A Blue Diamond Tours Exclusive!The Almost Free Family Fun in Halifax, Nova ScotiaDIY Cruise Ship Excursion

March 30, 2009 - it’s the first day of Spring and we’re headed for the South Shore of Nova Scotia and the Ross Farm Museum, located in New Ross, Nova Scotia.

Ross Farm is a working farm (circa 1817 to 1900) located on 60 acres of the original 800 acre land grant given to Captain William Ross in July, 1816. Captain Ross took 172 disbanded soldiers (from the War of 1812) and their families to settle in what is now the New Ross area of central Nova Scotia.

Five generations of the Ross Family lived and worked the farm between 1816 and 1969. In 1969, the Ross Family homestead was sold to the New Ross Museum Society, and today it is part of the province-wide Nova Scotia Museum system.

March 20th was cold and windy, although the temperature was approximately 32 degrees, the gusty wind made it feel like minus10 degrees.

After paying our very reasonable admission, the first order of business was getting hot dogs for lunch. Some of us even had two! .

While waiting for the ‘dogs’ to cook, we saw the horse and sled , although a “sleigh ride” was included in the admission price, none of the grand-kids ended up on a ride. Bad timing, and maybe a bad temper too! (No, not the horses). In summer and / or warmer weather, when the terrain is easier for the horses, they offer hay and/or wagon rides that travel around the area of the farm.

As the dogs cooked , we visited the gift shop. The restrooms are located here as well. These barrels were made at Ross Farm. In the very early days (1800's), farms were mostly self-sufficient and made for themselves virtually everything they needed .

As our visit was on the last day of March / Spring Break, the museum was offering free hot-chocolate . At other times, fruit and other drinks would be offered. Staff, & ‘friendly interpreters’ are dressed in period attire or dress . The nature trail was deemed to icy for us!

The Museum consists of the following, contained within 60 acres:

• Welcome Stand - Pedlar’s Shop


• Visitor Center School (which was not a hit with the grand-kids as it reminded them it was their last day of no school!


• Ross Barn


• Workshop and Store


• Rose Bank Cottage circa 1817 Stave Mill & Larder Barn


• Blacksmith Shop


• Cooper Shop


• The Nature Trail

Yes, farm life (1816 -1900) was hard, families had to make most of what they needed, such as shoes, candles, & woolen clothes.

At the farm, you will see heritage breeds of sheep. In fact, we got to see four day old twin lambs , during our visit. The sheep are kept separate . Here are pictures of the heritage chickens (the sign says Heritage Poultry Breeds 1870) Our granddaughter Ann, a true city girl at heart, was afraid she might “catch something”, at which point Nana Ann said we are not going to “roll around on the ground with them, only look at them. “ Kids!

The farm has huge pigs, I swear one had to be over 1000 pounds . Definitely not the cuddly “Wilbur” (from Charlotte’s Web) size pigs the kids were expecting! There are oxen too, , but once again, granddaughter Ann would not go in to see them as she deemed the area “too smelly“ for her delicate nose. City girls! Yes, there are horses, and besides the draft horses on sled duty, here is another horse at leisure .

The farm always has activities to keep young hands and minds busy during any visit. The activities range from decorating cookies to making book-marks , to wagon / hay / sled rides, nature trails, crafts and more.

Our visit was on the first day of Spring, but after such a tough winter, there was still a lot of ice and snow on the paths and walkways. Winter had not given up its grip just yet. And if the snow and ice were gone, then it was mud to contend with, but a fun family day in Nova Scotia never-the-less!

You will see this type of ‘winterizing’ used to keep out the cold on older homes, shops as seen here and throughout rural Nova Scotia.

We had a fun day at Ross Farm Museum, and you can too!

We returned to Halifax by continuing along Route 12 which enabled us to show the kids numerous Christmas Tree Farms, and one that is said to be the largest in the world. You could stop for pictures, we didn’t as the kids were being kids and the wife and I just wanted to get them home!

Yes, this could be a stop on your cruise Halifax excursion, and it truly is ‘an almost free family fun day’ in Nova Scotia with fresh country air, history, nature, crafts, and agriculture all together in one 60 acre site in Nova Scotia.

Blue Diamond can help you with a Ross Farm Excursion.
Until next time, Bob

Be sure to visit the website for more photos!

Cleveland Beach

To celebrate the first official day of Spring, we went to Cleveland Beach Park. This beach is said to one of the ten best beaches in Nova Scotia, and I quote, “A popular sand beach with a picnic area, walkway and ramps, Cleveland Beach might be best known as a site where scenes were shot for the 2001 motion picture, The Shipping News, starring Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey. It was on a lagoon behind the beach where a winter scene was shot for the movie of a house being blown across an icy lagoon during a violent winter storm. Thankfully, the summer waters here are much more inviting to the delight of swimmers who frequent this beach on a regular basis. Cleveland Beach is the most easterly beach of the three beaches in Queensland, accessible from Exits 5 and 6.”

Here is the “lagoon” on the first day of Spring . And low-and-behold, there are people on the beach even though the temperature was at the freezing mark (32 degrees). Yes, it was a bit chilly, but the sun was shining and we were tired of being cooped up all winter, so overall, it was a great day to be at Cleveland Beach. Some of Blue Diamond Tours excursions pass by this lovely little beach.

And yes, I agree, it does look like a winter day but it is actually Spring . As a plus, you will note that unlike on a hot summer’s day, there is plenty of room for your beach blanket . Even with the less than ideal temperature, our beach-goers enjoyed a bit of ball tossing .

Here is St. Margaret’s Bay, a storied bay and communities just outside of historic Halifax. You’ll find the famous Peggy’s Cove out on one headland jutting into the Atlantic .

Here are a few pictures of surf and dogs on the beach . Our grandson, Justin, loves dogs and desperately wants one of his own. According to his owner, this dog has only one speed - flat out! . He was lightning fast. . His owner uses a ‘ball throwing stick’ to really put some distance on the ball and to keep his dog out of the water. Justin’s aim, however, was not quite as accurate, and after a few attempts at using the ball throwing stick, the dog was completely soaked! The owner was very understanding and told us not to worry as he had plenty of towels in his car. The dog didn’t seem to mind the chilly water temperature. Even with the sunshine though, there was ice along the edge of the beach on some of the rocks .

With the DIY Excursion, one of our other excursions, or an Almost Free Family Fun Day in Halifax and Nova Scotia, you too can enjoy the waters of the Atlantic and beach time at Cleveland Beach Provincial Park. At Blue Diamond Tours, we want you to have a wonderful time during your stay at our historic, storied and colourful Port of Halifax.

Until next time,
Bob

Be sure to visit the website for photos that go with this post.

Almost Free Family Fun in Halifax DIY Cruise Ship Excursion to the Annapolis Valley

In early February we took a short holiday to the Annapolis Valley (see Shore Excursion G) The weather was cold but with lots of sunshine during the day. One spot we visited was the Look-Off near Canning, N.S. and as you can see from the pictures, it looks very different in the winter.

Situated on the banks of the Cornwallis River at Port Williams is the nearly new Port Pub, where we had breakfast and, later in the evening, returned for dinner. As it is a Brew Pub, Ann tried their India Pale Ale but said that, truth be told, she still prefers Keiths. The food, service and the views of the countryside were great, and in summer there is a large outdoor deck with meal and beverage service.

After dinner we tried some night snapshots but they were less than perfect. The following day we returned to Port Williams and a park on the Cornwallis River. The world famous Bay of Fundy tide was rising in the river, and ever so slowly moving inland carrying large chunks of ice in it’s flow (photos try to show just how slow – about three minutes between each snap-shot)
For a day trip (and much of what we did can be incorporated into your (Almost Free Family Fun in Halifax, Nova Scotia / Cruise Ship Excursions), we drove along the old Route One from Wolfville to Middleton, returning to Wolfville on the same road. It is an interesting drive, made more so by all the changes we saw, especially the very extensive residential housing developments, replacing farmland.

In Middleton, we drove around the town and discovered a unique looking residence for sale . Ann noticed that the flower boxes would always be in bloom no matter the season or weather as they are actually an artist’s painting under each window of the sun-porch. Very colourful and eye-catching especially in winter.

In Berwick (the Apple Capital of the World) we shopped at Bargain Harleys. Sadly, we found no bargains but Ann did buy a scarf and mitten outfit for granddaughter Ann. No visit to “The Valley” would be complete without a visit to Grand Pré National Historic Park near Wolfville (closed during the winter) where we found lots of snow there and also on the Great Meadow.
As our brief holiday was ending and we were headed for home, we stopped to take our last snap-shop of Cape Blomidon, taken from the grounds - no pun intended - of Just-Us-Coffee-Roasters.
With your own cruise ship excursion (seeShore Excursion G), you will be able to see and experience what we did (and more!) during our mini February holiday.

Besure to visit BlueDiamondTours.com to see all the snap shots from this trip!

Until next time,
Halifax, the perfect cruise-ship-friendly port of call.
Bob
Blue Diamond Tours
Almost Free Family Fun in Halifax, Nova Scotia / D-I-Y Cruise Ship Excursions