Nova Scotia

Summer patio hopping

/ Greg / Leave a comment

My three week summer vacation last year in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia meant there would be ample opportunity to sample liberally from some of the finest craft beers those two provinces have. As the pandemic was still swirling and my comfort with eating or drinking indoors was still at a low point, this craft beer exploration became something of a patio hopping experience. That’s usually difficult to pull off in rainy Atlantic Canada, but we got almost a completely perfect three weeks of weather. I wasted no time visiting an old favourite in Nackawic, my wife’s hometown. This is a taproom that just feels comfortable to me. Big Axe Brewery is located in a beautiful log constructed building just down the street from the world’s largest axe (hence, the brewery’s name).

Big Axe Brewery, Nackawic NB
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Down in the valley

/ Greg / 1 Comment

I know that for most people Nova Scotia is not top of mind for wine producing regions in Canada. But for those of us in the know, there is a surprisingly high quality wine region tucked into the Annapolis Valley, about an hour outside of Halifax. Take a look at a map and dig a little deeper and you’ll notice that this area of Nova Scotia is in a similar latitude range, has a similar climate, and in many areas, similar soil conditions to areas in Champagne, France. Luckily for us who were/are fortunate to live relatively close nearby, there is a true gem of a winery that started with an audacious goal. The purpose of Benjamin Bridge winery was to show that world-class sparkling wines could be made in Nova Scotia. Starting with their early vintages, in blind testings their wines scored similar to Champagnes. They have expanded their range of wines over the years, and due to the occassional free shipping special offered, we’ve accumulated a small inventory of their wines at our home in Saskatoon.

Much like we did back in the days we lived in Halifax, when we were visiting this past summer, we made a day trip to the Annapolis Valley. Our first stop was Benjamin Bridge to try a couple of tasting flights of their wines.

Benjamin Bridge winery
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A long overdue visit, part 2

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After a wonderful visit with my mom and dad in northern New Brunswick, we pointed our car south, marvelled at the fact there was a pandemic-related random selection border checkpoint on the way into Nova Scotia, and a few hours later arrived in a city that means a great deal to both of us.

Halifax. Home sweet home.

This part of our Atlantic Canadian tour was about visiting family and also taking a couple of days to reconnect with some of our favourite things.

Halifax
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Looking back on 2021

/ Greg / Leave a comment

While my hopes might have been higher for more travel in 2021, I finally made it back out east to visit family I hadn’t seen in close to two years. That three week summer trip, the first time in my career I have ever taken three consecutive weeks off, was a revelation. Part reunion tour with lots of hugs and stories to share with family and part vacation with a suddenly fresh set of eyes for places that now feel less like home after so long living, and hunkering down in Saskatoon.

Most of my favourite travel memories this past year are from that three week trip back to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but I will be liberal with the term “travel” as a few of my favourite memories in 2021 were about other forms of escape or diversion during the third and fourth waves of a pandemic that hit Saskatchewan very hard. So here they are in no particular order, my favourite travel memories and moments of 2021.

(1) Beers with Dad – It had been far too long since Dad and I had just had a good hang at my favourite craft brewery in Bathurst. On a steaming hot August day, we enjoyed a couple of our favourite beers (mine, Four Rivers Brewery’s amazing Havre St. Pierre, a medal winning amber ale that I wish I could have a stash of back home in Saskatoon) and chatted an afternoon away.

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The old stomping grounds

/ Greg / 1 Comment

When I traveled to Halifax in June, it was for an almost absurdly short amount of time. Fly in on a Friday, meetings on Saturday, fly back home before the sun was up on Sunday morning. With so little time, I knew this was going to be a “greatest hits” type of trip. With precious little personal time on this visit, I charted a precise course through a city I know very well… but one that is changing rapidly, and becoming a touch more unfamiliar on each and every return visit.

My flight touched down at 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon, and at 5:30 I was sitting at the bar of my hotel’s restaurant, which fortunately for me, is known for its oyster happy hour. A dozen delicious oysters to reacquaint me with the taste of the ocean… this is the way you kick off a visit to Halifax.

Oysters in Halifax

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Foreign and familiar

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It snuck up on me.

On a trip to Halifax in April, there was no visit to see my mom and dad as they had just packed up and moved to New Brunswick days before my arrival. The trip also marked a full two years since I moved away from my old hometown. Lots changes in that amount of time and I couldn’t shake it that Halifax had started to feel a bit foreign.

Not that foreign is a bad thing. In one respect, it gave me an opportunity to sample from Atlantic Canadian breweries that weren’t even in existence when I last called the city home. Sober Island, Roof Hound Brewing, Saltbox Brewing, Trailway Brewing… these were all recommendations from Jason at Bishop’s Cellar (who made me feel at home and like I had never moved away… oh, how I miss my old wine and beer store on the waterfront), and were all worth my time. The Hu Jon Hops by Trailway (green can) and the session IPA by Roof Hound (far right) were my personal favourites.

Assortment of Atlantic Canadian beers

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A long way for one day

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Two years is both an eternity and a period that can pass in a blink of an eye. It is an almost unfathomable dichotomy of time, save for the fact that we’ve all felt it at some point in our lives. In the two years since I left Halifax for Saskatoon, my parents have moved away, my niece and nephew are growing up at what seems like a lightening pace, and the city that I used to find so familiar, while in many ways remains so to me, is also becoming increasingly foreign as time has marched on for it, much like it has for me.

Being back in Halifax to attend and present at a conference was simultaneously disorienting and welcoming. Between landing in the city and my conference activities kicking off, my wife joined me for a ridiculously short and fun one day visit to hang out with what is left of our family in Halifax. Before that day with family, after a long day of travel, our only plan for a Friday night was a seafood feast at The Five Fishermen just around the corner from our hotel. Mussels, lobster, scallops, salmon, clams, swordfish… we enjoyed all the creatures of the sea we are not afforded in our life on the prairies.

Seafood feed at the Five Fishermen

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A good time, not a long time

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“Close” is relative. Life on the prairies has me about 4,200km away from where I grew up and where my parents continue to live, in Lower Sackville, NS. When work took me to Boston in November for a few days, that was close enough to loop in a quick visit back home to visit with my folks. And for November, I was treated to some beautiful late fall weather to take in a very familiar view from the back deck of my parent’s place.

Lower Sackville

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