Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg

July 18
After really enjoying our day and evening in Halifax, we left to go to Peggy's Cove - arguably the most photographed cove in the Maritimes (according to those in the know)... we went right through Halifax and once again, our beloved Zumo GPS didn't let us down - we effortlessly cruised through the city, even enjoying the scenery and popped out the South side through Hatchet Lake, Shad Bay, Bayside, West Dover and into Peggy's Cove. This drive, I should mention, is gorgeous all by itself. The little villages along the way are lovely with beautiful coastal homes and picture perfect little coves with marinas etc.
We'd heard that today there were two big cruise ships coming into Halifax - in fact, we were told we were lucky yesterday to be at the Halifax docks when we were, before the ships arrived. Well, arrive they did and today, hundreds of the cruiseship folk  hopped onto huge, accordion tour buses that made the journey to Peggy's Cove today. It was quite bizarre, actually, although it did make for a certain brand of entertainment. Peggy's Cove, as you drive out, seems quite off the beaten path so it was very weird to pull in and see tour buses everywhere and tourists all over the town and on the lighthouse rocks like ants. I can't imagine what it must be like for the people that live there - a bit of a mixed blessing, I assume, as tourists are their bread and butter but on the other hand, no end of ogling people peering in your front room windows.
The cove really does meet the built up expectations. The lighthouse is on a huge expanse of sea worn rock which goes for miles in each direction and you can walk on. There are great walking paths all over the place. There is a very touristy restaurant there, right beside the lighthouse, called the Sou'Wester which was started back in the mid-50s and, yes, it's touristy as all get out BUT (and it's a big BUT) the kitchen cranks out quality food like you can't believe. In fact, we decided their seafood chowder was the best we'd had in all our trip. It really was incredible and worth it to stop in, if you can wade your way through the touristy knick-knacks and doo-dads in the gift shop to get there.
What is really great about Peggy's Cove is the little fishing village itself - the wharves and buildings are exactly as they've been for all these years and are still in use. Nothing has been "cleaned up" for tourism - and it's perfect exactly the way it is: old anchors, chain, piles of rope and bouys all over the place along with stacks of lobster traps and old boats. There was a famous painter from Finland who moved to Peggy's Cove - his name was William deGarthe and his old studio is now a museum of sorts. His paintings of the area are very well known and in his later years, he carved a huge mural into a wall of granite in his back yard which is still there today. He died before it was finished but what a legacy he left to the people of Peggy's Cove. Apparently, he did two murals in the local Catholic church as well but the church was closed when we tired to visit. Despite the mounds of tourists there (like we weren't two of them! ha ha ha...) Peggy's Cove really is a must see.
Just south of Peggy's Cove is the memorial to the SwissAir flight which crashed off shore in the late 1990s. The people from the Cove and from Bayswater all responded quickly to the crash but alas, 229 people died. The memorial is very well done and is just off the road.
We continued along the smaller coastal road south into Lunenburg this afternoon and arrived around 4:00. What a GREAT town!!! Then entire downtown core (about 100 square blocks) has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site and wowsers, if you're into architecture, this is the town for you. I think my mother will spend her time in Heaven in Lunenburg! Pretty much all of the buildings in this area were built in the early half of the 1800s and, for the most part, are all well preserved and/or restored. Lunenburg has a permanent population of about 2300 but it swells greatly in the summer. We didn't have nearly enough time here (like so many places on our trip) but this is definitely a place we will return to when we come back this way again. There is so much to see and do here and just wandering the town and appreciating the buildings and the life of the town can fill several days. We camped at the municipal campsite just at the top of town which was perfect - you can walk down town if you want although Lunenburg is built on a hill so coming back up is a bit more challenging.
The waterfront is awesome and many of the old commercial fishing buildings and wharves are still in use today. Not much cod fishing but lots of lobster and crab fishing still. We had dinner at the Old Fish Factory right on the waterfront - quite a touristy looking place and, indeed it is, but the food was GREAT (we had the crab/lobster pizza!) and the prices were very reasonable. After dinner, we went upstairs and they have a fantastic little fishing museum and a little theatre. For a donation of your choice, the amateur theatre company puts on an incredible show. The show is called "Glimpses" and all the music is original and written and performed by local musicians and actors.  It's a combination of story telling, songs, dances and projected photos and film clips which cover the key pieces of Lunenburg's history. We didn't know what to expect but I have to say, it was brilliant - it was so well written, the music was fantastic, the quality of the performances were great and some of it smacked a wee bit of Monty Python (the Oxen song in particular) which had the whole audience roaring. What a brilliant night. In the street above the waterfront, all the little shops have a great selection of things to browse along with lovely cafes, icecream houses and inns. Perfect. We were sad to leave and certainly plan to return here. One of our favourite spots on our trip so far.

July 19
We didn't quite see everything we wanted to catch in Lunenburg yesterday so we spent this morning there, cruising up and down the streets taking photos and having some breakfast. We went down to the wharves again and saw the Blue Nose II, the reproduction of the original Blue Nose which is the ship on the Canadian 10 cent coin. A very famous ship whose home was Lunenburg. Can't remember what happened to the original Blue Nose (will have to research it and update this blog) but the Blue Nose II was built and, today, was up in dry dock getting some repairs done. Still - it was pretty cool to see her. She is a schooner and, at the time she was originally built, was the fastest in the world and won many international races.
As we were touring about this morning, the sky opened up and delivered a torrential downpour rain. We ducked into a cafe and had breakfast, trying to wait it out, and left when it had calmed to a dull roar. Donning our trusty rain gear, we were ready for anything the East Coast could deliver and we set out for PEI. The entire trip back across Nova Scotia was heavy rain but it was quite warm (mid-70s) so actually, not too bad at all! From Enfield to Truro, we took Route 2, a smaller secondary highway that runs parallel to the big and fast Route 102. At Brookfield, we stopped at a small bakery called Hurricane Heidi's. Great baking and quite possibly the best Mulligatawny Soup I've ever had...
Onwards and guess what? The rain slowed to a spit as we headed back up to our beloved Pictou although we didn't have time to stop - we carried right through to the PEI ferry terminal  at Caribou. By the time we arrived there, the rain had stopped and we caught the ferry over to PEI. We decided to find a campsite near Charlottetown so we could do day trips from there and catch some of the nightlife. We checked it out and the closest campsite was in a small town just outside Charlottetown called Cornwall. A bit of a trek to get there but the Cornwall KOA was like a fantastic resort with clean everything - bathrooms, laundry, a pool, an incredible playground area, beaches... the list goes on. It was exactly what we needed so we could get caught up with our laundry etc. and enjoy a few luxuries which we haven't had for the past 4 weeks (like TV in the laundry room! We haven't had any news since we left!). This was truly a 5 Star campsite. It was awesome. We registered for 3 nights...