Latest / Travel Mug Podcast / Beginner's Guide To Mainland Nova Scotia

Transcript

Beginner's Guide To Mainland Nova Scotia · Travel Mug Podcast

• 0:00
  Meggan: Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Travel Mug Podcast.
• 0:03
  Meggan: Believe it or not, summer is fast approaching, which means our home province of Nova Scotia comes alive.
• 0:10
  Jenn: Woo-hoo.
• 0:11
  Meggan: Um, It's a favorite time of year, honestly.
• 0:12
  Meggan: You would agree, Jenn?
• 0:13
  Jenn: Yes, definitely.
• 0:14
  Jenn: My favorite time of year.
• 0:16
  Meggan: Yes, indeed.
• 0:17
  Meggan: And we do have episodes in our catalog, breaking down areas of Nova Scotia, but we did think it would be a great idea to give you a beginner's guide to our homeland.
• 0:26
  Jenn: Mm-hmm.
• 0:26
  Meggan: Like how to best prepare and plan for your trip here all in one place.
• 0:31
  Meggan: Now it isn't necessarily a Nova Scotia travel guide, all the things you should see and do, but an overview more to help you dig deeper and like know what to expect and how to plan your trip here.
• 0:42
  Meggan: And don't fret.
• 0:43
  Meggan: Our next episode will be a Beginner's Guide to Cape Breton.
• 0:47
  Meggan: So stay tuned for that episode.
• 0:49
  Meggan: In a few weeks, we felt the award-winning Isle deserved its own episode.
• 0:53
  Meggan: So more to come on that.
• 0:56
  Meggan: Now.
• 0:57
  Meggan: Let's dig in.
• 0:58
  Meggan: So first up, Jenn, what are we gonna chat about?
• 1:00
  Meggan: I think it's logical to start here.
• 1:02
  Jenn: It is logical to start here.
• 1:04
  Jenn: Start with how to actually get to Nova Scotia to start your Nova Scotia trip.
• 1:11
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 1:11
  Jenn: If you already live here, you, you're, you're good.
• 1:14
  Jenn: You can skip this part, but.
• 1:19
  Jenn: So Nova Scotia is easily accessible by land from our lovely neighboring province of New Brunswick, which you can scroll back and listen to Crystal talk about some fun things to do in New Brunswick.
• 1:32
  Jenn: So you can enter kind of in a few spots, but the most common is to enter from Sackville, new Brunswick, right into the Amherst area.
• 1:40
  Jenn: And for context, Amherst is like two and a half, just under two and a half hours drive from Halifax.
• 1:48
  Jenn: So another option obviously is to fly.
• 1:51
  Jenn: We have an international airport.
• 1:54
  Jenn: We we're, it's a pretty big, pretty big airport.
• 1:57
  Jenn: Like we get quite
• 1:58
  Meggan: so fancy.
• 2:00
  Jenn: It's a lovely airport.
• 2:01
  Jenn: We get quite a few flights for first timers.
• 2:03
  Jenn: The first time you come here.
• 2:05
  Jenn: It literally looks like you are going to land in a forest, but I promise you there's a runway there and like a pretty state-of-the-art airport.
• 2:13
  Jenn: So like everything is going to be fine.
• 2:16
  Meggan: Trust us.
• 2:17
  Meggan: Trust us.
• 2:18
  Jenn: So the airport is about, 30 ish minutes from downtown Halifax.
• 2:24
  Jenn: You can rent a car right at the airport.
• 2:27
  Jenn: If you choose to get a cab, they're expensive, so don't say we didn't warn you, but there's also a bus.
• 2:34
  Jenn: Shuttle options, and we do have Uber in Halifax as well.
• 2:39
  Jenn: Do we, we don't have Lyft, do we?
• 2:41
  Meggan: I don't think so.
• 2:42
  Meggan: I think Uber only at this point.
• 2:44
  Meggan: From what I understand.
• 2:45
  Meggan: I've never used Uber yet, but I know we have it.
• 2:47
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 2:48
  Jenn: Like I haven't used it either.
• 2:50
  Meggan: It's out there though.
• 2:51
  Jenn: Every time I've been in Halifax I've used my own car, but
• 2:54
  Meggan: Exactly I do live here, so yeah.
• 2:57
  Jenn: So also you can visit by sea.
• 3:00
  Jenn: You know, if you have your own yacht and you wanna sail and dock, right in the Halifax Harbor, that is an option and a great option cuz you're already downtown,
• 3:09
  Meggan: right
• 3:10
  Jenn: and you don't have to deal with the traffic.
• 3:11
  Meggan: Home is there.
• 3:12
  Meggan: You're good.
• 3:13
  Jenn: However, if you don't have a private y yacht, you can come by cruise ship as well, which docks in Halifax.
• 3:22
  Jenn: And.
• 3:23
  Jenn: You can also visit via the Cat ferry, which we have talked about before.
• 3:28
  Jenn: Meggan's given us a review on, so it comes from Bar Harbor, Maine, and lands in Yarmouth.
• 3:34
  Jenn: So those are the options for getting to Nova Scotia.
• 3:39
  Meggan: Yeah, I think that's a lot.
• 3:41
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 3:42
  Jenn: I mean, I.
• 3:43
  Jenn: If you're farish away, I would recommend flying, but
• 3:47
  Meggan: yeah, so would I.
• 3:48
  Meggan: But it is in a crazy popular Nova Scotia, including Cape Bratton again, which we'll mention in a future episode.
• 3:54
  Meggan: But cruise ship season's wild in these parts, so you can definitely catch a ship here if that's your thing.
• 4:00
  Jenn: Yes.
• 4:01
  Jenn: Okay, Meggan, so when people are planning their Nova Scotia vacation, how many days do you think that they should plan for?
• 4:10
  Meggan: Well, I kind of think this is determined by what they wanna do of course, and how long they have to visit.
• 4:16
  Meggan: So how much vacation time do you have?
• 4:19
  Meggan: But if you wanna hit up all the big spots like Halifax, maybe some quaint towns down our way the south shore of the province, maybe come back through the Annapolis Valley and possibly hit the North Shore, maybe go up to Jost Winery.
• 4:33
  Meggan: I would really say 10 to 12 days.
• 4:36
  Meggan: What are your thoughts on that?
• 4:37
  Jenn: Yeah, and I mean obviously you can't do everything in one trip.
• 4:43
  Meggan: No.
• 4:43
  Jenn: So I think like a week or 10 to 12 days would be great if you wanna hit multiple areas.
• 4:49
  Jenn: But obviously like you can do a short weekend getaway and experience kind of one area like just Halifax or maybe just like Wolfville or the South Shore and have an amazing time.
• 5:02
  Jenn: Obviously if you're here on a cruise ship, you're here for like, I don't know, eight hours.
• 5:06
  Jenn: So like
• 5:07
  Meggan: shove it all in.
• 5:08
  Jenn: You just gotta put on your walking shoes.
• 5:12
  Jenn: But it, I mean, yeah, it obviously does depend on how much time you have.
• 5:16
  Jenn: So I, you know, I want to say 10 to 12 days is a great amount of time, but I don't wanna discourage people,
• 5:22
  Meggan: Oh yeah.
• 5:23
  Jenn: From coming, if they only have like three or four days, you can definitely still experience a lot of fun things that Nova Scotia has to offer to you.
• 5:31
  Meggan: I completely agree.
• 5:32
  Meggan: Like we've actually ran into a couple in Wolfville somewhere we were staying and they were from Newfoundland and they literally flew into Halifax, drove to Wolfville, spent all of their time in Wolfville, and then were just driving back to Halifax to leave via the airport.
• 5:45
  Meggan: So, so many great options close to the airport.
• 5:49
  Meggan: I really do think though the best way to see Nova Scotia in that long of a duration would definitely be to plan to rent a car.
• 5:58
  Meggan: You can do a really good itinerary and do it in a way as well.
• 6:01
  Meggan: Of course that makes sense with the geography.
• 6:03
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 6:03
  Meggan: So what you see, what you kind of deem must do locations on the mainland of the province cuz there's a lot.
• 6:09
  Meggan: So I really feel like going back to things I've said before, using Google Maps will be really key and sort of seeing what are the bigger spots?
• 6:17
  Meggan: How are we going to do it?
• 6:19
  Meggan: And then plan your stays around that.
• 6:21
  Meggan: So yeah, like Nova Scotia's great for a weekend.
• 6:24
  Meggan: Nova Scotia's great for a couple weeks.
• 6:26
  Meggan: It really depends on what you wanna do and how much time you have.
• 6:29
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 6:30
  Jenn: So let's talk about getting around, because like you really do need a car to do most of things around Nova Scotia.
• 6:41
  Jenn: Unfortunately, like Halifax, has decent public transport and like we mentioned, there's also Uber in in Halifax, but outside of Halifax getting around you almost need a car.
• 6:56
  Jenn: It's just, it's too difficult to get around.
• 6:59
  Jenn: So we definitely recommend either driving yourself here or renting a car.
• 7:03
  Jenn: And what's great about having your own personal car is you can kind of like veer off if you see something really cool, pull over, like take pictures, do whatever.
• 7:13
  Jenn: There's so many nooks and crannies in Nova Scotia.
• 7:16
  Jenn: It is just really nice to be able to, to kind of do it on your own time.
• 7:22
  Jenn: Now I have heard that there has been car rental shortages and we are in a, you know, smaller province.
• 7:28
  Jenn: So make sure to rent your car in advance.
• 7:32
  Jenn: Do, do not just land at the airport and try to rent a car there.
• 7:35
  Jenn: You will probably be disappointed.
• 7:37
  Meggan: Not recommended, no.
• 7:40
  Jenn: And obviously like renting a car and driving yourself may not be in everyone's comfort levels.
• 7:46
  Jenn: There are bus tours around Nova Scotia or different bus tour day trips to like Peggy's Cove and that sort of thing.
• 7:54
  Jenn: And we know, like it's not everyone's jam to kind of drive themselves around.
• 7:58
  Jenn: Although I feel like if you're listening to this podcast, it probably is your jam.
• 8:02
  Jenn: But
• 8:03
  Meggan: yeah, yeah.
• 8:04
  Jenn: There are bus tour companies that exist like Gray Line.
• 8:08
  Jenn: So Google do some research and choose an option that works for you.
• 8:13
  Meggan: Yeah, like I, if a Halifax for three or four days is what you're doing, don't spend all your time downtown Halifax, like try to find a tour that maybe takes you outside of the city for one of those days.
• 8:24
  Meggan: Peggy's Cove would be perfect, but there's really so much more to see than Halifax.
• 8:29
  Jenn: Mm-hmm.
• 8:30
  Jenn: Yes.
• 8:31
  Jenn: And what month should people visit or months?
• 8:35
  Meggan: I'm not gonna include the months of January to March.
• 8:39
  Meggan: Um, I'm gonna say personally, I think August through October takes you through beautiful weather through to fall foliage.
• 8:48
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 8:48
  Meggan: Things are open, festivals are happening.
• 8:51
  Meggan: The weather is.
• 8:52
  Meggan: Good.
• 8:53
  Meggan: June and July are nice, like, don't get me wrong, but June can be really hit and miss, especially over the last sort of five or so years.
• 9:01
  Meggan: It's really iffy.
• 9:03
  Meggan: And it depends honestly, on the day.
• 9:04
  Meggan: Like today, it could be raining, tomorrow it could be 26 degrees and the next day it could be 10, like, I don't know.
• 9:12
  Meggan: So plan for all weather pack for, for some generalized weather as well.
• 9:19
  Meggan: Honestly, you're pretty safe August through October, and it's beautiful here that time of year.
• 9:23
  Jenn: It really is, and like July can get really hot too.
• 9:28
  Jenn: So if you are like walking around downtown Halifax, like it might be, you know, a little uncomfortable for, for kind of schlepping around all day.
• 9:36
  Jenn: So yeah, I agree.
• 9:38
  Jenn: August through October, definitely the best.
• 9:41
  Meggan: Excellent.
• 9:42
  Meggan: So I think we should probably talk about, you know, we're not planning people's itinerary here, but I think it's good for us to highlight some things that they really shouldn't miss.
• 9:50
  Meggan: So what's up first?
• 9:51
  Jenn: Okay, well, obviously the first thing that you shouldn't miss is the ocean.
• 9:56
  Meggan: You can't really, but you shouldn't.
• 9:58
  Jenn: You'd have to be really trying to come to Nova Scotia and not see the ocean, because in Nova Scotia, you're never more than 60 kilometers.
• 10:07
  Jenn: That's 37 miles.
• 10:09
  Jenn: From the ocean.
• 10:10
  Jenn: So of course you need to check out some of our amazing beaches.
• 10:14
  Jenn: Some of my personal favorites, I love Summerville Beach just outside of where I live in Liverpool.
• 10:19
  Jenn: It's a really great beach and I also really like Taylor's Head Beach in Spry Bay.
• 10:25
  Jenn: Do you have any favorites to share, Meggan?
• 10:28
  Meggan: I also love Summerville Beach.
• 10:29
  Meggan: I wanna give that a second vote as well.
• 10:32
  Meggan: It's a, it's, it's big, but it's not huge and it's really nice Walking Beach, like, it's so lovely there.
• 10:39
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 10:40
  Meggan: I would say a unique beach maybe that you could visit.
• 10:43
  Meggan: And of course I'm gonna be a little bit biased, but it is quite unique and it's called The Drowned Forest on Hawk Beach on Cape Sable Island.
• 10:50
  Meggan: We very well could have mentioned this in a past podcast, but I thought it was unique enough to bring up in terms of the beach itself.
• 10:57
  Meggan: So, It's really cool.
• 10:59
  Meggan: At low tide, you can actually see tree stumps rooted in the soil, and also, of course, sand where they originally were.
• 11:06
  Meggan: But high tide, it's actually covered by the ocean, so you can't see it, and then all of a sudden there's tree stumps.
• 11:12
  Meggan: It's very strange, but really unique.
• 11:15
  Meggan: And it's also a really beautiful gray sand beach, so it's a great spot for a beach walk.
• 11:21
  Jenn: Right.
• 11:21
  Meggan: We do really wanna be honest and warn visitors to Nova Scotia that unless you get super lucky or you visit beaches in the Antigonish area, cuz they have a tendency to be warmer, you really aren't gonna find yourselves swimming in the ocean here.
• 11:37
  Meggan: It's very chilly.
• 11:38
  Meggan: I mean, if you choose to, and especially surfing, hu surfing is huge here.
• 11:43
  Meggan: That's definitely possible.
• 11:44
  Meggan: But we do apologize in advance because you can visit the beaches, but it will be chilly.
• 11:49
  Meggan: But I mean, go ahead.
• 11:50
  Meggan: If you wish.
• 11:51
  Jenn: I mean, lots of people get in, but like
• 11:53
  Meggan: they do,
• 11:54
  Jenn: it's.
• 11:55
  Jenn: It, it's not going to be warm.
• 11:57
  Jenn: So yes,
• 11:58
  Meggan: that's all we're saying.
• 11:59
  Jenn: That's, that's all we're saying.
• 12:02
  Meggan: Alright, again, one of our favorite topics.
• 12:05
  Meggan: Food.
• 12:05
  Meggan: What do you got, Jenn?
• 12:06
  Jenn: Of course we have to talk about the food.
• 12:09
  Jenn: So obviously, like we said, we're so close to the ocean.
• 12:12
  Jenn: There's a lot of seafood to enjoy, but I will admit that I personally don't actually eat seafood or, or enjoy it so, I'm sorry, but for me
• 12:22
  Meggan: it's alright.
• 12:23
  Jenn: Say for my, my personal taste my favorite is garlic fingers.
• 12:28
  Jenn: So it's like, Pizza dough with like a garlic and cheese.
• 12:34
  Jenn: Some people put bacon, some people don't.
• 12:37
  Jenn: Super delicious.
• 12:38
  Jenn: You can get them like at literally any pizza place.
• 12:41
  Jenn: They're super delicious.
• 12:43
  Jenn: I would say if you visit during our extremely short strawberry season which is like June into July.
• 12:51
  Jenn: Sometimes.
• 12:52
  Jenn: Maybe depends on the rain and the sun rays.
• 12:55
  Jenn: our strawberries are so good.
• 12:58
  Jenn: Like,
• 12:58
  Meggan: oh, they're the best.
• 12:59
  Meggan: I'm sorry.
• 12:59
  Meggan: They're the best.
• 13:00
  Jenn: Oh my god.
• 13:00
  Jenn: They're the best.
• 13:02
  Jenn: You know, even I went to Florida, you know, a couple months ago.
• 13:07
  Jenn: And I was like, oh, I'm gonna get strawberries.
• 13:08
  Jenn: Cuz they like grow strawberries here, but they still, they're not as good as our strawberries.
• 13:13
  Meggan: There's nothing like it.
• 13:14
  Meggan: Oh my goodness.
• 13:15
  Meggan: You got me excited.
• 13:16
  Jenn: I know.
• 13:17
  Jenn: I'm so excited for strawberry season.
• 13:18
  Jenn: Anyway, all that to say, get some strawberries, have some strawberry shortcake if you're here during strawberries season.
• 13:25
  Jenn: And I have to mention the controversial moon mist ice cream.
• 13:31
  Jenn: So moon mist is banana grape and bubble gum flavors all swirled together in like a purple, blue, yellow, very Instagramable.
• 13:43
  Jenn: But maybe not some people's favorite flavors to mix, but it is a maritime delicacy.
• 13:51
  Jenn: So,
• 13:52
  Meggan: and if anyone's watching Jenn, hold up your nails cuz those are essentially moon miss nails.
• 13:56
  Jenn: They are, I mean, they were,
• 13:57
  Meggan: oh my gosh they're like Easter eggs, but also moon mist.
• 14:01
  Jenn: But also moon mist..
• 14:03
  Meggan: I have to say that Moon Mist isn't controversial in my world at all.
• 14:07
  Meggan: It is my most favorite flavor of ice cream.
• 14:10
  Jenn: Oh my gosh.
• 14:11
  Jenn: There you go.
• 14:12
  Meggan: It is.
• 14:13
  Meggan: And I love to get it in a cup with hot fudge on it.
• 14:16
  Jenn: Oh, I haven't tried that.
• 14:18
  Jenn: I'm gonna,
• 14:18
  Meggan: oh, you gotta, oh, it's the pièce de résistance.
• 14:21
  Meggan: It's so good.
• 14:22
  Meggan: Oh.
• 14:23
  Meggan: And of course strawberry season, like already mentioned it my favorite time of year and I get so sad like at the end of the season when I don't see them anymore.
• 14:30
  Meggan: Cause I know that like summer fun is coming to a close because my strawberries aren't there anymore.
• 14:35
  Meggan: I swear I'd buy a half a box of rotten ones just to get a half a box of good ones.
• 14:40
  Meggan: So they're so delicious.
• 14:43
  Meggan: Definitely of course, seafood.
• 14:44
  Meggan: I love all seafood.
• 14:46
  Meggan: A huge proponent, my brothers are lobster fishermen, so I've gotta promote the industry, but I do enjoy it.
• 14:52
  Meggan: Donairs are the official food of Halifax, so try those if you are in town.
• 14:57
  Meggan: You can actually find donairs at most pizza shops as well as garlic fingers.
• 15:01
  Meggan: Again, love those as well.
• 15:03
  Meggan: And there's something special apparently, although I don't really know about Pictou County Pizza.
• 15:09
  Meggan: So if you go to Pictou County, it's one of the counties, obviously in Nova Scotia.
• 15:12
  Meggan: You gotta find yourself some of that because people from there like, swear by it.
• 15:16
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 15:17
  Meggan: It's the sauce.
• 15:18
  Meggan: It's like a, is that what it is?
• 15:19
  Jenn: Yeah, it's like a spicy brown sauce.
• 15:23
  Jenn: It's good.
• 15:24
  Jenn: You gotta try it.
• 15:25
  Jenn: It can you describe a donairs for people who are like, what are you talking about?
• 15:31
  Meggan: Yeah, like, I would say most people probably have also heard of a gyro.
• 15:35
  Meggan: So where you get like, the flatbread, the meat in it shaved here same idea.
• 15:41
  Meggan: It's beef, I believe mixed with a bunch of spices.
• 15:44
  Meggan: They twirl it on the thing, don't know what it's called, and then they shave it.
• 15:48
  Meggan: And then you can have it like that.
• 15:50
  Meggan: Or you can add cheese, onion, white, onion, and tomato.
• 15:55
  Meggan: And then of course, the donairs sauce is the sweet piece of it.
• 15:58
  Meggan: And then you wrap it up and you get very messy.
• 16:01
  Meggan: So if you're not into messy, Food, maybe don't.
• 16:04
  Meggan: But it's delicious.
• 16:05
  Meggan: I really do.
• 16:06
  Meggan: I really enjoy them.
• 16:07
  Meggan: You can actually get donairs pizzas as well, so if you wanna even try it that way, that's usually an option as well at most pizza shops.
• 16:14
  Jenn: Yeah, donairs sauce is also served with garlic fingers and it's like a sweet garlic sauce, which sounds weird, but like, oh my God, I love it so much.
• 16:23
  Meggan: Oh yeah.
• 16:24
  Meggan: And to me, oddly enough, the best garlic fingers I've ever eaten are from Pizza Delight..
• 16:30
  Meggan: I know.
• 16:30
  Meggan: Interesting! They are good.
• 16:32
  Meggan: I mean.
• 16:32
  Meggan: They're, so, it's the maple bacon bits.
• 16:34
  Meggan: I think that's what does it.
• 16:35
  Meggan: But I do digress.
• 16:37
  Meggan: I digress.
• 16:38
  Jenn: We can talk about food all day.
• 16:41
  Meggan: We should take this offline.
• 16:42
  Meggan: I don't know.
• 16:44
  Meggan: So my advice though, I did wanna leave people with this piece of advice.
• 16:47
  Meggan: If you're traveling around the province and you happen to come upon like a roadside canteen or a wee shack selling like deep fried seafood or ice cream.
• 16:58
  Meggan: Those places in Nova Scotia are usually fantastic, so don't pass them by for like chain restaurants.
• 17:04
  Meggan: Definitely stop in and give those a try.
• 17:06
  Meggan: I mean, I would definitely go to those over a chain restaurant any day.
• 17:11
  Jenn: Mm-hmm.
• 17:11
  Jenn: Yes.
• 17:13
  Jenn: Some other Nova Scotian foods like fish and chips.
• 17:17
  Jenn: Super popular.
• 17:18
  Jenn: I mean, the fish is usually extremely fresh.
• 17:21
  Meggan: Yes.
• 17:21
  Jenn: Um, usually haddock, sometimes cod lobster, like we mentioned, hodgepodge, which is like a.
• 17:29
  Meggan: It's beans and like cream.
• 17:31
  Meggan: Yeah, and I don't like it.
• 17:33
  Jenn: No, it's like beans, potato, and like little new potato and carrots usually in like a warm cream.
• 17:43
  Jenn: So I, it's not my favorite either, but it is a Nova Scotian food.
• 17:46
  Meggan: People like it.
• 17:47
  Jenn: Yeah, people like people go crazy over hodgepodge season for sure.
• 17:52
  Jenn: Digby scallops, people love those.
• 17:55
  Jenn: And then also fishcakes, so
• 17:58
  Meggan: Oh yeah.
• 17:58
  Meggan: I mean, that's a lot.
• 18:00
  Meggan: Now I'm hungry.
• 18:00
  Meggan: Oh, I think another thing I just popped into my mind that we'd be remiss if we didn't mention is blueberry season here.
• 18:06
  Jenn: Oh yes! Also
• 18:07
  Meggan: August into September.
• 18:09
  Meggan: The blueberry harvest here is huge.
• 18:12
  Meggan: And another thing that would be popular would be something called blueberry grunt.
• 18:16
  Meggan: You can get it at restaurants during blueberry season, so don't be afraid by the name.
• 18:21
  Meggan: It's delicious.
• 18:22
  Meggan: Like dough, blueberries, big mixture.
• 18:25
  Meggan: Can't go wrong.
• 18:26
  Meggan: You just can't.
• 18:27
  Jenn: All right, well now we need to wash our food down with a delicious drink, so, great.
• 18:33
  Jenn: Alright, let's talk about local drinks.
• 18:37
  Jenn: So we have a lot of amazing wineries, distilleries, cideries, et cetera.
• 18:43
  Jenn: We we like our beverages.
• 18:45
  Jenn: So personally, my favorite is cider.
• 18:49
  Jenn: I love cider.
• 18:49
  Jenn: So Bulwark is the name of the company.
• 18:53
  Jenn: They're in New Ross, they have a blush cider, which is like apple with some berries.
• 18:59
  Jenn: Really delicious and I also really appreciate that Bulwark makes non-alcoholic ciders as well.
• 19:04
  Jenn: And their winter cider was like super good at it's, I'm sure it's gone now for winter season that has passed us, thankfully.
• 19:14
  Jenn: But yes um, if you get your hands on the can of it, it was super delicious.
• 19:19
  Jenn: It had like cinnamon kind of notes in it and ugh, I loved it.
• 19:25
  Jenn: It was so good and non-alcoholic so you could have it whenever.
• 19:29
  Meggan: There's so many non-alcoholic options now, which I think are fantastic.
• 19:34
  Jenn: It's super amazing.
• 19:35
  Jenn: Yeah, I'm really happy.
• 19:37
  Jenn: Meggan, do you have any favorite drinks?
• 19:39
  Jenn: Nova Scotian.
• 19:41
  Meggan: Yeah, I'm not actually a huge drinker, but I, I do like Annapolis Cider Company, Uhhuh.
• 19:45
  Meggan: I like they have some really unique flavors there.
• 19:47
  Meggan: They're found in Wolfville.
• 19:49
  Meggan: I also like Chill Street Craft Brewing Company located in Elmsdale.
• 19:53
  Meggan: They have one called Afternoon Delight, it's I think a wine mixed with like, peachy.
• 19:59
  Meggan: Anyway, very delicious.
• 20:01
  Meggan: And then another favorite is Saltbox Brewing, which is in Mahome Bay.
• 20:05
  Meggan: And they have a, haskap cider.
• 20:06
  Meggan: haskap is a berry.
• 20:08
  Meggan: Anyway, it's, it's deadly in terms of percentage of alcohol, but it's very delicious.
• 20:14
  Meggan: So if you're looking for an extra punch plus the can is pink and has like a bear with a ball cap on it.
• 20:19
  Meggan: I mean, how fun is it?
• 20:20
  Jenn: Super fun.
• 20:21
  Jenn: Get it just for the can.
• 20:24
  Meggan: No.
• 20:24
  Meggan: No.
• 20:25
  Meggan: So let's talk about Halifax for a moment.
• 20:27
  Meggan: What are your thoughts on like, people skipping it, visiting Halifax?
• 20:31
  Meggan: What do you think people should do?
• 20:33
  Meggan: Because of course it is the capital city.
• 20:35
  Meggan: It is.
• 20:35
  Jenn: I I really, truly do feel that people should not skip Halifax, even if you just do one day or an afternoon it's the largest city, Atlantic Canada.
• 20:48
  Jenn: It like downtown does have a super fun vibe, and I really think it is worth the trip to, to head to downtown Halifax, like just for, you know, walking the waterfront, our beautiful public gardens.
• 21:01
  Jenn: Even just like going to a patio and sitting outside at one of our local restaurants, or like taking a booze cruise in the harbor is, or the harbor hopper, if a booze cruise is not your thing if you wanna do it during the daytime.
• 21:14
  Jenn: Like just, I think everyone coming here should experience Halifax at least for a couple of hours.
• 21:21
  Meggan: I definitely agree.
• 21:22
  Meggan: And the summertime it has a super fun vibe down there.
• 21:26
  Meggan: Like it's busy.
• 21:28
  Meggan: People are like out and about.
• 21:30
  Meggan: It's a really friendly city as well.
• 21:32
  Meggan: And I think, yeah, I don't think it should be missed.
• 21:34
  Meggan: It maybe shouldn't be the focal point of your whole trip, but it should probably be on the itinerary.
• 21:42
  Meggan: I wanted to take a moment as well to talk about some national historic sites.
• 21:45
  Meggan: So Nova Scotia actually has 86 national historic sites to choose from.
• 21:50
  Meggan: That's a lot
• 21:51
  Jenn: I know.
• 21:51
  Jenn: And six unesco designated sites as well, and like, When we were researching this, I was like, I want to visit all 86.
• 22:02
  Jenn: This might be my new like checklist bucket list situation.
• 22:07
  Jenn: And I have, I've been to a lot of them, you know, I'm like scrolling through the list and I have been to a lot of them, but I haven't been to them all.
• 22:13
  Jenn: So I feel like that that might be something that I might start to do.
• 22:17
  Jenn: It's just kinda
• 22:17
  Meggan: good goal.
• 22:19
  Jenn: So personal favorites or some kind of highlights, I guess: halifax Citadel.
• 22:24
  Jenn: Is really cool and you can learn a lot about Halifax.
• 22:27
  Jenn: We really enjoyed doing George's Island last summer.
• 22:31
  Jenn: So it's just a super short boat ride from the Halifax Harbor out to the island, and then Grand Pre down in the valley.
• 22:39
  Jenn: And I really like St.
• 22:40
  Jenn: John's, Anglican church in Lunenburg.
• 22:44
  Jenn: It is a beautiful gothic church that, you know, you don't have to spend a whole lot of time there, but I would recommend at least looking at the outside and then venturing inside if you have some time.
• 22:54
  Meggan: Excellent.
• 22:55
  Meggan: Definitely.
• 22:56
  Meggan: Another huge landmark I don't wanna miss of course, is Peggy's Cove and really lighthouses in general.
• 23:01
  Meggan: So we are a seafaring people.
• 23:04
  Meggan: So we have plenty of lighthouses around, but of course we have to mention Peggy's Cove, the most famous one, and you can find it.
• 23:11
  Meggan: You know, 45 minutes from downtown Halifax, that's a treat right in itself.
• 23:16
  Meggan: So a quick drive, or again, a bus tour.
• 23:18
  Meggan: It is an iconic Canadian image and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world.
• 23:23
  Meggan: You can say you've been there, they've done upgrades in the last few years with a viewing deck now.
• 23:28
  Meggan: But we really wanna caution, and this is like a truly serious moment to please if you do visit, stay off the black rocks.
• 23:34
  Meggan: They're slippery and dangerous and too many people have lost their lives there.
• 23:38
  Meggan: You can go.
• 23:40
  Meggan: See the ocean, stand back.
• 23:42
  Meggan: It's beautiful.
• 23:43
  Meggan: We usually go once or twice a year in summer to watch sunsets.
• 23:48
  Meggan: I can't recommend that enough if you can get there during the, that time of day, specifically on a beautiful day.
• 23:54
  Meggan: But yeah, I don't think that should be, I, I would put that in a top five list for somebody for the province myself.
• 24:00
  Jenn: Yeah, I think so too.
• 24:01
  Jenn: It is absolutely beautiful out there.
• 24:03
  Jenn: And the little Peggy's Cove village is like really cute too.
• 24:07
  Jenn: And there's some restaurants and shops out there as well.
• 24:10
  Jenn: Yeah, yeah.
• 24:10
  Jenn: But yes, definitely go and stay off the Black Rocks.
• 24:14
  Jenn: Please
• 24:14
  Meggan: Enjoy it safely.
• 24:16
  Jenn: Yes.
• 24:16
  Jenn: If you wanna be in the ocean, go to a beach, not Peggy's Cove.
• 24:20
  Meggan: Exactly.
• 24:21
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 24:22
  Jenn: Another really cool, like uniquely maritime thing is the Bay of Fundy, which we share with New Brunswick.
• 24:30
  Jenn: So, what's really cool, and I, I know we've talked about the Bay of Fundy before, but the tidal change is kind of what makes it super unique.
• 24:38
  Jenn: So it ranges 14 and a half meters that's 47.6 feet.
• 24:44
  Meggan: It always sounds so much more in feet, like, it's like more impactful or something.
• 24:50
  Meggan: Although you understand meters, it's huge, but you know what I mean?
• 24:53
  Jenn: Yeah, for sure.
• 24:54
  Jenn: So I think the best way to experience this is on a tidal bore rafting tour where you literally are like whitewater rafting the water that is rushing into the river, it is super fun.
• 25:10
  Jenn: We, we've done a tour with Fundy Tidal Bore Adventures, and I loved it.
• 25:15
  Jenn: Like we had such a blast.
• 25:17
  Jenn: I actually have a YouTube video on my channel, my Will Save for Travel youTube channel and I'll, I'll link up below because it like, it's just like super fun, but you can also watch it from the land if you're not into a, you know, a adrenaline pumping boat adventure.
• 25:36
  Meggan: Right, right.
• 25:36
  Meggan: Not everyone loves a boat.
• 25:37
  Jenn: No, no, that's fair.
• 25:39
  Jenn: But if you also, you can see whale.
• 25:42
  Jenn: In the Bay of Fundy.
• 25:43
  Jenn: So we recommend taking a whale tour from Briar Island.
• 25:47
  Jenn: We did that a couple of summers ago.
• 25:49
  Jenn: You can see whales seals, and sometimes puffins too.
• 25:53
  Jenn: So
• 25:53
  Meggan: I love a puffin.
• 25:54
  Jenn: I also love a puffin,
• 25:57
  Meggan: so freaking cute.
• 25:59
  Meggan: I'm like you, they're adorable.
• 26:00
  Meggan: Little stinkers.
• 26:03
  Meggan: Lastly, we wanna talk about obviously the people like Jenn and I, I mean, we're the locals, we're the people,
• 26:10
  Jenn: We are the locals.
• 26:10
  Jenn: Come talk to us.
• 26:11
  Jenn: I definitely, definitely encourage people to meet.
• 26:15
  Jenn: You know, we'd encourage people to meet locals wherever they go, but you know, when you come here, even if it's just like a guide at a museum that you're talking to, chat with your server at a restaurant or, you know, talk to other people at a bar, at a restaurant like we love talking.
• 26:33
  Jenn: A lot of us who live here love talking about Nova Scotia.
• 26:36
  Jenn: And I used to work at a restaurant when I was first out of high school, and it was definitely something that I loved about working in a restaurant in Liverpool.
• 26:44
  You would literally get like a 3: 00 PM rush because people were, had gotten off the cat ferry in Yarmouth and then were making their way.
• 26:54
  You would literally get like a 3: So then all of a sudden you'd have right.
• 26:56
  You would literally get like a 3: An influx of people.
• 26:58
  You would literally get like a 3: And I mean, I had a lot of conversation because the people, you know, they wanna know what is a privateer because Liverpool is the port of the privateers, and a privateer is a legal
• 27:08
  Meggan: Are you a privateer, jenn?
• 27:09
  Jenn: I'm not a privateer.
• 27:10
  Jenn: It is a legal pirate.
• 27:12
  Jenn: A legalized pirate.
• 27:14
  Jenn: Yes.
• 27:15
  Jenn: And then up at our restaurant we served brown bread, which is like a molassas oatmeal bread.
• 27:21
  Jenn: It's a little sweet.
• 27:22
  Jenn: It's super delicious.
• 27:24
  Jenn: But yeah, it's just, that was one of my favorite things about working in a restaurant was getting to meet people from away.
• 27:30
  Jenn: So talk, talk to us.
• 27:32
  Jenn: A lot of us like to talk back.
• 27:35
  Meggan: Exactly.
• 27:35
  Meggan: And if someone doesn't move on to the next one, they'll like to talk to you.
• 27:39
  Meggan: Somebody will find, somebody will find you.
• 27:41
  Meggan: Find someone.
• 27:42
  Meggan: That's for sure.
• 27:43
  Meggan: So I wanna open a debate and talk about what's potentially the prettiest town in Nova Scotia.
• 27:49
  Meggan: You can talk to 10 people.
• 27:50
  Meggan: 10 people will have a different answer.
• 27:53
  Meggan: Traditionalists really would say, Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Chester, potentially Parrsboro and surrounding area is beautiful and they wouldn't be wrong.
• 28:03
  Meggan: Like I I I do agree.
• 28:04
  Meggan: And we would also be remiss not to include the entire Annapolis Valley.
• 28:09
  Meggan: We love the Valley on this podcast.
• 28:11
  Meggan: Has beautiful landscapes, wineries, amazing restaurants, friendly people.
• 28:16
  Meggan: Just so much to see and honestly shouldn't be missed there.
• 28:20
  Meggan: But if I had to choose, and I'm gonna be super biased I definitely wanna plug my home island of Cape Sable Island.
• 28:27
  Meggan: Now I say this because it's out of the way.
• 28:30
  Meggan: Unless you included in your itinerary, you're probably not gonna drive by.
• 28:35
  Meggan: And I'm just gonna say right off the get go, if you have time, it's about two hours and 50 minutes from Halifax along the 103.
• 28:41
  Meggan: You'll go by Jenn's house from a distance, you could just wave to her.
• 28:46
  Meggan: You definitely could take the scenic route down the shore as well, but that will take considerably, considerably longer.
• 28:51
  Meggan: The island is surrounded completely by beaches friendly people, great seafood, and on a sunny day it shouldn't be missed.
• 28:57
  Meggan: I say that cause it's often foggy.
• 28:59
  Meggan: So again, if you do choose to arrive and it's foggy, I have warned you.
• 29:03
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 29:04
  Meggan: And there's even now, like Airbnbs there to stay in.
• 29:07
  Meggan: I promise.
• 29:08
  Meggan: They're not taking away from local people being able to be housed.
• 29:12
  Meggan: Not an issue there.
• 29:13
  Meggan: They have bed and breakfast.
• 29:14
  Meggan: There's one actually right on Cape Sable Island called Mamas by the Sea.
• 29:19
  Jenn: Oh.
• 29:19
  Meggan: Has very high ratings.
• 29:20
  Meggan: She's very hospitable.
• 29:22
  Meggan: So I definitely recommend visiting there.
• 29:24
  Meggan: And now I understand it's a little bit out of the way, but I, a lot of people don't know about it, so I definitely wanted to bring it up.
• 29:29
  Meggan: It's often not the topic of conversation.
• 29:33
  Meggan: So Jenn, where do you think people shouldn't miss or the prettiest spot, in your opinion?
• 29:37
  Jenn: Mm, I do love Lunenburg, Mahone Bay.
• 29:42
  Jenn: I love Lunenburg.
• 29:43
  Jenn: It is one of my favorite places.
• 29:44
  Jenn: I also love the Valley, but.
• 29:47
  Jenn: I have to say like Shelburne is really pretty and also a spot where a lot of people skip.
• 29:55
  Jenn: It, the downtown area is really historic, so the buildings are like old and lovely and well kept.
• 30:01
  Jenn: And they do a lot of filming in Shelburne for like historic TV shows.
• 30:06
  Jenn: Because even like the power lines are buried in like the downtown area of Shelburne, so you don't even have that like in your photos or for the TV show.
• 30:16
  Jenn: They're not having to like edit it out.
• 30:18
  Jenn: It is incredibly beautiful there.
• 30:21
  Jenn: And it is under visited by tourist.
• 30:23
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 30:24
  Jenn: So that is.
• 30:26
  Jenn: Do you think it's funny that we both chose, like the South Shore?
• 30:29
  Jenn: We're, we just love the south shore.
• 30:32
  Meggan: We know where it's at, literally.
• 30:34
  Meggan: And I wanna say in regards to Shelburne, Shelburne is only like 35 minutes from Cape Sable Island, so this is perfect.
• 30:41
  Meggan: Keep going.
• 30:42
  Meggan: If you're on the 1 0 3 and you take a detour into Shelburne, get back on the 1 0 3 and just continue 35 minutes and you've visited our favorite spots.
• 30:51
  Meggan: Yeah.
• 30:52
  Meggan: I mean more do people want, I don't know if I've ever shared this, but in, you mentioned filming Of course.
• 30:58
  Meggan: And when I was actually in high school at the time, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis and their kids who were children at the time were filming The Scarlet Letter there.
• 31:06
  Meggan: So that was a huge deal.
• 31:08
  Meggan: But there has been, Lots of filming, taking place there, which is great for the local economy.
• 31:14
  Meggan: So the more the merrier.
• 31:15
  Jenn: Yes.
• 31:15
  Jenn: My grandfather was like an extra in the Scarlet letter and there's always a picture on their, on their wall at their house of him, like in his little costume.
• 31:26
  Meggan: That's so cool.
• 31:26
  Jenn: I remember being a little, cause I was a little kid when this came out and I was like, I wanna watch Grampie's movie.
• 31:31
  Jenn: And they're like, no, it's not children.
• 31:35
  Meggan: Not for you, Jenn.
• 31:36
  Meggan: Sorry.
• 31:37
  Meggan: That's hilarious.
• 31:38
  Meggan: Have you watched it since?
• 31:40
  Jenn: Yes.
• 31:40
  Jenn: Yeah.
• 31:42
  Meggan: Wonderful.
• 31:44
  Jenn: Well we hope this helped you plan your visit to Nova Scotia.
• 31:48
  Jenn: Like we said there.
• 31:51
  Jenn: More episodes, kind of diving deeper into certain sections of Nova Scotia.
• 31:55
  Jenn: So I'm gonna link all of those in the show notes so that you can really plan your trip.
• 32:00
  Jenn: And let us know if you're coming.
• 32:02
  Jenn: Cause like, we'd, we'd love to meet you and talk about our beautiful problems.
• 32:07
  Jenn: So, You can also come hang out with us on social media at Travel Mug Podcast.
• 32:14
  Jenn: Yeah, if you live here, you can share some wisdom also on those posts, maybe let us know what your favorite place or what you think the prettiest town is.
• 32:25
  Jenn: And there's still a few more days for you to get in on our contest to win a free mug.
• 32:30
  Jenn: And I have my mug right here.
• 32:32
  Meggan: It's adorable.
• 32:33
  Jenn: It's so cute.
• 32:35
  Jenn: You can win a free mug or a t-shirt.
• 32:37
  Jenn: So all you have to do is leave us a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
• 32:42
  Jenn: Screenshot the review and DM it to us on social media so that we know that it's there.
• 32:48
  Jenn: And if you've already left us a review in the past just screenshot that and send it to us.
• 32:53
  Jenn: Like we're not that picky, so, no, no.
• 32:57
  Jenn: Well, thank you so much everyone, and we'll talk to you again soon.
• 33:01
  Jenn: Bye
• 33:02
  Meggan: bye.