My Holiday Wish

 

Local Holiday Gift Ideas: www.thelocaltravelerns.com/localwishlist

This holiday season, I set out on a goal to let more people know about the many many great gifts available from local stores and local producers in my province, Nova Scotia.  I wanted to make it easier for people to shop locally and bring attention to all of the great things our province has to offer.  I believe that supporting small local business is important.  I created the ‘Local Wishlist’ to encourage buying local in my province, but it is a message I feel is important on a more global scale as well.

To date, the list has exceeded my wildest expectations, with more than 5,000 views, local producers connecting to new retail opportunities (one as far as Toronto!), sales, media coverage, and most importantly, people talking on social media about local gifts they saw on the wishlist.

I am writing this note in hopes that you will help me get the word out even further. The list is doing well, but it’s my goal (or my holiday wish, perhaps) to share the local love even further.  I am writing to request your help spreading the ‘buy local’ message through the Local Wishlist.  I would love it if you took a minute to re-blog, email the URL to a friend, or share it on social media.

You can see the wishlist here: www.thelocaltravelerns.com/localwishlist

Thank you for your consideration, I hope you are all enjoying the days leading up to the holidays!

With love,

Gillian

Hear about the guy who said that Canada’s east coast is a “culinary sad sack”? Yeah, well listen to this guy instead. Here’s Chris from Meat Mongers.

Getaway Farm & Butcher Shop Blog

I had the (mis)fortune of catching an interview with Jacob Richler on CBC Mainstreet on Friday, and while Stephanie Domet did an incredibly admirable job of challenging Mr. Richler’s opinions, in the end I was left with a heavy heart. The interview was in response to Mr. Richler’s comments in a recent interview with The Globe and Mail stating that the culinary scene in “The Maritimes is a culinary sad sack…”, which as you can well imagine got under my skin. Now, I am not going to bother responding to the foolish drivel that Mr. Richler was spewing on the radio, because to be perfectly honest he isn’t worth my time. Pretentious food critics have been the bane of many a hard working restauranteur, and while I am sure that there are things we can learn from professional criticizers, my concerns lie with the chefs, the eaters, and the producers…

View original post 1,560 more words

We’ve Moved our Content

Dear readers and fellow bloggers,

We have moved our content over to a permanent website and will no longer be adding new posts to this wordpress account.  You can now find our blog at thelocaltravelerns.com

If you currently follow this blog using wordpress or email, I was not able to transfer my followers to the new website.  I would love it if you would come visit the new area and re-follow by entering your email.
Sorry for any inconvenience, I hope to see you all again soon over at our permanent website thelocaltravelerns.com

Seaport Beerfest – Halifax

Based on our post on Rockbottom and our frequent references to Garrison and Propeller, it’s no secret that we are lovers of craft beer, and especially love the microbreweries we have here in Halifax.  So, it was with great anticipation that we’ve been looking forward to this year’s Seaport Beerfest (@SeaportBeerfest).

Beerfest takes place every summer in and in front of Pavillion 20 of the Halifax Seaport.  It brings together some of the best microbreweries from Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario and some from out west, as well as breweries from Maine and the rest of the U.S. and beyond. When we entered, we were each given a map and a mini-mug, our passport to more than 200 potential beer samples.

The breweries are arranged by province or region.  We tried many beers, but put the majority of our focus on the 33 beers from the Maritime Provinces.  Top marks went to Rock Bottom IPA, PEI Brewing Company‘s Beach Chair, and Picaroons‘ Melonhead. Rock Bottom’s IPA has the hoppiness that an IPA should have, balanced with an infusion of citrus and grapefruit.  Beach Chair and Melonhead are both great choices for the final month of summer.  They both had a nice, light, crisp flavour, with the Melonhead providing a sweet, strong watermelon taste.

We also want to give special mention to two non-local beers. The St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout is a great introduction to black beer.  It was smooth, silky, and full of flavour, very easy to drink for a dark brew.  We also have to mention Brasseurs Sans Gluten’s Glutenburg beers (3 in total), which won the gold,  silver and bronze in the Gluten Free category at the 2012 World Beer Cup.  They were all around great beers, not just ‘great for a gluten free beer’.

Taste of Nova Scotia set up some edibles to go with the beer.  Saege Bistro was offering chicken tacos and sausages, Bramoso had a couple of their gourmet pizzas, and Pristine Cuisine Catering was there with their traveling oyster bar.  Unfortunately we missed out on Fid Kitchen and Scanway’s edibles.  All of the food was excellent, but the mustard on the Saege sausages was out of this world.

We had a blast at Beerfest, it was a great opportunity to experience some of the best brews our area has to offer, as well as compare our craft brew to better known producers like Germany.  The event was packed, but really well run, with minimal waits at each station. The only exception was the restrooms, which were lined up out the door for most of the night.  It is the first time I’ve ever seen the men’s line longer than the women’s.

Future attendees, take note – you need to take care of your mug as it’s not easy to get a replacement.  I saw one guy drop his in a urinal and attempt to clean it with hot water, gaining him the nickname “Pisscup” in the men’s washroom.

We made a valiant effort to live-blog our experience along with a few other Tweeters.  Check out #hfxbeerfest to find the tweets.  Please excuse the spelling and grammatical errors!
–@DrewMooreNS

Guest Post: Arisaig Park – Northumberland Shore

Editor’s note: A big “thank you” to Denise who shared her trip to Arisaig Park with us.  Coincidentally, she was there the same day we were at Cribbon’s Point, just around the corner from her.  You can read more of Denise’s writings in her column for The Southender here.

 

My clearest memories of my days as a schoolgirl are of times spent outside the classroom, moreso than of times spent in it.  I remember one special field trip, taken when I was in grade five, to Arisaig Provincial Park, about 30 kilometres north of Antigonish.  The purpose of the trip was to get an up-close look at the fossil-rich sedentary rock formations.  It felt like we had time-traveled back a few hundred million years to a magical place.

I visited the park in the early evening in late July, on a very hot day, two restless dogs in tow. We parked in a small parking lot in the shade of the mature Acadian forest that comprises the non-beach area of the park, and walked up a short boardwalk to an interpretive kiosk.  There I found concise information on the history of the rock formations and a map of the trails through the woods.  The dogs and I paused for a moment to admire the view of Arisaig’s beach and wharf; the water was beautifully calm.

Rockbottom Brew Pub

I make a habit of checking out restaurants that A. brew their own beer and B. offer sampler trays of said beer.  What the big beer brands have in marketing, microbreweries often make up for in devotion to well-crafted, flavourful beer. 

Active Greenways: Halifax to Tantallon

What do you do with railways that aren’t in use anymore?  Turn them into an active transit greenway that will get you all the way from Halifax to Lunenburg.  It started with a trip to ‘cheap movie night’ at the Bayers Lake Empire Theatres.  The trail not only got us there quickly, but it made our movie night feel like more of an adventure (and helped us excuse all of the movie theatre treats).  Since then, we’ve been taking progressively farther rides.

The first part of the trail, the one that takes you to the park, is the Chain of Lakes Trail.  As indicated by it’s name, it runs along the Chain Lakes  and Bayers Lake.  These lakes are gorgeous but please resist the temptation to dive in as these are the municipality’s back-up water supply.  Chain of Lakes runs parallel to Joseph Howe Drive in the west end of the Halifax core area, before turning west at Springvale Avenue.  You can access the trail here, at the Ashburn Golf Course entrance and at Crown Drive off the St. Margaret’s Bay Road.  The trail is newly paved in some sections and crusher dust in others.

Clearwater Seafood Contest

As you may have seen, we’ve recently hit the Chowder Trail, covering some of the best places to get seafood chowder in Nova Scotia.  As we know from our #80 Bus Route adventure, Clearwater Seafood (@ClearwaterSea) is one of the best places to get all the fish you need for your chowder.

You don’t have to take our word for it, you can find out for yourself!  We are giving away a $50 Clearwater gift certificate.  Here’s all you have to do to get it:

1. Add as many people as you can to our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/274346055996558/
2. The person who adds the most people will win the gift certificate.
3. The contest ends at 5pm on Friday, August 17.
4. 

Creamery Square & Grain Elevator Village – Tatamagouche

Going to the farmer’s market has been a Saturday morning ritual for us since we lived in our first apartment across the street from the Halifax Brewery Market.  Because we often travel on the weekend, we try to take advantage of visiting the local markets at our current local.  While visiting Tatamagouche last weekend we did just that, with a visit to Creamery Square.

Ratinaud Charcuterie – Halifax

A few months back a good friend and fellow foodie brought over duck pate for my birthday.  I am not a fan of pate, but this was different.  It was savory, juicy, and full of flavour, the kind of food you find yourself thinking about weeks later.