A Week In Nova Scotia - Part 3 - The South Coast & The Lighthouse Route

The roadway that follows the coast heading southwest from Halifax is known as the Lighthouse Route.  It passes through or near the many little fishing villages and larger towns that line the coast.

Our first stop was the small fishing village of Peggy's Cove.  This is the place that almost everyone who has stopped in Halifax on a cruise ship goes to, and the Peggy's Point Lighthouse, established in 1868, current version built in 1915, is said to the most photographed lighthouse or even structure in Canada.  The village was formally founded in 1811 when six families of German descent were given a land grant by the Province.

The dry granite was easy enough to walk on, but there were several warnings to stay off the darker black portions of the rock.  Apparently not everyone has heeded this advice.

Tourism is probably the biggest source of income to the community these days, but there is still a fair amount of lobster fishing as well.

We continued south along the coastline to the town of Chester, where we found a great place for lunch, the Kiwi Cafe.  The lobster roll and salad that I had were excellent, as was Heather's soup, but the best part was the dessert, which they thoughtfully split into two portions for us.

Fans of the SyFy Channel TV show Haven may recognize Chester and the neighboring towns, as that is where it is filmed.  We walked around the little fishing town and just enjoyed a nice day in a quiet place.

Whenever we go someplace new we look for the occasional out-of-the-ordinary thing to see or do.  In 1795 three friends excavated a depression in the ground on a small island in Mahone Bay just off the coast near Chester.  Oak Island, site of the Money Pit, has seen continuous treasure hunting ever since, and is the subject of many legends.  Oak Island is small, about 140 acres, and only about 660 feet from shore.  The History Channel has been running a series for the last couple years called The Curse of Oak Island, which is quite entertaining.  Theories of what is supposedly buried there range from pirate treasure, to naval treasure, to artifacts brought over by Knights Templar, including even the Holy Grail.  Needless to say, if we were that close we had to at least try to get a look.  Today there is a causeway to drive out to the island, but mostly because the legend says that one more person has to die before the treasure is found (and also because it is private), we stopped right at the start of the causeway and just checked out the island from the shore.

Proof we were there - that is the causeway and Oak Island directly behind us.

Further south along the coast we came into the town of Mahone Bay, famous for its three churches.

Continuing further around the edge of Mahone Bay we came to the town of Lunenburg, one of only two urban communities in North America designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is considered to be the best surviving planned British colonial town in North America.  Lunenburg was founded in 1753 as a Protestant settlement (mostly Germans and Swiss) by Great Britain as a way to gain control over the territory and to push out the Native and Acadian (French) populations who were there before them.  The town was named in honor of King George of Great Britain, who happened to be German from Hanover and was also the Duke of Braunschweig-Luneburg.  Needless to say, there has been a lot of fighting over this and other parts of Nova Scotia in years past.  

Fishing has been the major trade in Lunenburg over the years.

There were a lot of names on this monument.

 St. John's Anglican Church, founded in 1753.

Click here to see more images from our trip along the South Coast of Nova Scotia and the Lighthouse Route.     

A Week in Nova Scotia - Part 2 - The Halifax Citadel

The Halifax Citadel, the present-day fortress at the top of Citadel Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia is officially called Fort George.  Named after Britain's King George II, it was completed in 1856, and is the fourth British fort to occupy this high point overlooking the town and harbor of Halifax.  The site is now a Canadian National Historic Site, and features a very nicely laid out Army Museum in addition to the many restored areas which are open and manned by knowledgeable volunteers dressed in period garb, in this case, the soldiers of the 78th Highlanders.  We spent our first afternoon in Halifax here, but first we had to get past the guard at the front gate.

There is an inner and outer ring of high walls, and then some large buildings in the interior courtyard.

The guard on duty at the front gate stood at attention for the entire shift, however the ones inside were more at ease, and gave us explanations of what was going on, and what it was like to be a soldier in the 78th Highlanders in the 1800's.  Each of the restored rooms in the Fort was manned by one or more re-enactors.

There was even a school room where soldiers could advance their education while posted to the Fort.  This soldier is demonstrating an early slide projector, which works just like my Kodak from many years later.

It was a cool, gray day when we were there, and I would imagine that winters here were not all that comfortable.

The gunpowder magazine looked like someplace you didn't want to be in for any longer than absolutely necessary.

The Army Museum was very nicely laid out, with great displays and a lot of information.

The Halifax Citadel was a great place to start our visit to the city, as we got not only a great view looking down on the city, but also a great overview of the history of Halifax, all the way back to its founding by the British in 1749 as a military base from which to counter the French in North America.  

Click here to see more images of the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site and the Army Museum.
     

A Week in Nova Scotia - Part 1 - Introduction

When I told friends about our plans for a Spring vacation trip this year, I generally got one of three responses.

Several people replied "Where?"  Well, I may not be the most geographically literate person in the world, but at least I do know where (and what) Nova Scotia is.  

Even more people replied with "Why?".  Not the kind of "Why?" that means "Oh, tell me more about all the fun and interesting things you expect to find there", but rather, the sort of "Why?" that really sounds like "Why would you want to go there, of all places?".

Heather, on the other hand, said "Why not?"; and we were off for a week in mid-May to Halifax, Nova Scotia, the metropolitan area that is about the farthest you can get from San Diego and still be in North America.

For this, our first visit to the area, we opted to stay in downtown Halifax each night, and day trip out from there to see other parts of the province.  We had a rough idea of some of the things and places we wanted to see, and figured we would make it up as we went along, depending on the weather.  Since we knew it was early in the season, and many things would still be closed, we decided that this would be a great time to get to really know the city of Halifax, and save the other areas for another trip.  We'll definitely go back.

Getting to and from Nova Scotia from San Diego was actually easier than it sounds when looking at the flight schedules, as long as you don't mind arriving and departing at odd hours.  Air Canada has a non-stop from San Diego to Toronto that connects, after a short lay-over, to a flight that arrives in Halifax at midnight.  That was the plan.  

We caught a great sunset in Toronto, but unfortunately, that wasn't our outbound aircraft parked at the gate.  Eventually, a few hours later than originally scheduled, they did find a plane, and we arrived in Halifax at almost 2:30am.  It wasn't too bad though, as that did allow us enough time to have a very nice dinner at one of the restaurants in the terminal at Toronto. By the time we got to the hotel it was a bit after 3:00am on Sunday morning.  We left the hotel a week later, on Sunday morning at 4:00am to catch the 5:30am flight back to Toronto and then on to San Diego.  Thanks to the time zones, we were back at home by 11:30am that same morning.

Our hotel, The Hollis Hotel, a Hilton DoubleTree, is in an excellent location, walking distance from all of the things you would want to see downtown.  The interior is a recent renovation, very nicely done, and the hotel has a great staff as well.  

There is no shortage of good restaurants in Halifax, and the city is said to have the most pubs per capita of any city in Canada.  We found a great Irish pub called the Old Triangle Irish Alehouse, which was conveniently located on the opposite end of the same block as the hotel.  The braised lamb shank was excellent, as was the Dublin Pastie (chicken, ham, leeks and mushrooms baked in puff pastry). 

We went to the Old Triangle several times, as they also have a great dessert menu, and we felt it was important to determine which was better, the Guinness gingerbread with warm whiskey-caramel sauce, or the chocolate torte.  

We hit a combination of sunny and rainy days, with temperatures in the 60's on sunny days, and 40's to 50's on the grayer days; colder at night.  Walking around downtown and the Waterfront on Sunday evening in a light drizzle, we could certainly tell we were there off-season.  I have a feeling this place can get jammed with people during the summer.

There is a lot to do and see in Nova Scotia, especially if you like to bicycle, kayak, bird watch, whale watch and hike.  The motto on the Nova Scotia license plate is "Canada's Ocean Playground", and they mean it.  Just don't get there before mid-June.  We spent most of our time wandering on foot around Halifax, getting to know the city, its people, its history and its food.  There is a lot of history here.  We did drive out along the south coast on one day, along a route known as the Lighthouse Route, to check out the fishing village at Peggy's Cove, and the towns of Chester and Lunenburg.  Another day we drove across to the Bay of Fundy and the Annapolis Valley, to check out the huge tidal changes in the Bay and to try some fresh scallops at Digby, the "scallop capital of the world".   So, now might be a good time to grab a cup of coffee and join us for more pictures from our trip to Nova Scotia.

     
     

New at the Zoo

The San Diego Zoo has two new Malayan Tigers, brothers Berani and Cinta.  They were born in December of 2013 at the Fresno Zoo, and have now moved to San Diego.  Berani and Cinta are the younger brothers of Connor, whose picture you won't have to go very far around here to find.  They're still young, and at this point, just a little over 200 pounds.  Their paws are pretty big though, and it should be fun to watch them grow into them.

You can tell them apart by the patterns of the black fur over the right eye.  This is Cinta.

Here's his brother Berani.

They seem to alternate their days either sprawled out napping in the sun, or up and about checking out the area.  Not much different than my cats at home.

I finally got to see some more of the new baby Hippo in the water.  A female named Devi, she was born in March of this year.

Here are a few of the new male Jaguar cub.  He's usually out with his mother in the mornings and early afternoon.  Get there before 2:30 if you want to see him.

Click here to see a few more images of the Malayan Tigers, Hippos and Jaguars from the San Diego Zoo on May 25 and 30, 2015.
     

Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site - Laramie, WY

We took a very short trip up to Laramie, Wyoming recently to visit some family.  While there we toured the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site.

The stone structure was built in 1872, and restored in 1990.  This prison is one of only three federally constructed territorial penitentiaries that still exist in the western United States, and the only one in which most of the original structure is preserved.  This is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the State of Wyoming.

The Processing Room.

The South Cellblock, constructed in 1889, contained 42 5' x 5' x 8' cells.

   
Click here to see a few more images from the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, including restorations and reconstructions of some of the surrounding buildings.