View from cottages and motel.

 

Another look from the motel

 

Lunenburg Harbour

 

 

Nearby Attractions

Though many Nova Scotians will disagree, several of Nova Scotia's best parties call Halifax home. The International Busker Festival, the Nova Scotia Tattoo, and the Atlantic Jazz Festival, to name three.

With its historic waterfront, Halifax is a port city, first and foremost. Once a dirty garrison town, Halifax today is smart and sophisticated, with six universities and a highly-educated workforce. Lofty trees line city streets, and people smile convincingly. Summer here is a happy time.

History is palpable. My downtown neighborhood consists of Victorian and Georgian homes. A graveyard church, constructed in one day in 1843, sits a stone's throw away. Jogging through Point Pleasant Park, I gasp past a rotund martello tower commissioned by Prince Edward, Queen Victoria's father, in 1796. Book in hand, I retreat inside the Public Gardens - a Victorian treasure filled with lush flowers and ancient trees. How could anyone live without such color and tranquility in the heart of their city?

Halifax has a bevy of national historic sites and fine museums, including the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and Pier 21. Summer is punctuated by festivals and concerts, the best using history and nature to good effect, as Shakespeare by the Sea demonstrates.

This energetic theatre company uses Point Pleasant's ruins and Citadel Hill's ramparts as stages. I'm certain the Immortal Bard would approve.

" It is breathtaking," says artistic director Patrick Christopher. "There's nothing like seeing King Lear at the Citadel, on a dark night with a full moon. There's nothing quite like walking down to the ocean to see Ophelia dead on the rocks, the queen weeping over her. Or Lady Macbeth in her madness, running from the forest and into the ocean. It's just so unique."

UNESCO applies that same adjective to Lunenburg, a World Heritage Site an hour from Halifax. This quintessential seafaring town feels timeless, with captain's mansions perched on narrow streets that lead to a busy harbour.

Lunenburg is the crown jewel, but the entire county is lined with splendid beaches and picturesque villages. Sea kayaking is a demanding hobby, and deep sea charters abound - for birders searching for puffins and cormorants, and anglers hoping to grapple with tuna or shark.

Interestingly, many artists live here, drawing inspiration from the volatile Atlantic and its isolated outports. A Gathering of Artists is one guide to creative folk, like Mahone Bay painter Tom Ward. A serious cyclist, he enjoys weaving along the coast on his racing bike, melding vocation and avocation. His deep, realistic watercolors play with light and shadow.

" The conditions are so dramatic around here, and I try to capture what that light evokes in both fact and mood," Ward says. "I'm also drawn by the relationship which exists between the landscape, ocean and people. The Atlantic shapes, forms and inspires everything around here."

Like Ward's paintings, south-shore life is subtle and rich. Pedal & Sea Adventures' Dana Gallant says cyclists exploring coastal byways often discover that osprey outnumber automobiles. Each year, several are so enchanted by the seascape, they open their checkbooks to buy waterfront properties. Gallant understands the attraction. He travels the world, but wants to live here.

" I love it here. I cycle every second day, eat at wonderful, historical country inns... and experience one of the world's best places. What could be better?"

Like many visitors, I enjoy cycling through the Annapolis Valley, feeling at home amid the rolling hills and fertile valleys. Perhaps it's genetic. My ancestors settled here 350 years ago; the countryside remembers. A national historical site at Grand Pre commemorates le Grande Derangement of 1755 - the great upheaval that deported so many Acadians to places like Louisiana.

Valley towns are warm and easy. It amazes me that a winsome place like Wolfville -- where towering trees shelter quiet streets -- can boast a renowned university, an exceptional theatre company, and four terrific restaurants.
Yet even in the valley, the sea beckons. Just over the surrounding hills, the Bay of Fundy swells prodigiously. Watching the world's highest tides is underwhelming, but riding the tides in a capricious zodiac is a rush.

The bay's formal religion is whale watching. Surging waters are home to dolphins, minke, humpback and fin whales, as well as the endangered northern right. Knowledgable guides know most whales by name. My one rendezvous with these playful giants was profound and spiritual. A friend actually caressed a sleeping humpback during an evening cruise, a memory that still brings tears.

Nova Scotia is brimming with surprises, says John DeMont, who travelled the province writing The Last Best Place (Doubleday).

" This is a very old province, one of the oldest places in North America. And it's still an area that is so diverse, and largely unspoiled, from the highest tides of the Bay of Fundy to the wild beauty of Cape Breton...

"There are all kinds of little adventures out there, waiting, but I think your attitude has to be different. I don't think this is a place to bustle; I think travellers should take their time and let things happen. Get off the city clock, relax, and let it wash over you."

Story by Richard Levangie