Thursday Thirteen - Nova Scotia Take Two

I had so much fun sharing Nova Scotia with people last week, that I am back again this week with another list! Last week I stuck with mostly human-made things to see. This list will have a bit of everything.

1. The Cabot Trail - duh! Although, I personally do not think this trail does any justice unless you travel it during the fall when the leaves are changing, it is a really beautiful trail that is worth driving, or even seeing! It is located in Cape Breton, and is one of their major tourist attractions.

2. The Beaches - You cannot come to Nova Scotia without seeing the beaches. You have to be careful of location, though, because I personally am not a big fan of the rocky beaches you can find here. I prefer the sand. I like the beaches along the south shore and north shore, it is the space in between that is not as sandy.

3. The Tides - I know, people are looking at that going "huh?" Interesting fact: Here you can see the highest tides in the world! I personally recommend the Tidal Bore in Truro. You can search for a schedule online and basically you look at a dry river bed and then all of a sudden "whoosh" all the water comes in. It's pretty cool. Other than that, I don't really understand how you can tell you are looking at the highest tides, but I live here... so.

4. Yarmouth - I used to live there, if you hadn't guessed, but what I actually want to point out is that Yarmouth is the town where Izzak Walton Killiam came from. He donated money to build what us locals know as the "IWK". He also has a library in Yarmouth named after him, gave money to universities, and a hospital in Montreal, etc. In Yarmouth there are museums and things dedicated to him and other important historical families, like the Sweeney's who were members of the "rum running" phase of history. (I'm related to the Sweeney's, but I disagree with them. They built a house in Yarmouth for looks, no one actually lives in it!) Anyways, very historical town.

5. Pictou County - The birth of New Scotland. It is interesting, the french and English were here first, but it is the Scottish that named us. Pictou is one of the nicest places to visit in Nova Scotia, but I caution you for the smell. Kimberly Clarke STINKS! It makes me so mad, let me tell you. I still really like the place, though.

6. The Valley - This includes Annapolis Royal, Kentville, New Minas, Wolfville, Middleton, etc. These towns are known for their apples. You should come to see the trees in the spring, but year round these towns are farming villages and picturesque. There is Blomidon and other natural sites to see that I cannot do justice to in words.

7. Smuggler's Cove - This is a place where you can go in a cave that was actually used by rum runners. It's very picturesque, but why people come from all over to go there is beyond me. Come to think of it, everytime I have been there the cave has had water in it and I have never been able to see inside, but it is a nice place. (But still just a cave).

8. Oak Island - No, you cannot go there, but you can go near it. Oak Island is by far one of the coolest mysteries ever! There is supposedly a buried treasure and even with the modern technology of today, no one has been able to get to it! It is an interesting story to read, I might point out. I will not outline the whole thing in this post, but I recommend reading about it!

9. The Tall Ships - Everytime they are here, I want to go and something ALWAYS comes up. I LOVE sailing ships, and in July there is going to be a big festival of them in Halifax. I am SO excited because I might actually get to go. I have seen tall ships before, of course, we get them here all the time, but this is a lot of them at one place at one time. I am REALLY excited... did I say that already...

10. Mahone Bay - I put Lunenburg on the last list because it is the Historical Site, but Mahone Bay is practically down the road and very lovely to view. There are also the three churches. To see what I am talking about, go to mahonebay dot com.

11. The Cat - The ferry that runs between Maine and Yarmouth. I am told that this is a tourist attraction in other places.

12. Sable Island - The graveyard of the Atlantic and the island of wild horses.

13. There are much more I can talk about, so I will leave this to all the sites that did not fit on the list.

There are MANY other things to see: Museums, natural sites, historical sites, etc. It all depends on what you are looking for when you are here. If anyone has any questions, just ask! And now I live you with some Irish wisdom, in Gaelic: Is minic a gheibhean beal oscailt diog dunta!

(That means: An open mouth often catches a closed fist! Brilliant, huh? haha)