My Canada -Maritimes Trip Aug.2016- Lunenburg & Mahone, NS

Part 2 in the Maritimes series! My husband Henry and I discussed our vacation plans last year and came to a quick decision, that based on the rate of the Canadian dollar, we would to stay in our own Canada and explore and appreciate what this great country has to offer. We live in Manitoba, central Canada, and neither us had ever been further east than Montreal. We were encouraged to explore the Maritimes by a number of individuals we knew who had recently travelled there and then decided on a 2 week trip- spending one week in the province of Nova Scotia and one in P.E.I..

This blog I am  focusing in on two of the most “picturesque” villages we visited in Nova Scotia- Mahone Bay and Lunenburg. They were, without a doubt, the most colourful as well as being architecturally and historically interesting. We only spent a few hours in Mahone Bay (some of the later pictures in the blog)- but the short time there was FILLED with views of  the most beautifully painted historic homes -as you would expect from a village established in the 1750’s to be. The well-kept small shops were so unique and interesting (Like the rug hooking store picture below) and the shop keepers were friendly (even if we didn’t buy anything!) I could have spent more time there just wandering up and down the main road but we had scheduled in more stops for the Day.

Lunenburg was another historic town I would highly recommend visiting.  Have to say it was a hub of activity when we arrived. We should have googled town festivals because little did we realize, we arrived on the town’s Harbour Folk festival Day. (Google the town and you’ll find a calendar stating special activities). We arrived there quite early so we were still able to find parking for the day and then walked around the town the rest of the day. If you plan on doing this I’d recommend wearing solid, comfortable, grippy footwear/runners because the town has a number of steep hills. The hike up the town hill from the harbour was well worth the effort to take in the sights of the amazing, black and white , St. John’s Anglican Church!

Being there during the festival was also a bonus as the Bluenose II schooner was docked in the harbour and we were able to go aboard the Nova Scotia’s sailing Ambassador. (Henry was thrilled!). I made sure to include a few pictures of that! I also enjoyed going into a community hall where local vendors were selling everything from homemade delectable desserts to various handcrafted items as part of the festivities.

What impressed me most about the town was its remarkable historical buildings and homes – architecture marvels.  I loved seeing the plaques on the homes that included original owners names and occupations. You could go from home to home reading up about the founders of the town. I also was charmed by the details including the unique ocean related signs about the town including shapes of various fish and shells etc. As we drove away from the town at the end of the day, I could not help but think-Yes- I could live here!