Vacation Travel: Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Vacation Travel:  Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Beginning around St. Margaret's Bay for a sailing regatta, we continued our exploration of Nova Scotia's natural beauty.

An abundance of water views

Great breeze for sailing!

Wild flowers every where!

Quiet little inlets, tiny private beaches

Former fishing shacks, now homes

At the eastern mouth of St. Margaret's Bay is the famous Peggy's Cove Lighthouse.  There the landscape suddenly changed to the sparse vegetation and rocky shoreline of Maine.

Peggy's Cove,  still a working fishing village.  We came at dusk and we felt as if we had stepped into the past.

Jody

www.astudiobythesea.etsy.com

Let's Visit: Red Hook Community Garden

We love living in the Hudson Valley and sharing with others some of our favorite places to visit in the area for fun, inspiration, and exploring! Today we share another Let's Visit... blog post with Amber from amberhlynn.etsy.com.

The Hudson Valley has quite a few community gardens.  Most are run by Earth To Table, a group dedicated to the slow food movement.  Community gardens hold a special place in my heart as my boyfriend and I spent part of our first date walking to the one in New Paltz (although it was dark and we couldn't see much, especially not the dragon made of tires that was the excuse for the walk). 

This summer, I finally got over my fear that anything I try to grow will die, and started my own vegetable garden!  It was an excellent learning experience, if at times frustrating and upsetting.  Once, some deer got through the fence and devastated my young tomato plants, but they mostly recovered.  I recommend everyone tries to grow their own food, or at least visits a garden once in awhile.  They're gorgeous!

The Red Hook community garden is on Route 9, just past Holy Cow if you're coming from Rhinebeck (I highly recommend their ice cream by the way!) and between two banks.  The front has quite a few small bricked flower gardens, a shed for tools, and a place for composting.

and this cool wood thing too

Inside the fence, there's a few raised beds full of tomatoes and different foods that are open to the community and are to be used for community events.  The rest of the space is free for residents to stake out and do pretty much whatever you want with it.  Just call Joseph Baldwin at (845)635-9388 so he knows who's working in the garden. 

A birdhouse in my neighbor's garden

Even if you're not going to grow your own things, feel free to stop by, smell some flowers, take some pictures, pull some weeds, and maybe even bring home a fresh tomato! They're delicious.

That's really all I have for you, but I hope you liked the info and photographs!  If you have any questions feel free to email me at amberhlynn@gmail.com or call  Joseph Baldwin, and keep an eye out for Earth To Table at local events.  Maybe you can even find or organize a community garden near you!

See you next time!

Amber

Vacation Travel: Cape Chignecto, Nova Scotia

 Cape Chignecto, Nova Scotia

I can't say that Nova Scotia was high on my list of places I knew much about or wanted to see.  However my son is very active in junior sailing and a class championship was scheduled near Halifax in July this year and we decided to go.  I researched the internet for information about things to do and see in the time we had, and one of the first things I discovered was that Nova Scotia is actually really large.  You could easily spend a week exploring all sides of this Canadian Province, and the landscape is so beautifully varied, the people so pleasant, the food so good, the summer weather that mixture of sun and 75 degrees that everyone seeks, that I marvel it isn't a more well known vacation destination.  As one local explained to me, it's at much the same latitude as Massachusetts.  So it's like Cape Cod, only without the the hordes of tourists and a much more dramatic landscape, combining rocky Maine beaches, rolling hills of farm country, bright orange cliffsides, and always the shining sea near by, whether you go north, south, east or west. 

We wanted to experience something about the famous Bay of Fundy and it's amazing tides. After a 14 hour drive, that took us to Advocate Harbor, where we could see fishing boats sitting on their bottoms with the tide out, and Nova Shores Kayak tours.  The tour took us out to the Three Sisters rock formations, where, among the rocky beaches, we had a lovely vegetarian lunch made from local suppliers.  We explored the caves and crevices created by the sea, and got more paddling exercise than this middle aged mom ever expected.  It was great!

On our way back, we discovered that many crafty Nova Scotians create shops, displays, and even art galleries in their homes, so they can sell their art and handmade wares to visitors.  This craftsperson made replicas of the historic nearby lighthouse.  How could I be a member of Etsy and not stop by?

We arrived too late to visit this sailing museum in the Chignecto Peninsula, but couldn't resist getting a picture of their buildings.

One of which was shaped like a upside down hull, or at least half of it.

Velociraptor Crossings in Canada?  My son was so pleased by this that he made me stop the car for a picture.  The Fundy tides expose dinosaur bones, and there was a museum in the area for the fans of giant or vicious reptiles of eons past.  Bright red cliffs made for equally red dirt everywhere on the peninsula.

Our final destination was St. Margaret's Bay Sailing Club, a beautiful vacation area about 20 minutes to the southwest of Halifax.

Dropping off my son to rig and practice in his boat at the sailing area, I made off to a little sandwich shop recommended by the locals.  It had homemade baked goods and local produce. 

Then, going outside to eat my lobster roll, I was treated to this gorgeous waterside view.  Heavenly!

 Jody - www.astudiobythesea.etsy.com

Let's Visit: The Basha Kill Wildlife Management Area

We love living in the Hudson Valley! In addition to sharing the goings-on with the group, we'd like to also share some of our favorite places to visit in the area for fun, inspiration, and exploring.  Today we start with Arwen from Arwen Designs with a visit to The Basha Kill Wildlife Management Area.

Sullivan County is home to thousands of acres of beautiful woodlands, parks, and nature preserves. Only a few hours from New York City, it is a great place to get away for a weekend and discover what nature has to offer.

The Basha Kill Wildlife Management Area is nestled between the Shawagunk and Catskill Mountains, and consists of over 3000 acres of wetlands. It is a natural wetlands, restored in the 1970’s by the DEC. It offers a wide range of scenery and activities. You can park on Haven Rd for an amazing view of the wide expanse of water surrounded by mountain ranges, or you can hike down one of the many trails through lush forests and waterside promenades full of wildflowers. Bring a canoe or kayak to explore places only accessible by water. The Catskill region is known for excellent trout fishing, but there are also over 30 species of fish in the water, and acres of shoreline to fish from, although the best spots are in a boat.

The Basha Kill is a haven for bird watchers, and there are small tours available. Over 220 species of birds have been sighted, including the great blue heron, eagles, ducks, hawks, and numerous songbirds. The area is also home to at least 200 species of native wildflowers.

 

One of the best things about the Basha Kill is that it is never too crowded. It is one of the lesser known wildlife areas, and combined with the vast area to explore, you can often hike an entire trail only meeting one or two people.

If quiet nature trips are something you enjoy, consider a visit to the Basha Kill region of New York State!
For more information, visit: www.thebashakill.org

Arwen / Arwen Designs