East Coast Road Trip: Day 7

Boathouse at Peggy's Cove

And on the 7th day,,,,we travelled from Mahone Bay to somewhere unknown on the East Shore.  Along the way we visited Chester, Peggy's Cove, a couple of Beaches, a couple of fishing villages....and we drove thru Halifax and Dartmouth and into no man's land.  I call it no-man's-land because when you travel along the small secondary coastal highway east of Halifax towards Cape Breton,,,,its vastly unpopulated wildnerness, in fact the landscape looks very much like northern ontario.  You can travel for hours without seeing much of anything except the odd gas station.

The pics below are in reverse order, and begin where we ended our day of sightseeing.... at Peggy's Cove around 6:30.  You either have to visit late in the day or at the crack of dawn if you want to avoid herds of people.  I actually didn't take too many photos at the lighthouse because it was next to impossible to get any shots without all the tourists included!

On the road into Peggy's Cove we stopped at this small inlet which had some beautiful views...

I'm obsessed with these weathered grey buildings along the rocky shore and can't stop wanting to photograph them!

A little further down the road before getting to Peggy's Cove was the Swiss Air Flight Memorial Monument,,,,,,it was a breathtaking spot that brought tears to your eyes.  I can't imagine a more peaceful place for reflection, there was a spiritual vibe present that was almost tangeable.

The monument itself was made from a large round stone that had been split and angled outwards toward the sea with benches inbetween, the flat face sides of the stone were engraved with memorials.  I thought it was so beautifully designed, it looked like it belonged as part of the landscape...

You could see Peggy's Cove from the monument

I spent more time photographing the buildings around Peggy's Cove than I did of the lighthouse, this building in fact (also seen in first photo) I must have taken a hundred shots of, then later the next day I realized it was the same image on the cover of our Frommer's guide, without the colourful boat. 

I've never seen rock elevations like this anywhere before.....so smooth and clean with all these distinctive wrinkle-like lines.

The only shot I could get of the actual lighthouse without hundreds of people in the way was in this reflection...

Earlier in the day somewhere between Chester and Peggy's cove we stopped at this little fishing port, these fluorescent buoys were so bright they were blinding to look at in person.

The quintessential Nova Scotian beach bordered by tall wispy grass.....

Early in the day we stopped in Chester, a picture perfect coastal town with magnificent views and elegant homes.  The town itself doesn't have parking, or sidewalks, or public washrooms,,and the visitors information centre was located on the highway outside of the town.  All of this gave us the distinct feeling the residents weren't too fond of tourists here unless you came by boat.  We didn't stay long...

On the highway just before hitting Chester we stopped in a fantastic antiques barn, I could easily have spent half the day here.  I instantly fell in love with the grey jam cupboard and from the moment we left I regretted not buying it.  I'm going to follow-up and see if they'll ship it to me...

Inside the cupboard were all kinds of little treasures...

On the other side of Chester on the same highway was another antique barn also filled to the rafters with great stuff!!

I really really wanted to take these twin spool beds home with me...

The bridge into Halifax.  After our visit to Peggy's Cove, we continued East and drove right thru Halifax and Dartmouth.  I just wasn't in the mood to stop in a bustling urban centre but little did we know as we headed onwards we were headed into no man's land - without any further hotel reservations, not one.  We were about to discover that the road less travelled has no cell phone towers or WiFi.  This would be the beginning of the end of our gloriously wonderful road trip....

And everyday from this point on,,,I dreamed of the lovely, comfortable B&B's we left behind....

All Photos:  Carol Reed

East Coast Road Trip: Day 6

The fishing village of Blue Rocks outside of Lunenburg

A short drive away from our B&B in Mahone Bay was the rustic fishing village of Blue Rocks, known for its rocky shoreline it offers up views that rival those at Peggy's Cove, in fact, I preferred this little spot because its off the beaten path and not overrun with tourists - we had the place to ourselves!

It was an overcast stormy morning (just what I love!!) and once again provided great atmosphere for shooting - I'm just not a blue sky kinda gal.  On the drive in we encountered hard driving rain but just as we arrived the rain stopped...

The winds were so strong I had a hard time keeping my balance and holding on to my hat!  BF complained that I was always in the way of his shots : )

This is why I just love visiting these little fishing villages, everything is so colourful and weathered, so much character.  To me the overcast grey skies highlight all of this so much better than bright blue sky.

I loved all the various tones of grey....

The simple houses in the small town were as colourful as the fishing shacks......this one was for sale as many houses were.

The famous 'Three Churches', the traditional postcard shot of Mahone Bay.  Typically the bay is very calm and you normally have a mirror like reflection of the churches in the water.

Mahone Bay is a small town of colourful shops and homes that overlook the calm waters of the bay which is always full of boats..

So many quaint shops, I like the colour scheme of this one in Silvery Grey and Celadon Green.

The houses and shops in the town are painted every colour you can imagine....and we noticed more than half of the homes are for sale right now, with many of them having been on the market for 3 years or longer.  The economy in the States definitely has had an impact here in Nova Scotia where many Americans own vacation property or B&B's.

Purple & Tourquoise.

Smokey Blue, pale Green and hot Pink.

Bright Yellow,,,yes the entire house and double garage was painted this colour - with black doors and crisp white trim it was striking!  But i really loved,,,,the dark grey metal roof.

We drove around the other side of the Bay and followed the road out to Indian Point, another fishing local.  During our stay in the area we ate Indian Point mussels at lunch and dinner almost every day,,,,they were definintely the best I had every had.  This house overlooked the docks along Indian Point with the fishing boats and had a bright cherry red door (not a great photo as I took it from the car) this scheme was so dramatic.  I snapped a little too soon though, the wide white stairs started at the sidewalk and continued all the way up several tiers to the front door it was such a fantastic symmetrical perspective from that point.

These photos were taken some days ago.....in real time, this weary traveller is heading home!

All Photos:  Carol Reed