Wherever you are in Canada’s Ocean Playground, Nova Scotia, you are never more than 35 miles from the sea.

It is a peninsula bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Fundy, connected to New Brunswick and the mainland by an isthmus less than 15 miles wide.

78th Highlanders, Halifax Citadel

We decided to tour the historic capital city, drive across the province along Highway 101 to the Annapolis Valley and Bay of Fundy, and travel back along Route 12 to Lunenburg and other fishing villages of the South Shore’s picturesque Lighthouse Route.   

The harbor is the second largest in the world, and Harbourwalk, which spans nearly two miles, is the longest boardwalk in Canada.

 to the confections with cleverly concealed Prohibition-era contraband at Rum Runners Cake Factory ...

Our seafood find was Little Fish Restaurant on Argyle Street’s $16CAD two-course lunch special that includes the popular Seafood Linguine, a confection of scallops, shrimp, haddock and mussels in a lobster cream sauce.

Upstairs, and our choice for dinner the next night, is the Five Fishermen Restaurant, known for its mussel and salad bar and voted Best Seafood in Halifax 5 yrs running.

Executive chef Renee Lavallee masterfully prepares a gourmet extravaganza that includes lobster, locally farmed scallops, Digby clams, Malpeque oysters, Atlantic Salmon, hook-and-line haddock, halibut, local harpooned swordfish, and Arctic charr from a local fish farm.

Its historic building was originally a school of religious instruction for the poor. It became Canada’s first school of arts, The Victorian College of Art and Design, founded in 1887 by Anna Leonowens of Anna and The King of Siam and The King and I fame.

Later, it housed Snow’s Funeral Home, serving first class victims of the Titanic disaster, including John Jacob Astor.

This university city has more pubs per capita than any other Canadian city. The story of Nova Scotia’s most popular ale, created for the British troops in India, is colorfully enacted during Alexander Keith’s Nova Scotia Brewery’s interactive tour.

Actors in period costumes entertain in the Stag’s Head Tavern with games, tales, and toe tappin’ tunes like “Donald Where’s Your Trousers?” while serving samples produced here in the oldest working brewery in North America. ($15.95CAD)

Fid Resto is a hidden gem packed with locals in-the-know. Chef Dennis Johnston creates contemporary French foods with Asian accents using seasonal local ingredients. It is in the courtyard at 1569 Dresden Row, just off the Spring Garden Road Shopping Area.

It was a landscape of rolling hills, winding roads, and farms as we approached the fertile Annapolis Valley. With apple orchards, vineyards, dairy cows, and the abundant seafood from the Bay of Fundy, it’s an ideal destination for experiencing the province’s bounty.

The area’s warm days and cool nights are ideal for reddening of its renowned apple crop, and Nova Scotia now runs the largest apple enterprise in eastern Canada.

Apples are featured on menus and in delicious dessert wines throughout the province. This year’s Apple Blossom Festival runs May 26-31.

Visit in October for the Pumpkin Fest when colorfully clad pumpkin people decorate fields and yards throughout Kentville.

Awaken your senses at Tangled Garden in Grand Pré where unique jellies, vinegars, and liqueurs are infused with herbs from the garden, using Annapolis Valley fruits and wines.

You can also take home some colorful liqueurs like Radiant Raspberry with heavenly Rose Geranium, as well as lavender maple syrup, hot peach salsa, and apple sage jelly.

Meet the farmer’s daughter and cheesemaker, Melissa Rand, at Fox Hill Cheese House/Fromagerie, RR #1, Port Williams, part of a sixth generation family farm that takes production  “from seed to grass to milk to cheese to you”. 

Cheese, yogurt, and gelato are made on-site from the milk of the 50-head herd of Holstein cows tended by her brother, Rick. Watch through the viewing window on cheese making days, sample cheeses like the soft, creamy quark, also available at the Wolfville and Halifax Farmers’ Markets.  

You’ll also want to stop at Henniger’s Farm Market, Highway #1 in Wolfville, where you can also discover the pleasures of their Farmer’s Golf.  

Try the complimentary sampling of premium estate-grown wines at Gaspereau Vineyards, set in the beautiful Gaspereau Valley, just outside Wolfville. 

For the sweetest of wine pairings, try port sweetened with Nova Scotia maple sugar, served in dark chocolate cups, or maple wine paired with maple fudge. Pick up some icewine to serve with blue cheese and pear pie.

Nova Scotia’s unique pungent Dragon’s Breath Blue Cheese with black wax casing comes from That Dutchman’s Farm, RR #1 in Upper Economy.

Nova Scotia is the world’s largest exporter of lobsters. Dine with the scent of the sea and the drama of the tides as you watch fishermen unload theirs catch. 

Hall's Harbour overlooks the Bay of Fundy, where water equal to the flow of all the rivers of the world rush in or out every 6 hours and 13 minutes, creating the highest tides in the world.

When the tide is out, the water recedes about a mile! All this activity mixes the water vertically all the way to Georges Bank, creating nutrient-rich waters and bountiful sea life.

The university town of Wolfville is known for its dining and country inns, and among the best is Blomidon Inn, 195 Main Street a former sea captain’s home with a delightful garden path.  Room rates begin at $109CAD and include afternoon tea and a breakfast buffet. Packages including a four-course candlelit dinner begin at $159.

To learn about grape growing, winemaking, and wine tasting, there’s no better choice than Domain de Grand Pre, on Highway #1.

 As an economusée it showcases the traditional craftsmanship of wine production.

The restaurant, Le Caveau, serves global cuisine from local ingredients, like pork schnitzel or lobster with L’Acadie Blanc Reserve, a Nova Scotian wine with a fruity, buttery finish.

Owned by Hans Peter Stutz, daughter Beatrice Jurt manages the restaurant, son Juerg makes the wine, and Juerg’s wife handles the wine tasting.

The best place to be on Saturday mornings is the Wolfville Farmer’s Market, where you can shop for fresh produce, baked goods like classic French breads, ethnic foods, and locally made arts and crafts.  

We crossed the province to the South Shore’s Lighthouse Route, a rugged Atlantic coastline of shipbuilding communities and picturesque fishing villages.  

Waterfront church steeples stand like beacons to sailors in the iconic skyline of Mahone Bay. 

This artisan community is known for pottery, pewter, hooked rugs and celebrations, most notably the Wooden Boat, Great Scarecrow, and Father Christmas Festivals.

Hungry? A local favorite is The Biscuit Eater Café and Bookseller.

Many of the brightly painted buildings of Old Town Lunenburg date to the 18th and 19th centuries. Are now shops and boutiques, but this UNESCO World Heritage Site, still in the 1750s grid of the British colonial settlement, is centered on traditional fishing and shipbuilding industries. Even the church weathervane is in the shape of a cod.

Shipwright’s homes have intricate woodwork, often of exotic woods used as ballast when they traveled the world.

Many feature a rooftop Widow’s Walk for sighting returning ships, storm porches for removing boots and rainwear, and the unique Lunenburg Bump, a multi-sided viewing dormer overhanging the front door.

At the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, you can visit the aquarium, touch sea life, and meet retired sea captains  like Norman Keizer (foreground) and Wallace Skinner,  scallop shucking champions.

Stroll by the boats tied up at the historic working waterfront, including the Bluenose II, a replica of the original fishing schooner and champion racing ship.

You find the Salt Shaker Deli, a favorite lunch spot known for their award-winning smoked seafood chowder.

In September, the Lunenburg Waterfront Seafood Festival includes scallop-shucking contests, a chowder cook-off, lobster boat races, seafood suppers and live entertainment.

In the 1930s, fishermen boarded steamships headed for Nova Scotia’s South Shore and rode a train to an eight-room lodge in pursuit of tuna said to be as big as boats. 

Today the White Point Beach Resort is the only year-round oceanfront resort in Canada.

This family-friendly facility with a spa, games, paddleboats, a pool, golf, tennis, and white sand beach provides food for feeding resident bunnies and bonfires for roasting marshmallows.

For the ultimate experience amidst the seaside surroundings, catch a weekend featuring one of Chef Allan Crosby’s delectable wine-paired Chef’s Table Dinners or other special events.