HALIFAX HOLBROOKS: Peggy's Cove

Saturday we decided it was time for us to do a little sightseeing. We'd heard so much about Peggy's Cove that it was at the top of the list. We found there’s a good reason so many people recommend it.

There's a lot of water around Halifax and the neighboring cities, both fresh water lakes and the ocean. The hour or so drive to Peggy's Cove was delightful, punctuated by water sparkling between the trees along winding roads along countless bays and inlets, some lingering fall colors, many graveyards (some by quaint churches, some not), gently bouncing boats, small islands (think of a size that would accommodate 5-6 trees) with docks and slides and are the kind of things kids dream of for summer fun.

The town of Peggy's Cove was settled around 200 years ago by 6 families, and many of their descendants still live there. It is still an active fishing village. Beautiful setting. Harsh environment. Strong people.

The wind made things a little chilly, but with a few layers we stayed warm.

Unfortunately, the lighthouse isn't open to the public. Situated atop a high rocky outcropping, it's not very tall and is one we could have easily climbed!

Our first visit to a Canadian lighthouse

The lighthouse from a distance

Periodically some big waves came crashing in while we were walking around on the walks, and splashed up the rocks below the lighthouse.

There were a lot of tourists enjoying the view, not surprising for a Saturday, except the tourist season is supposedly over. The Visitor's Centre is closed for the season, even on weekends. While we were there reading some informational plaques, cars were constantly stopping. People would get out, try the locked doors, read the small notice saying they were closed, and drive off again. By constantly, I mean it was probably about 2 cars every 5 minutes. someone forgot to tell the tourists the season is over!

The route to Peggy's Cove from Halifax goes along either side of the peninsula. To return home we could have backtracked but decided to take a route a few minutes longer and saw even more beauty. Unfortunately, you can enjoy the pictures, but it's the "you had to be there to get it" kind of scenery that went on and on and on.

Our first Canadian lobster meal

In the Visitor's Centre parking lot we noticed the car next to us had Colorado plates. The man told us about about a lobster restaurant he'd heard about, Ryer's, that was supposed to be excellent. We decided to try it out. "Restaurant" is a bit of a misnomer for the hole in the wall we found, but the people running it were delightful, and the lobster we shared was delicious. For 15 minutes while our lobster was cooking, the owners told us all about lobsters and how lobster traps work. For example, a one pound lobster is about 5-7 years old, and smaller lobsters can crawl out of the trap but ones that are a good size for eating can't fit through the gap at the bottom of the cage.

We ate at one of the brightly painted picnic tables in the parking lot. When we were through, we looked around the corner of the building and saw a little patio with covered seating (we were glad we'd had the warmth of the sun while we ate) with a view out over the water, so we we hung around a little longer and enjoyed that.