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November 28, 2009

By Sid Kaplan                            
Travel Writer
Troy Media

Sid Kaplan

HALIFAX, NS, Nov. 28, 2009/ Troy Media/ — Friends told us we really should go to Nova Scotia. They had so much fun there: Beautiful scenery, cute bed-and-breakfasts, great food and interesting history. We didn’t need much convincing. We already knew we wanted to see the Bay of Fundy with its tides.

Taking our friends advice, we got on the road immediately, saving Halifax for the end. We got a rental car and headed about an hour south east to Lunenburg.

There is any number of cute small coastal towns along this South Shore region, but Lunenburg turned out to be a good choice. Turns out it is a UNESCO World Heritage Town. There’s a historic waterfront with a Fisheries Museum, and old sailing ships and plenty of seafood restaurants. You also won’t have to worry about places to stay, from small hotels to B&Bs.

Plan on spending a day or two in the area. When we left Lunenburg, we cut across the peninsula to the town of Annapolis Royal.

Annapolis Royal – founded in 1603 – calls itself the birthplace of Canada, and it does have a lot of history. Fort Anne, built in 1703, is a typical “star fort” with cannons facing out toward the sea. You can wander the embankments, and some of the original buildings are available for tours.

Among other attractions, Annapolis Royal has the oldest cemetery in Canada: It is called the Garrison Cemetery and is next to Fort Anne. We almost ignored our friends’ recommendation to take a night time tour of the cemetery, but we’re glad we didn’t. You’ll learn a lot on that lantern light tour.

A nearby attraction is Port-Royal National Historic Site, which represents an early French colony. Learn a bit about the Acadians and Canadian history. This reconstruction of early 17th century buildings is across a causeway from a power plant which uses the tides of the Bay of Fundy to generate electricity.

We drove north to Wolfville and Grand Pre. This is the area we stayed in to see the tides on the Bay of Fundy. The Grand Pre National Historic Site of Canada, located here, is a Commemorative Site about the deportation of the Acadians  from Canada, called the “Grand Derangement.”

Grand Pre is also where we had a great time doing a little wine tasting.

Wine tasting in Canada? Yes, indeed. The Domaine de Grand Pre had a great tasting, and we had a nice lunch there. We also had nice tastings at other small wineries in the area.

Making our way back toward Halifax, we stayed at the Inn on the Lake, which is only about 30 minutes from Halifax. Its distance makes it easy to visit and tour the city and still stay in the countryside. This hotel is also close to the airport, so it makes for an easy departure. That’s a great little driving loop our friends told us about, don’t you think? We’re happy to pass it along.

Editor’s note: Tell us about your favorite road trip in the comment box below.