“How much do you think this baby weighs?” our behind-the-scenes guide at Hall’s Harbour Lobster Pound asked. She was holding a gigantic lobster, with a body as big as a tight end’s arms, the claws twice the size as our hands. She set it on the scales and it came in at 22 pounds; it was bigger than some small dogs.
The granddaddy lobster went back into a holding tank, safe for now, but likely destined for the Asian market. There were hundreds of lobsters here, all colors and sizes, held in state-of-the-art floating pools. It’s one of the largest lobster-holding facilities in Canada, set in one of the last authentic fishing villages along the Bay of Fundy Coast of Nova Scotia.
We left the tanks of crustaceans behind and walked out into the sunshine, where we enjoyed lobster-in-the-rough at a picnic table overlooking the harbor, watching the infamous tide rush in.
How many ways can you eat a crustacean? How about lobster beignets and bennies, lobster poutine and polenta, lobster noodles and nachos? We learned while traveling the Nova Scotia Lobster Trail that there are seemingly endless ways to enjoy Homarus americanus. The trail has 44 official stops including restaurants, cafes, seafood stores, and boat tours. We visited about a quarter of them, and along the way we saw beautiful coastal scenery, lighthouses and parks, historic museums and fishing villages. Here are some of the highlights.
We took a direct flight from Boston to Halifax and arrived in time for lunch at the Stubborn Goat Gastropub (www.stubborngoat.ca/halifax/), where we split a lobster BLT and lobster mac and cheese. The BLT was done just right, served on a sourdough bun with a lemon aioli. And, what’s not to like about chunks of lobster swimming in a thick, creamy, lemony mornay sauce, with soft noodles? We were liking the lobster trail, already.
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Halifax was an interesting city to explore, an eclectic mix of Victorian and Georgian brick buildings and new boxy, steel and glass architecture. We walked along the waterfront — the city is located on one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbors in the world — and popped into the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, where we learned of Nova Scotia’s ties to the Titanic. It’s a fascinating, heartbreaking story. Halifax was the closet major port to where the ship sank, so the recovered bodies ended up here.
“Did you know that this building was a former morgue?” Tyler, our waiter, asked us that evening. “Many of the bodies from the Titanic came here. I think the building is haunted.” We were dining at Five Fishermen (www.fivefishermen.com), a bustling, contemporary bistro and a favorite on the Lobster Trail. We saw no ghosts; we heard no ghosts, but we did dine well, starting with a chilled lobster-mango kinilaw, followed by lobster carbonara and lobster risotto. We went to bed with crustaceans dancing in our heads.
Fisherman’s Cove, a restored and still active 200-year-old fishing village, is only about 20 minutes from downtown Halifax. We dragged ourselves out early the next day and headed there for a guided kayak tour with Kattuk Expeditions (www.kattukexpeditions.com). Seals bobbed in the water, cormorants dried their wings, and seabirds floated overhead as we paddled out to McNabs Island, home to Fort McNab National Historic Site. There would be no lobster for breakfast; instead we had chocolate fondue and fruit, prepared over a camp stove.
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That was just as well, as we had plans for lunch at Hall’s Harbour Lobster Pound in Centreville (www.hallsharbourlobster.com), overlooking the Bay of Fundy. We picked out lobsters and took them to the kettle to be cooked. Would we also like a side of lobster poutine? Fries with cheese curds and lobster? Yes, we would. It was low tide, so while the lobsters boiled and the poutine fried, we walked the beach. By the time we’d finished our in-the-rough lunch (delicious btw, and those views!), most of the beach had disappeared, covered over by the incoming rushing water.
We got lost on our way to the Argyler Lodge, where we’d planned to have dinner and stay for the night. It was a straight shot if we’d gone back to the highway. But we sought the back roads, with peeks at the coastline. We made it just in time to see sunset over the water. Ye Olde Argyler Lodge (www.argyler.com) sits on the shores of Lobster Bay with sweeping views of the ocean and distant, forested islands.
“Right out there, parcels 33 and 34,” Jonathan Joseph, co-owner of the Argyler, said as he pointed out toward the water. “Those two regions produce 25 percent of North America’s lobster catch.” We were sitting outside next to a bonfire and a steaming kettle of seaweed water, fetched from Lobster Bay. The wine was good and chilled; the lobster and corn on the cob were cooking, and we’d already enjoyed a bucket of steamed mussels at the candle-lit picnic table.
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Canada’s lobster harvesting is divided into districts, Joseph explained, and each district has a designated time when trapping is allowed. Lobster trappers with licenses in parcels 33 and 34 are allowed to trap from late November through May 31. “There are lots of lobsters in the fall, but in the spring, they’re not as plentiful, but that’s the best lobster there is.”
Ours were fall lobsters, fresh and sweet. We went to sleep that night in our cushy beds to the sound of waves lapping, smelling of wood smoke and sea.
It was a little ironic that in seaside Barrington, dubbed the Lobster Capital of Canada, we had no lobster. (And we’ll also note here that the town of Shediac in New Brunswick, Canada, owns the trademark “Lobster Capital of the World, so there’s a friendly feud going on.) Instead, we stopped in at bright and airy Salty Shores Inn & Café (www.salty-shores.ca) for freshly made egg sandwiches and cookies to go, before our hike at Kejimkujik Seaside National Park. The short hike was just what we needed: fresh air, a little exercise, and vistas of the Atlantic shoreline.
We could almost justify our dinner at Elliot’s at the White Point Beach Resort (www.whitepoint.com), a big sprawling historic lodge with rooms and beachfront cabins, and our home for the night. At least we didn’t have far to go after happily consuming decadent bowls of lobster and corn chowder flavored with pancetta and poblano peppers, and flash fried panko crusted Digby scallops.
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The next day would be another seafood-filled bonanza, starting with a lobster benedict breakfast at the lovely Lane’s Privateer Inn (www.lanesprivateerinn.com), and lunch at the South Shore Fish Shack in Lunenburg (www.southshorefishshack.com). Lobster rolls with arugula? Our Maine friends would scoff.
Lunenburg is a picturesque seaside town, with colorful waterfront buildings, and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s also home to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic (www.fisheriesmuseum.novascotia.ca), with boats, artifacts, and interesting displays showcasing the fishing heritage of the Atlantic coast of Canada. After visiting the museum, we had time for a glass of Crustacean Elation lobster beer at the Saltbox Brewery (www.saltboxbrewingcompany.com), before heading to the sprawling Oak Island Resort (www.oakislandresort.com) for mermaid spa treatments (because this was, after all, a lobster tour!) Dinner that evening at sea-to-table driven Mateus Bistro (www.mateusbistro.ca) was sublime. We started with the award-winning seafood chowder, filled with local haddock, lobster, mussels, shrimp, and scallops. We could have (should have) ended the meal there, but couldn’t resist tasting the shrimp risotto balls, which were well worth the extra calories.
Our last day was spent at Peggy’s Cove, a fishing village along the eastern shore of St. Margarets Bay. We boarded the 42-foot Olivia Margaret with Peggy’s Cove Boat Tours (www.peggyscoveboattours.com) and motored along the rocky coastline, past Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse and out to nearby islands. After, we sampled cups of lobster congee (rich and flavorful) from Peggy’s Cove Lobster food truck, and simple, steamed lobster-in-the-rough, served on paper trays in view of the ocean. Even our Maine friends would approve.
For more information on the Nova Scotia Lobster Trail, visit www.novascotialobstertrail.com. For general information on exploring Nova Scotia, visit www.novascotia.com.
Diane Bair and Pamela Wright can be reached at bairwright@gmail.com