreamier overlooks above a similarly dreamy beach.
Meat Cove?
“Because there’s such an abundance of wildlife,” explained Wilena Hinse, who works the visitor center with partner Derek McLellan. “Today there’s no caribou left, but we have a very nice population of moose, white-tailed deer, black bear . . . you name it, we have it.”
But there’s a wide-open campground . . .
“We do have moose that sometimes walk through it,” said McLellan. “We just step aside while they do their business.”
On a piece of land just past Cheticamp, on the French side of Cape Breton, are 98 scarecrows. Yes, 98. Yes, there’s a story. When you get here, ask Ethel, in the diner. Her dad did this.
“Dad,” said Joe Delaney’s daughter, when asked to name his favorite scarecrow, “always favored Rory . . .” And there’s a story there too.
So this is Nova Scotia, as least parts of it. Never got to Digby, with its scallops. Never got to Kejimkujik National Park, and still don’t know how to pronounce it.
Did try a McLobster. Not terrible.
Donairs are better. Look out, world.
———–
asolomon@tribune.com
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IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
United and Air Canada offer non-stop service between O’Hare and Halifax. A recent check found United offering a low fare of about $460 (subject to change). If you don’t mind the inconvenience, one-stops on Air Canada and Continental can bring down that fare by $100 or more.
GETTING AROUND
Much of central Halifax is walkable; taxis are plentiful for areas that aren’t. Exploring the rest of the province by car is a pleasure; distances are short, traffic is rational and driving the Cabot Trail is a prime reason to visit the province.
STAYING THERE
For the most part and particularly along the coasts, independent motels, inns, resorts and bed-and-breakfasts are the most common lodging options once out of Halifax. Rental cottages are also available. On summer weekends and any time during fall color season (late September into October), advance reservations are strongly advised. Cape Breton, especially, abounds in B&Bs; folks doing the Cabot Trail who are more comfortable in larger properties will find the largest concentrations in Baddeck and in Cheticamp, an Acadian community.
Recommended in Halifax: a new Courtyard by Marriott, just off the waterfront (doubles from $151; 888-236-2427; www.marriott.com), and the venerable (1928), renovated Lord Nelson, across from the Public Garden and convenient to the Spring Garden Road shopping and dining strip (from $165; 800-565-2020; www.lordnelsonhotel.com).
DINING THERE
Expect local seafood (lobster, scallops, haddock, halibut, mussels and farm-raised Atlantic salmon); smoked salmon and mackerel, when you can find it, are especially good, and you won’t want to miss the multiple interpretations of seafood chowder. Another specialty, local to Lunenburg and with a fine, fine name: Solomon Gundy, a herring dish. Donairs, a gyros-type sandwich, is usually found at shops also selling pizza.
Especially enjoyed on this trip: In Halifax, The Press Gang, for atmosphere and creative variations of the standards (902-423-8816; www.thepressgang.ca); McKelvie’s, for the standards done just right (902-421-6161; www.mckelvies.com); and Il Mercato, a relaxed Italian bistro (902-422-2866; www.il-merc ato.ca). And the view is the thing at Salty’s, on the waterfront (902-423-6818; www.saltys.ca).
Around the province: In Lunenburg, the Old Fish Factory (800-533-9336; www.oldfishfactory.com) is just right for this old fishing town; in Baddeck, onetime home of Alexander Graham Bell (there’s a museum), townsfolk touted the Bell Buoy (902-295-2581; www.bellbuoyrestaurant.com), and they were right — but my favorite seafood chowder on the whole trip was at the restaurant in the Lynwood Inn (877-666-1995; www.lynwoodinn.com). If you’re anywhere near Hubbards, go for the fish cakes — another Nova Scotia specialty — at the modest but genial Trellis Cafe (902-857-1188).
INFORMATION
Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage (Explore Nova Scotia), 800-565-0000; www.novascotia.com.
— Alan Solomon
IN THE WEB EDITION
For a photo gallery and video on Nova Scotia, go to chicagotribune.com/novascotia
