Travel to Nova Scotia – Episode 414

Hear about travel to Nova Scotia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Sherry Ott about her recent trip to this province in Eastern Canada. Sherry returns to the show to talk about a trip around Nova Scotia she took last June.

“It’s this little gem in Canada. Go to Nova Scotia if you have an interest in small-town living, seafaring heritage. That to me is what Nova Scotia is about. The biggest city is Halifax and it’s around 300,000 people. The whole region of Nova Scotia might be under a million. It has an interesting cultural history also, Scotland and Gaelic culture. They’ve got some really interesting sites with the Bay of Fundy. For me, it was really about those small towns, local experiences, and really trying to see the whole region. I went with my mother. I took her on a road trip and we had about 12 days on the road there.”

Sherry recommends getting a car and taking a road trip as she did. “Nova Scotia is probably best known for the Cabot trail which is up to the Northeast in Cape Breton. That’s beautiful but the rest of it is beautiful as well. They have this trailway system [roads] around the whole region that highlight different things like the lighthouse trail, the maritime trail, or the Evangeline Trail. And these are all different sections of the province.” One thing to know is that the tourist season in Nova Scotia starts in July so Sherry did run into some things not being open yet.

Sherry and her mom traveled to Nova Scotia on the overnight train (Via Rail’s Ocean Route) from Montreal to Halifax where they started their road trip. It was around 900 miles from Montreal to Halifax. In Halifax, they enjoyed a visit to the Citadel, an old fort built in the early 1800s. It was built high on a hill to protect against invasion, probably from their pesky neighbors to the south. It is a living history site with people dressed in period costumes. They also enjoyed the local seafood in Halifax, especially the lobster.

The Citadel in Halifax is one of the main attractions in the capital city of Nova Scotia Canada. It is a living history museum where actors play the role of military personnel and reenact what life was like at the citadel guarding this important port city. A large part of the living history is the tradition of the noon gun. Every day, except for Christmas Day, the noon gun is pointed out across downtown and towards the waterfront, is shot off. It’s a serious business for the military personnel and a tradition in Halifax.

One of Sherry’s favorite spots was Lunenburg Nova Scotia. It is an old fishing town, now quite touristy. One of the great museums there was a fisheries museum. Sherry sat with an old sea captain hearing his stories for something like 40 minutes. She also caught part of the 61st year of Dory racing competition between Lunenburg and Gloucester, Massachusetts. The other town they fell in love with was Guysborough which is a little northeast of Halifax. It is really tiny and not at all on the tourist map.

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Show Notes

Otts World
Nova Scotia
Cabot Trail
Lighthouse Trail
Marine Drive
Halifax Citadel
Halifax Noon Gun Twitter
The Halliburton
The Five Fishermen Restaurant
Peggy’s Cove
Lunenberg
Fisheries Museum
The Knot Pub
Guysborough
Des Barres Manor Inn, Guysborough
Bay of Fundy
Evangeline Trail
Digby
Hall’s Harbour
Halls Harbour Lobster Pound
LeHave
MidTrail Inn

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Tom wrote:

A friend and I travelled to Egypt In January to work at a hospital north of Cairo. We worked for 5 days and played in Cairo for 2. Before we left, I listened to your podcasts about Egypt to study up on it! Loved the show. Loved Egypt.
It was the 3rd anniversary of the Arab Spring while we were there. We felt completely safe and had a great time!

Stayed at the Menu House Hotel while we were there. Rooms were U$S100 a night. We were 100 yards from the Giza pyramid complex. One of the best hotel stays ever. We ate dinner every night looking at the pyramids.

I dream about travel all the time and your show is my favorite.

Thanks for the work you do!

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I felt I knew Vieques before I even landed! Bioluminecents was unreal! Right out of a SciFi movie!