Roadtrip: the NEST goes to Nova Scotia!

ON YOUR MARKS...

With the house purchase behind us and a month ‘til move-in begins, we’re eagerly preparing for a much-needed vacation to Nova Scotia. Next weekend, Brian and I will be driving approximately 2500 km across the country, in a convoy with my parents, all the way to a little cottage outside of Seafoam, Nova Scotia. Sixteen hours of driving, truck stops, neck pillows, and playlists on repeat. My brother and his partner, made of less sturdy mettle, will take Air Princess and meet us there by plane. (To be honest, I doubt if their airline is really called Air Princess; it may be Air Pantywaist.)

The farthest I have ever driven a vehicle is halfway to Kingston. Then I got bored and made Brian finish the trip. So this will be interesting. Well, or it’ll be interesting for me, as I surf Google Maps from the passenger seat and demand that we stop at every ‘World’s Greatest’ type thing we can find. For Brian, it may be just exhausting.

No, I tease, but we really do intend to share the drive, and I’m kind of excited about it. With my BFF, MJ, having moved down to Toronto last week, I’m determined to learn how to do these types of long drives without getting bored or fed-up. I’m also happy that we’ll be doing it in a brand-new Ford Focus, on loan courtesy of Ford Canada. Our 2000 Corolla is in rough shape, and guaranteed would have left her muffler somewhere in Quebec. We’re so excited to try out this car and see how far we can get on a single tank of gas! We like anything frugal here at the NEST, so a peppy little fuel-efficient car is right up our alley for a test run.

THE GREAT NOVA SCOTIA ITINERARY

Turns out, lots of people love Nova Scotia (duh) and have gotten very excited when they heard we’re headed on a trip there. So for you to follow along, I present our itinerary…it’s not set in stone (no one would let me set it in stone, try as I might), but generally speaking all this stuff should happen over the course of nine days:

Day 1: Driving, driving, sleeping. Staying in a pet-friendly hotel partway to our destination.

Day 2: Arrival, lobster, groceries: Drop our bags, head over to Pictou for the last night of Lobsterfest, then grab a few groceries for the cottage.

Day 3: Bacchanal, baked goods, and lavender: First stop is to Jost Winery and distillery; next stop, the Country Bread Basket Café; and finally, a tour of the Seafoam Lavender Farm. (Yes, you Modern Family fans, this is REALLY HAPPENING.)

The rest of the trip is more fluid, but includes the following:

-Grohmann Knives factory tour

-Visit to the Pork Shop

-Fish n’ chips at Murphy’s in Pictou

-PEI adventure

-Visiting my extended family inland

-Touring Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick

-A trip to a farmer’s market

-Shopping at Frenchie’s, which we hear is grand

-seafood seafood seafood.

I’m also bringing Scrabble, which was the precursor to Friends with Words. I will set this up on a table for Mom and Brian so they can go head-to-head in REAL life instead of on their phones. So we may be one person short on our trip home, depending on how heated the game gets. 

TGIV: THANK GOD IT'S VACATION

I don’t know if I’ve ever needed a vacation this badly before. There’s been so much happening this year, and I’m looking forward to having an ocean to stare at, seafood to devour, and nothing but time for guitar lessons with my dad, and craft shopping with my mom. Oh, and endless, endless cuddling in cozy sweaters with my sweetheart.

We plan to blog all along the way, as much as time allows, so be prepared! We’ll also tweet lots, trying to remember to use our trip hashtag: #NESTinNS for you to follow. And so you can rescue us if we get lost, or if Scrabble really does break down into fisticuffs.