Nova Scotia

[Bill Holt]

What might a woodworker find interesting in Nova Scotia in September?  There is a chance we will be visiting for 10 days about 9/12/17.  Right now the plan is to land in Halifax and leave out of Charlottetown.

[Hank Knight]

Go to Lunenburg. Its as been a working seaport/fishing community since the mid-1700s. It is a World Heritage site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/741) and filled with maritime history and things to see. It is a little south of Halifax and well worth the time to visit.

[DaveR1]

Go to Lunenburg. Its as been a working seaport/fishing community since the mid-1700s. It is a World Heritage site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/741) and filled with maritime history and things to see. It is a little south of Halifax and well worth the time to visit.

What Hank said! And take lots of photos to share with us.

[Steve N]

Not necessarily woodworking, but LOML and I like Celtic music. In and around Cape Breton area there is a pastle of nationally known musicians, no idea if they will be at home, or out and about the world touring then, but from what Natalie McMaster says it's harder to find someone not playing music there, than someone who is Plus they have some sort of Miners museum there, she swears is entertaining, and informative.

Just throwing that in, because if you like Celtic music, you may have a lively night, every night

[chips ahoy]

Bill
While in Hfx,visit the water front and go to the Maritime museum and also Citadel Hill. There is a Casino along the water front if you would be interested.As others said,definately visit Lunenberg,the Bluenose II may be there or she may be in Hfx.They give tours also in Hfx there are several tour boats which provide excellant harbour tours.Cape Breton Is definately a must,stop in Badeck and visit the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.Check at one of the tourist bureaus and you will get a good idea of what is going on.I live just outside of Truro and there are several music festivals going on at differant times.If I can be of any help,feel free to PM me.Truro is about an hours drive outside of Halifax and you have to pass through it on the way to Cape Breton or PEI.Contact the Nova Scotia Dept of tourism on line and you will get some good information.As they say in Cape Breton Ceud Mile Failte, A hundred thousand welcomes.Hope you enjoy yourself and as said before if you need some help,contact me. Bill try www.novascotia.com

Mel

[YSU65]

All of the above!!  Been there twice, just wonderful memories of all the people and places we met and visited there.  We also went to PEI for a short stay.

On our way up to the Maritime Provinces, we stopped at Bar Harbor for the night.  Drove  away from BH to find a cheaper place and saw a sign for a small cabin.  Walked with the owner, it had a oval shaped window that looked out into the harbor that was just stunning.  I said, "I'll take it."  She laughed, "You didn't ask how much it costs."    I'll take it anyway.   Not expensive.   We all just had a great time.

[Hank Knight]

Bill, here's a tip for you. It may be dated, but maybe not. When we went the last time to New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia some years ago, the border security was very tight. We crossed into Canada at Calais ME. We had about an hour and a half delay there and our car was randomly selected for a search. Annoying but not too bad. When we got to the Canadian side we found that traffic coming into the US was backed up 7 miles. I have no idea how long the wait was; I think it was measured in days instead of hours. Coming back we took a ferry to Campobello to visit the Roosevelt summer home there. The Roosevelt home is worth a visit. It's where FDR spent his youth and where he was stricken with polio. It's very interesting from a historic perspective, and well worth a visit. From Campbello there is a two-lane road over a bridge to Lubec, ME. The border post is a little frame shed in the middle of the bridge with one border guard. He waved us to a stop, looked in the window, smiled and waived us into the US - 30 seconds at the most. The border crossing may not be nearly as congested now as it was then; but if it is, consider returning via Campobello.
FWIW.

Hank

[3finger]

For someone who has an interest in building stuff, the fortress at Louisbourg might be of interest to you.  Been there twice myself.  It is a reconstruction of an 18th century French fortification that was begun back in the early 1960s using detailed plans (right down to building content inventories) that were still in the French national archives.  At the time reconstruction in the 1960s and 70s, it provided employment for many out-of-work coal miners who were retrained in the crafts of masonry and ironwork to 18th century methods to make the reconstruction as accurate as possible.  The site is quite large and is staffed by "inhabitants" in historic dress performing crafts as they would have when the fort was active in the 1700s.  Definitely worth a side trip.

[proSummus]

John MacNab is a woodworker who makes large scale turnings. He builds his own lathes seen here. His vertical lathe is brilliant and is seen about half way through the video. One is his pieces is on display in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. If you're not an art adventurer you could just walk through the main entrance door and look up (it's suspended from the ceiling) without have to bother buying admission. I'm not advising that, mind you, just an observation.

The Mary E. Black craft gallery is further down the boardwalk. They have shows devoted to woodworkers from time to time but the September schedule hasn't been posted yet. Check here 

The art gallery is 5 minutes walk from the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which has already been mentioned and is definitely worthy. Out on the boardwalk the museum maintains a dory building shop. My experience is that is doesn't keep regular hours but you might get lucky and find it open. If not, you can always peer through the window to see boats in various stages of construction.

September is one of the best months to see NS.

Regards,
John