Mystical Malt
THE WATER OF MACLELLANS BROOK is already the purest, cleanest water in Cape Breton when it tumbles out of the Mabou Highlands on its way to the Northumberland Strait. But as it runs through the Glenora Distillery grounds, a small portion takes on an extra sweetness. There, it is collected and run through an age-old [...]
Read moreThe first Titantic
FORTY YEARS BEFORE THE TITANIC blazed her way into the world’s collective consciousness, another marine disaster made headlines around the world and became synonymous with great tragedy.
Like the Titanic, the S.S. Atlantic was a White Star liner and the pride of her fleet. She was only two years old, a state-of-the-art iron vessel making her 19th [...]
Nova Scotia’s most famous ghost ship
LUNENBURG COUNTY HAS A RICH folklore tradition. Old German legends and superstitions made the passage to the new world along with the immigrants who settled the area. Ghosts and tales of buried treasure abound, and most residents know the whereabouts of at least one house that is reputed to be haunted.
The most famous ghost of [...]
Saving the wood turtle
FOR JOHN GILHEN THE STORY is all too familiar— a well meaning parent, a couple of curious kids and a wood turtle. It’s a confrontation that the wood turtle all too often loses. For hundreds of Nova Scotians who take to the woods every year, slow-moving wood turtles are an irresistible treasure to be taken [...]
Read moreThomas Raddall Provincial Park
THERE IS A HOUSE DEEP in the forest beyond Port Joli, past the long fingers of Moody Bog and Moody Barren. It stands empty, alone and isolated in a clearing, stripped of the trappings of the family who called this place home for 80 years. John Edgar MacDonald built the house in 1918, the year [...]
Read moreThe Nova Scotia Coastal Water Trail
Lunenburg is always quiet early in the morning, before the summer sun warms the streets and crowds of tourists pour into the harbourfront. On the shipyard wharf that’s launched oceangoing vessels for generations, a small crowd of well wishers, friends and paddlers gathers for different kind of sendoff. A small armada of sea kayaks, joined [...]
Read moreThe Original Bridge to Nowhere
Tourists who stop at the small tourist bureau in the border community of Tidnish Bridge, Nova Scotia usually have one question in mind. Most of them ask about the 19th century arched stone bridge a few hundred meters away, that seems so strangely out of place in this tiny, bucolic village. They are usually surprised [...]
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