July 2016: Nova Scotia 7-Day Itinerary (Part II)

Day Three

Day 3: Sunshine! Woke up to blue skies, which was a nice change from the past two days. Went to breakfast at Evangeline, which as I mentioned in an earlier post is one of like three places open early for breakfast. Again, expect the basics at a better price point than the Happy Clam.

After filling up on food, headed straight to the Skyline Trail. It's best to get there early in the morning. I got there close to 9 am which was fine but by the time I left btwn noon and 1 pm, the parking lot was overflowing!

If you do the straight trail (not the whole loop) it should take you between 2-3 hours. It's about 4.5 miles roundtrip. I choose not to do the whole loop as I have zero desire to run into a moose out in the open with no barrier between me and the animal.

The trail is more of a moderate walk. It's a wide path that takes you from the parking lot into the park and onto the platform where you will have an amazing view. The views from the platform were stellar. It's one of the top views I've seen in all my trips. I loved it so much because you have a huge horizon to look into and you can kind of see the curvature. Pictures don't do it justice.

For some reason there is an enclosure halfway through the trail. This enclosure keeps out moose. I guess they want to limit them from getting near the actual Skyline platform.

The platform at the end of the trail has NO guard rails. It's a descent down to another overlook and it is super windy. So be careful especially with kids or people who might be afraid of heights. It's totally safe but you might get the illusion it's not if you have a great fear of heights.

Cliffhanger. I love how deep blue the water is. I felt like I could reach out and touch it.

The picture below is a bit crooked (it's hard to use the panorama view on the iPhone especially when it's a looooong shot) but that's how wide and vast it was. I really felt like I was on top of the world here.

Down on the platforms there are several benches on each level down to sit and rest and enjoy the view. I could've stayed here all day. It's so gorgeous and this is what Cape Breton is worth coming to for, especially on a clear day.

After the Skyline trail, I headed down to Iona Heights Inn down in Iona, which was almost a 2 hour drive away. My initial itinerary was to start the day and go to a fort in Louisburg but due to the rain, I changed up my plans. Had I been able to do Skyline the previous day, my third day would've been spent near Baddeck/Sydney/Louisburg on the other side. I'm glad that I did Skyline the next day instead though because Sydney was boring!! Don't bother going. Due to lack of time, I also didn't drive down the east side near Ingonish so I missed Smoky Mountain too. Would've like to have seen it but was tired of all the driving and wanted to relax a bit.

Iona Heights Inn is a cute place on Bras d'or Lake. It was also even cheaper than the Cornerstone motel but really well done. It's owned by a couple who also run a chocolate business. Basically, the inn also has a pub, a chocolate shop and a convenience store all on the property. I highly recommend staying here but only if you want to be on this side of the island. The food at the pub is good too. I had to eat there because everything else was closed for Canada Day.

So basically I rested the rest of this day but otherwise not much to do here. I booked it just in case I decided to do the other side of the island and wanted to be closer to the drive back to Halifax instead of driving back to Cheticamp.

Day Four

Day 4: Drove out to Halifax which was about three hours away. Stayed at the Cambridge Suites Hotel Halifax. In Halifax, you can park for free on the weekends and after 6 pm on the weekdays. I'm glad it worked out that I came on a Saturday! There is plenty of street parking near the hotel which is very close to downtown. Don't bother paying $20 to park in the hotel garage.

Overall Halifax is a very small city. You can see it all in a day. The highlights are the seaport, the Citadel, and the public gardens. At sunset, I liked walking all around the Citadel which overlooks the city. They close off traffic since the Citadel itself (a historic military fort) is closed but as a pedestrian you can make a loop all around outside at the top of the hill around the Citadel.

For food, skip the highly rated Press Gang and Oysters. The food was good but not great, especially for the price. It's $$$$. I think you can find better food for quality and price elsewhere.

Day 5

Day 5: Cambridge provides a breakfast buffet so that's what I had in the morning before driving out to nearby Lunenburg. It's about 1.5 hours to get there. Upon arrival it doesn't look like much but by the afternoon it's more alive and kicking. It's a sleepy fishing town known for their colorful houses and lots of history. Many of the homes date back from hundreds of years ago.

A walk around town is interesting. Some of the homes state the year it was built. Usually pre-1900s!

In addition, the BEST meal of my trip was at the South Shore Fish Shack. So simple and soooo good. It's a casual place that takes cash or Canadian debit card only. But the food is delicious. I had the best fish and chips in my life thus far. The fish was lightly breaded and the meat (haddock) was juicy and tender and NOT oily or dry. The lobster was perfectly cooked and very meaty in a dense way (not all lobsters are). I would even say it's worth driving out here from Halifax just for this. And the prices were reasonable given the quality ($25 Canadian for the lobster and $17 for three piece fish and chip).

After this, I headed over to Peggy's Cove which is a must do if you're near Halifax. I didn't know what to expect except the lighthouse, which is the most photographed one in Canada. But I loved Peggy's Cove as it is ladened with huge rocks and it's fun to climb all over them. It's a nice way to spend a few hours by the water.

Contemplating how I can learn to make delicious seafood chowder

For dinner, stopped by Rhubarb, which is a ten minute drive away. It's a cute restaurant with outdoor seating. Had seafood chowder here and basically I've learned throughout my pigging out is that seafood chowder is different everywhere. And it doesn't mean it just has clams. It usually has lobster, oysters, fish, whatever mix of seafood the restaurant wants to serve. Also most chowders were not too creamy or thick. Of all the chowders I had, the one at Meat Cove was the best. But Rhubard's was not bad either. Full of seafood.

Day 6

Day 6: Today I wanted to check out the Bay of Fundy, which is a large area on the northern side of Nova Scotia. However I only had one day left to do a day trip and I didn't want to spend too much time in the car. So I checked out the Bay of Fundy from the southern side near Hall's Harbor, less than 2 hours from Halifax.

The Bay of Fundy is known for their rapid moving tides. Tide times are posted online. Around early July, high tide is around noon and midnight and low tide around 6 am/pm. The tide rises as high as 30-40 feet.

Anyway so I went to Hall's Harbor to have a look for high tide. It looked nice but I didn't think it was that special. Maybe it would be more interesting at low tide?

I also picked Hall's Harbor since there is a lobster pound there too. Tried their lobster which was also good. They pick out the lobster in front of you to cook!! But I liked it that they also cracked the cooked lobster in all the right places so you just need to pull it apart.

Wasn't kidding that I ate chowder somewhere somehow every day. This was decent.

In the afternoon drove to Blomidon Provincial Park to have a look at Minas Basin. The tide had lowered a bit by 3 pm.

View of the area by Minas Basin from the Lookoff near Blomidon

Also checked out a winery in Wolfville which had a cool working telephone booth in the middle of the vineyard! This was at Luckett Vineyard. And yes you can make free calls anywhere in North America from here! The owner installed it as a marketing gimmick. Hey, it's what brought me here.

Dinner was at Darrell's Restaurant in Halifax. It's one of the top rated burger places in Canada. It did not disappoint. Had the mushroom burger which was juicy and flavorful and the vanilla milkshake. So yum. It's near the college area, so very casual and full of local students. Good prices for food.

Day 7

Day 7: So technically I was in Nova Scotia for 7 days but this was a travel day. I really wanted to only do 6 days but with Delta, the only flights I could get for July 4 wknd were to leave on a Wedneday and come back on a Tuesday. So day 7 just had one last good meal--the Coastal Cafe is excellent. Really interesting brunch menu. Had the Croque Monsieur, which is poached eggs with grilled cheese and lobster and a roasted corn salad. This is one of those places that would fit right into NYC. Loved it.

Headed to the airport at 12:30 for my 3 pm flight home to NYC. It was nice to go thru customs at the Halifax airport, and not back in JFK! So yes, after you check in, you go thru customs at the terminal. There is an international terminal that only serves NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and Newark flights I think. So they do it all right at security.

Other Thoughts/Tips

Nova Scotia is beautiful. It's what I picture New England to be, but better. Love the lush green color and blue skies and water.
7 days was more than enough, but depends what you want to do. I think I could've done without the Bay of Fundy. Perhaps the northern side of the bay is more interesting. I like Cape Breton but only because of Skyline Trail, Middle Head Trail, and Meat Cove Chowder Hut. Wish I had more time to spend near Ingonish and Smoky Mountain which I didn't go, but think I'll live.
Definitely can skip Sydney/Bras d'or Lake area if you're done with hiking. Probably great if you love camping but I'm not the type to reaaaaally do too much of that.
Halifax is good to see for a day, but Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove was more interesting.
I can't stress how much I really enjoyed Meat Cove Chowder Hut, The South Shore Fish Shack, and the Coastal Cafe.
In general this was a nice quiet and relaxing trip--not too exciting or too cultural (unless you really love learning about fishing communities and really old history on how the region was discovered, etc.). I'm glad to have finally visited but not on my list of places I definitely want to go back to. Skyline Trail was the definite highlight. If anything, I would go to see that again but there's other places to explore too! :)
Great for family vacation w kids or people who really love the outdoors and hiking. Expect to spend a lot of time driving btwn places though.