The Perfect Morning at Peggy’s Cove

This is part of my Atlantic Canada Road Trip Series. Last summer my friend, Alyshia, and I spent two weeks driving to some of the most scenic spots between New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia — a trip I’ve been wanting to do since I first read Anne of Green Gables in middle school! On one of our last days, we drove over and had the loveliest morning at Peggy’s Cove.

Ever since Alyshia posted about Peggy’s Cove back when she and her family did a little winter trip to Halifax, I knew I wanted to visit as part of our road trip. If there is one thing I’m a sucker for, it’s beautiful lighthouses, and the Peggys Point Lighthouse with its bright white base and cherry red roof might just be one of the most photographed in Canada.

I’m assuming “Peggy” comes from the fact that this area is part of St. Margaret’s Bay and Peggy is a nickname for Margaret. When I looked it up, Margaret comes from Samuel de Champlain and his mother, Marguerite.

A more fun theory is that the name comes from a young woman who was the sole survivor of the Halibut Rock shipwreck. She was apparently too young to know her own name, so the family who wound up taking her in called her Peggy. When she married one of the area’s residents, she was called Peggy of the Cove.

We planned for three days in Halifax, so on one of those days we hopped in my car and drove a very pretty forty minutes to this cute little fishing village.

Just us & the Lighthouse

The key to having the perfect morning is to go earlier in the day. While you can do a tour, the area is a lot less charming once it’s flooded with fellow visitors walking all over the rocks and viewpoints.

We didn’t even go particularly early! Looking at my time stamps, we arrived by 9:00 am and were able to park pretty close to the lighthouse. There were maybe a few other people wandering around, but we largely had the place to ourselves!

There’s a viewpoint but you’re also able to walk all the way to the lighthouse and coastline. This sign made me laugh when I saw it because you just know some idiots have made some dumb decisions out here in the past.

The village itself is so classically charming, I immediately began romanticizing meeting someone and moving into one of the colorful houses. Think Carley Fortune could easily set one of her future novels.

Maybe meeting and falling in love with a local fisherman? Heheh

Read & Chill

Part of the reason we came was so Alyshia could also have her favorite lobster roll. While I’d been eating lobster daily since getting to Atlantic Canada, she had abstained in preparation for this particular lobster roll.

Since we were there a good two hours before Tom’s Lobster or really anything else was open, we wound up lounging in some chairs that were out. I want to say they were Muskoka chairs? Either way, I was finishing up Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams, so it was a perfect reading break for me!

We wound up sitting int he perfect spot because as the morning got later, we learned we were sitting by an art gallery! The artist, Neil Depew, was super friendly greeting us and since I am also a sucker for idyllic watercolors of coastal landscapes… we went in.

And I came away with a few prints as well as original pieces by Depew’s mother! Once I actually hang things up, I’ll take pictures and post them here.

Since we were alreayd moving and still had some time before Tom’s opened, we also stopped into Holy Mackerel Gift Shop where i picked up maple butter and cute little magnets for my kitchen backsplash.

Lobster Rolls Before We Roll (out)

Soon Tom’s Lobster Shack and we could order our lobster rolls!! If you’re confused looking at Google Maps, it looks like they slightly changed location and painted their exterior blue instead of red. There was a minute where we were walking around in confusion trying to find it!

And, alas, our glorious, glorious lobster rolls. Swear I can taste these in my memory now and I just want to drive 15+ hours to get them again!!! Maybe this time I’ll stay over at Meg Inn and really enjoy having the place to myself!

We enjoyed our rolls and then rolled out to enjoy the afternoon back in Halifax.

Have you been to Peggy’s Cove? Or, better yet, got a Canadian lighthouse recommendation for me? Let me know below!

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