5 Things Lori Loved About Her Trip to Nova Scotia

I've been reminiscing about our great trip last year to Novia Scotia via The CAT high speed ferry. I've been talking about it so much I figured I might as well make my top 5 list for those of you who might want to plan a getaway this year.

These are my absolute favorite things about visiting Yarmouth, Nova Scotia:

1) The food. We ate well the whole trip but one of my favorites was lunch at The Hatfield House. I'm gonna let the pictures tell you just how amazing this was. The food was some of the best I've had (and I'm a foodie!) and the setting was gorgeous.

We started with lots of mussels prepared two ways, spicy and then with cream and bacon. Then there was coconut shrimp, grilled scallops, fried calamari, smoked salmon latkes, and tempura lobster sushi. The main course is what they call warm lobster. It's like a Newburg with tons of butter and cream and it's served on toast and it is life changing.

2) Yarmouth Walking Tours. Might as well walk off all that great food and craft beer we enjoyed — and be entertained a long the way. We heard some awesome ghost stories and interesting facts. Did you know that the largest sailing vessel only made one trip before it was ship wrecked here in Yarmouth? The Castilian crashed right in Yarmouth.

3) Getting blue-nosed! I was blue nosed in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia! But I'm only a mate ... I'll explain. You see, the Blue Nose was a fishing boat back in the day that was really famous and fast! People from Nova Scotia were known as Blue Nosers...so, it was time. As Simon (pronounced si-mone) told us that if you are gonna be blue nosed, you pick your 'shot'. You can be a deck hand and drink a tiny bit in a shot glass. You can be a mate - half a shot glass. Or a skipper, a full shot glass ... or you can get shipwrecked and do like 12 ounces of Ironworks Blue Nose Rum!

4) Exploring Keepers Kitchen and Cape Forchu Lightstation. They had a lobster bake for us. It was awesome! Chef Jeremy used sea water and it made all the difference in the world. The potatoes, the corn, the mussels and that lobster was amazing. If we wanted lobster, we had to put ours in the pot!

While it all was cooking, we toured the lighthouse museum and learned about just how darned hard it is to live in a lighthouse and take care of all those ships! SIDENOTE: They filmed a movie with Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe at Cape Forchu Lightstation called ... wait for it ... Lighthouse.

5) The relaxing ferry ride. Our main transportation to and from Nova Scotia was The CAT high speed ferry. It went by in no time! I personally enjoyed shopping and their cafes (and, of course, Forchu Lounge!) but they also offer a new release movie on every crossing and live entertainment on select crossings.

The Cat also has as an unsupervised children's area with movies, toys and books to keep the kiddos busy and entertained. The views are pretty amazing, too!

Start planning your Nova Scotia getaway with Bay Ferries today at www.ferries.ca!