Cuisine Tour - East Coast Culinary Experience
Epicurean Expedition
Day 1 Halifax
Halifax Farmer’s Market Visit
Make sure you are in Halifax on a Saturday morning to include a visit to the Oldest Farmer’s Market in North America. Over 100 vendors offer farm fresh produce, meats, deli, baking, fish and an almost endless variety of special products and crafts from the fields, waters, kitchens and workshops of Nova Scotia. The market reflects the advance of the seasons. Maple syrup, spring flowers and bedding plants start a cycle, which grows into a summer filled with berries, fruit and garden fresh vegetables. In autumn the tables groan under the weight of the fall harvest and they get ready to "deck the halls" with traditional and innovative crafts, decorations and foods for the holidays. In winter root cellars, cold rooms and green houses provide the market with top quality Nova Scotia products. Take the time to stop and talk with the friendly vendors as you wander the Brewery Market building halls and imagine you are back in the 1800’s during the heyday of Halifax’s shipbuilding era.
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Alexander Keith’s Nova Scotia Brewery Beer Institute
Visit the historic Alexander Keith’s brewery where you will experience brewery life in Halifax in 1863. Actors in period costume will teach you about the brewing process and the beer industry from the ancient Egyptians to modern day. You will be taken through the history of Alexander Keith and his India Pale Ale and get a hands-on look at the brewing process in the oldest working brewery in North America. Next, you will make a brief stop at the Stag’s Head Inn for a sample of Mr. Keith’s finest ale and hospitality before continuing on to the Atlantic Beer Institute. At the Beer Institute, you will take a deeper look at the history of beer and brewing, Beers of the World (including Canada), and proper pouring and handling techniques. Your visit would not be complete without taking time to learn how to properly taste your favorite beers – after all of that hard work, we think you’ve earned the chance to savor the beer you have so intently studied.
Canadian Sailing Expeditions Tall Ships Silva
Enjoy lunch while sailing on board Canadian Sailing Expeditions Tall Ship Silva. Here you will be treated to their “Taste of Nova Scotia” tour. Flambéed mussels, Digby sea scallops wrapped in bacon, and Cape Breton crab cakes all await you on this seafood sailing feast. After lunch join in with the crew and try your hand at hauling on the lines or hoisting the sails.
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Head to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and partake in one of the galleries guided learning tours where you can learn about ‘Art and the Land’ or ‘What’s in a Face’, which is the interpretation of portraits. In addition to fabulous special exhibitions AGNS has a wonderful permanent collection of art that includes Contemporary and Historical pictures, a First Nations Gallery, an Alex Colville collection and an impressive array of Nova Scotia folk art including the painted house of Maud Lewis. Perhaps you would like to end your tour with a visit to the Art Sales and Rental Society Gallery where you can view and purchase original works in all mediums and sizes by more than 230 Maritime artists.
Chef’s Room Restaurant
Head to the Chef’s Room restaurant in downtown Halifax where you will be treated to a cooking demonstration by one of many award winning chefs. Your adventure will then continue with a sommelier led wine pairing dinner highlighting seasonal ingredients with local wines paired by Valley Wine Tours. This epicurean adventure will be a culinary experience to remember.
Day 2
Annapolis Valley
Grand Pre Winery
Visit the Domaine de Grand Pre Winery. Take a vineyard tour and learn about the grape varieties that are unique to Nova Scotia. Enchant your taste buds with a wine tasting at the bar in the wine boutique. After exploring the vineyards and sampling some of the product, a wine pairing luncheon can be hosted at Le Caveau, Nova Scotia’s only Swiss restaurant. Here you can sit outside under the pergola overlooking the vineyards with the Bay of Fundy in the distance.
Fox Hill Cheese Farm
Visit the Fox Hill Cheese Farm, a sixth generation family farm nestled in the Annapolis Valley. Here the farm owners/operators can conduct a cheese tasting and educational talk on an outside deck, overlooking the countryside. Their cheese is produced in the European farmstead cheese making tradition - small batches crafted with care, utilizing only the freshest milk to create authentic flavourful cheese. Tours of the production facility for the artisan-made local cheeses are available.
Blomidon Lookoff
Travel through the Annapolis Valley towards Hall’s Harbour on the Bay of Fundy. As you make your way to Hall’s Harbour you should make a stop at the Blomidon Lookoff. At over 600 feet above the floor of the Annapolis Valley the panoramic view of the fruitful orchards and rolling farmlands below is magnificent.
Hall’s Harbour Lobster Pound
Hall’s Harbour, one of the few authentic fishing villages surviving along our shores, dates back to 1779 when Captain Hall and his privateers used the natural harbour as a base. Now a popular tourist destination it is a prime spot to watch the 40 foot Bay of Fundy tides and to enjoy fresh lobster cooked while you wait. Locals and visitors alike flock to this tiny fishing village to choose their own lobster from the tank. The lobster pound experts then cook, crack, and present the lobster for eating in the waterfront dining room.
Truly a unique experience, there are very few places in the world where this "Lobster in the Rough" treat can be found. The scene is set with lobster traps, fishing boats, scents of pine and the sea mix in the air and a gang of hungry seagulls hover around. Is there any better way to eat lobster?
Day 3
South Shore of Nova Scotia – The Lighthouse Route
Peggy’s Cove
The day begins with an early rise and departure for Peggy’s Cove where you visit one of Canada’s most recognized and photographed lighthouses, built in 1915. During the summer months visitors can mail their postcards at the lighthouse post office. Take a tour of the cove and learn about the fishing history of the area.
Sou’wester Restaurant
Visit the Sou'wester Restaurant overlooking the famous Peggy's Cove Lighthouse. Enjoy a morning tea break and indulge in the house specialty, a steaming hot piece of gingerbread topped with apple sauce, ice or whipped cream.
Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
Follow along the lighthouse route towards Lunenburg, a UNECO World Heritage Site.
Visit the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic where you will hear stories of Nova Scotia’s seafaring history. Gather aboard the Theresa E. Connor sailing schooner the last of the saltbankers to fish from Lunenburg for a guided tour followed by a ‘mug-up’ (chowder lunch) in the forecastle of this grand old vessel. Learn what the fishermen ate when at sea and some of their many superstitions.
Back on land did you ever wonder how a whole fish is transformed into a boneless, skinless fillet? An expert fish filleter will take you step by step through the process and show you how it is done.
Depending upon her schedule, a visit to Lunenburg would not be complete without a tour aboard the famous Bluenose II sailing schooner featured on Canadian 10 cent piece. Listen to the saga of the original Bluenose and view the artifacts from this Canadian icon. Stroll along the harbour for a tour of the home of Captain Angus Walters, former master of Bluenose.
Lobster Supper at the Shore Club in Hubbards
On the way back to Halifax stop in Hubbards to enjoy a traditional Nova Scotian lobster dinner with all the fixings. The Shore Club lobster suppers have been an institution since 1946, when the first meal was cooked in a large copper cook-pot from the US frigate Chesapeake. Enjoy this feast with unlimited fresh cultivated mussels steamed in wine and garlic butter; homemade rolls; fresh lobster boiled to order in ocean water, and served precracked with hot melted butter and a choice of desserts. After the lobster dinner has finished why not say on to partake in another Shore Club custom… the famous shore club dances. Harkin back to the old style dance hall days.
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