We just got back from a week trip to Nova Scotia.  Many people asked us before we left, Why Nova Scotia?  I found that to be an odd question.  I ask… Why Not?

Why does anyone go to a particular place for vacation?  Perhaps it’s because they have been before and enjoyed it, or maybe they want to try someplace new.  For us, we don’t generally go to the same place twice, and are always trying to find new places to experience grand new adventures.  Every person has different things that make their ideal vacation.  I think it was my sister-in-law, Kate, who originally raved about Cape Breton (the northern most island of Nova Scotia).  For Kate, I think the allure has more to do with the quiet solitude, Celtic influence, and musical flavor.  Frankly, things that have little bearing for me personally.

Vacation ‘buying factors’ for us include great food and great photographs.  We love seafood… so Nova Scotia seemed to us like as good a place as any.  We had gotten a couple recommendations from other friends that had been there.  It has been on our GO TO list for some time.  So it came up to the top of the list and we scheduled the trip.

We broke the trip into 2 parts:  (1) Cape Breton, the northern most island of Nova Scotia, home to the scenic Cabot Trail, and (2) Peggy’s Cove / Lunenburg coastal area.

Cape Breton in known for it’s Celtic origins.  Even the signs are in Gaelic.  It’s also home to the windy scenic Cabot Trail that winds between the forest and over the hills.  The views yield mountains of trees tapering off into the sea, the occasional lighthouse, and vast hiking areas.

For our trip we were gifted with overcast skies, gray clouds, and drizzly rain.  It made for poor sunrise/ sunsets, but interesting fog pix.

Lobstering is a big industry in Nova Scotia, as is all things sea related (no big surprise as it’s an island surrounded by the ocean and bays).    Since we were there during lobster season we witnessed the hard working lobstermen coming in from their early morning hauls, and enjoyed many fruits of their labors (i.e. – lots of lobster 🙂 ).

In Baddeck we went on a puffin tour trip and I was thrilled to see many very small Atlantic puffins.  My practice of panning photographs paid off as I swept my inadequate telephoto lens across the water to capture the fleeing small awkward birds.  What fun!  I wanted to turn around and go again.  Worth the trip alone!

Not only does Baddeck have puffins (actually on Bird Islands off of Englishtown), Baddeck is also home to the Alexander Graham Bell museum and Baddeck Lobster Suppers, which in addition to great lobsters had fantastic mussels fresh from Cape Breton.

We had a fabulous time in Cape Breton, and were off to Peggy’s Cove.  See post here.