A tour along the Eastern Shore is a trip through old-world Nova Scotia, through towns and villages where life has changed little since the turn of the 20^th century. The tiny house and farm that comprise the Fisherman’s Life Museum in Jeddore, Oyster Ponds (60 km/37 miles east of Halifax) was the home of an inshore fisherman, his wife, and 13 daughters around 1900. Today, the homestead is a living-history museum where guides in period costume (many of them wives of local fishermen) reenact the simple daily life of an inshore fishing family, still the heart of Nova Scotia culture. Visitors who arrive at midday may be invited to share lunch cooked over a wood burning stove. There are also daily demonstrations that include rug-hooking, quilting, and knitting, and visitors can tour the fishing stage where salted fish were stored.

Sherbrooke Village is the largest living-history museum in Nova Scotia. Between 1860 and 1890, this was a gold and lumber boomtown. As the gold ran out, Sherbrooke once again became a sleepy rural village. In the early 1970s, 25 of Sherbrooke’s most historic buildings were restored. Within the village, scores of costumed guides bring 19th-century Nova Scotia to life. A ride on a horse-drawn wagon offers an overview of the town; the drivers share bits of local history as the horses trot along the village roads. At the Apothecary, visitors can watch the careful mixing of patent medicines, and those interested in the Ambrotype Studio can dress in period costumes, sitting very still while the vintage camera records their image on glass. Just outside town a massive waterwheel turns, powering the Lumber Mill.

Attractions:

Sherbrooke Village

off Hwy 7.

(902) 522 2400.