Winter Fun 2025

I'm a little late posting this but it is officially winter time. Like I've always said, I enjoy doing these seasonal lists as they are a way to give me something to look forward to. Hopefully I can get a lot of these checked off this year. 

Look back later to see what I've completed.

Decorated train at Santa's village
Mic Mac Mall

Winter bucket list 2025 (Dec. 1-Feb. 28)

• Ring in 2026 at the Grand Parade 
• Make a snowman 
• Hot chocolate bar & movie night with cousins 
• Take more pictures around the province 
• Do some ice skating again 
• Look at Christmas lights 
• Play games at The Board Room Game Cafe 
• Go on a winter nature walk 
• Figure out hockey memorabilia display 
• Winter movie marathon 
• Bake some cookies 
• Visit with Santa 
• Enjoy family time at Cape Breton Christmas 
• Spend a weekend in a log cabin 
• Have a no screen day 
• Try three new restaurants in the city 
• Learn how to walk in snowshoes 
• Make two new recipes 
• Get full time hours at work 
• Watch a women's pro hockey game

Things to do in the Acadian region

Back in early October, I went to a new area that I had only really driven through before. I decided to take a weekend trip to the Acadian Shores region of Nova Scotia, mainly to Clare. Being from a province that is surrounded by water, I enjoy all the lighthouses we have here and there were a couple that I wanted to see. I forgot how long it really takes to drive down there and I went by myself so I didn't get to my first destination until about noon. I saw the Belliveau Cove Lighthouse, took a few pictures and it's actually at a municipal park so there was a trail which I walked. The park is also where they have their weekly farmer's market but since it was October, it was shutdown since it is an outdoor one. 

After I was done, I drove to Cape St. Mary's Provincial Park and are my lunch at the picnic table there before looking around and taking some pictures of the lighthouse. Since it's a provincial park, it had a nice parking lot, some amenities (bathroom/picnic tables/etc) and nice signage explaining the history of the area. There was a memorial for fisherman that had been lost at sea in the area. I think you can go into the lighthouse but only during the summer months. The last lighthouse I visited was at the Universite of Saint Anne, I wouldn't really recommend going to this one as there is hardly any parking and it isn't that interesting. However, the university is pretty so I explored around the campus a bit. I also took a few pictures at a church that was down the street. 

For supper, I went to La Cuisine Robicheau in Saulnierville and had their seafood chowder. I went because the restaurant is part of the Chowder Trail so I wanted to get my 'stamp' but I forgot to sign in to the passport website *face palm*. The chowder was good, I was surprised by how much seafood there was. I couldn't eat it all as I had lunch at 3pm and got supper around 5 but I did ask for the rest to go. Before I headed to my grandfathers for the night, I went to Fort Anne to see it during sunset and take more pictures. 

I thought I would share a few more things to do in the Acadian region if you are looking for ideas. 

• Port Royal National Historic Site and Annapolis Royal - not part of Acadian Shores but was once a settlement of New France
• Cape Saint Mary Lighthouse Park 
• Mavillette Beach Provincial Park
• Rendez-vous de la Baie Visitor Centre 
• Eglise Sainte-Marie Church - the largest wooden church in North America
• Joseph et Marie Dugas Municipal Park - includes Belliveau Cove Lighthouse, community farmer's market and an interpretive trail
• La Cuisine Robicheau - has rappie pie, creamed lobster and fish cakes plus more on the menu
• Le village historique acadien de la Nouvelle-Ecosse - experience Acadian culture and heritage in an early 1900's living history village
• Deep Sky Eye Observatory in Tusket - sleep under the stars and see the galaxy during a guided night sky viewing
  
  

A few events that happen in the region

• Le Festival acadien de Clare - late July, early August
• Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie - cycling race held in September
• National Acadian Day - every August 15

35 Goals before 35th Birthday

I'm not sure many people do a 35 goals before they turn 35 but I'm going to since I didn't do a whole lot on my 30 before 30 list. It has been difficult with COVID and not having a job most of the time during the last 5 years. Anyways, I did finally think about what I want to accomplish before my 35th birthday and have created the list below.

Flowers in Halifax Public Gardens
Taken during a photography class

A lot of these were on my 30 before 30 post (on which I only completed three goals), but I did take a few things off that list for this one as I decided they weren't goals anymore. Ones marked with an * can be found on my previous list. Some of these goals will be done at the same time as others and a few are also on my Life Bucket List so will be nice to check them off. 

Feel free to use this list as inspiration for your own list. An age list isn't just for people who are younger than 30, you can make a 50 things to do before 50, 12 things to do in your 65th year, etc. Follow along on my blog as I complete these goals or follow me on Instagram or TikTok (@adventuresofansgirl) for updates. 

(I started this list in January 2021 so everything completed has been done since then; 3 were done before my 30th while I have done three more between that milestone birthday and today Sep 2025.)

Without further ado: 

1. See the icebergs in St. John's
2. Read seven new books*
3. Do the polar bear plunge*
4. Go on a road trip outside of NS for a weekend*   (✔ Jul 2022)  
5. Buy a new to me vehicle
6. Watch the sunrise and sunset in one day*
7. Journal more regularly*
8. Take a photography class*  (✔ Jul 2025) 
9. Learn how to cook 20 new recipes*
10. Have a European spring or summer trip
11. Start a retirement fund*
12. Ride in a limousine*
13. Pay for a strangers meal at a real restaurant*
14. Donate at least $150 to a good cause*
15. Attend a concert or music festival*     (✔ Aug 2024)
16. Get into ice skating again*
17. Be financially independent*
18. Walk my fastest 5K*  - current is 58 minutes
19. Finish watching a hockey game in each of the Original 6 cities*
20. Travel to a new country solo*     (✔ Nov 2022)
21. Sleep under the stars*
22. Cook and host a dinner party*
23. Explore the Western part of Canada in a RV
24. Invest in a really good camera
25. Play boardgames I used to love as a child*
26. Achieve my ideal weight and maintain it*
27. Do a digital detox for 24 hours*
28. Book a family photo session*
29. Grow my adventures blog*
30. Organize and hang pictures
31. See the blue waters of Lake Louise
32. Take a trip with my sister
33. Visit my family in other provinces
34. Walk across a suspension bridge     (✔ Aug 2023)
35. Finally, plan a great 35th birthday party* 

One note about #19 - the Original Six cities are Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and New York. I have been to Toronto three times already for a hockey game and have already seen one in New York so I am saying finish. If I can get to see the Rangers again before I'm 35, I will. Visited the Bruins, Red Wings and Blackhawks in November 2022 so just have the Bell Centre. 

Adventures for Fall 2025

Another year is close to being finished which is crazy. With the turn of the calendar to the month of September, my fall fun list has begun and I'm looking forward to doing some of these adventures. I thought I would share what I would like to do during Fall 2025. 

These are more geared towards events and things to do in Nova Scotia, not just basic fall activities. I may do a separate post at some point about basic seasonal activities you can do through out the year.

Leaves at Cole Harbour Heritage Park

Fall 2025 (Sept. 1-Nov. 30)
- Look at lighthouses in the Acadian region

- Walk the Rails-to-Trails path near Bike & Bean
- Get lost in a corn maze

- Search for murals in your city

- Have a Hallowe'en movie night

- Update your wardrobe

- Participate in the Cabot Trail Food Truck rally

- 21 days of healthy habits

- Make two new recipes

- Visit my bestie and explore Fredericton

- Burn a fall scented candle

- Read a new book

- Watch the sunrise and sunset in one day

- Donate to a local food bank

- Pick apples in an orchard

- Eat at three Chowder Train restaurants

- Hot chocolate bar & movie night with cousins

- Take more pictures around the province

- See a Halifax Tides soccer game

- Attend a fall festival

I plan on doing some posts about the adventures after I do them so look back over the next few months for those. I'm going to try to keep my social media accounts more regularly updated which now includes TikTok. Follow me at @adventuresofansgirl. 

Halifax Stage Shows

In 2023, my mom and I were able to attend three stage shows and they were all pretty good. 

Most of the shows that I have been to in Halifax have been at Neptune Theatre but the city was able to get a couple of broadway shows last year. Broadway in Halifax brought Book of Mormon and Come From Away to the city. In July we saw Book of Mormon which was the one my mom really wanted to see which surprised me since she isn't religious at all, however it is a comedic play written by the same people who created the tv show South Park. It was a funny and enjoyable musical. Of course, you weren't allowed to take pictures during the production but I did get this one to the left

Both broadway shows were put on at the Scotiabank Centre, which if you know me is pretty much my second home. It is always weird to see the arena set up for other things other than hockey or basketball but I was impressed with the production. Then in November, we saw the one I wanted to see. Come From Away is a musical that shares the story of when thousands of travellers were forced to land in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland on following the September 11, 2001 attacks. My mom was impressed with this one and we both teared up actually. Before we went to this one, we had supper out at The Press Gang to get their seafood chowder and I even tried an oyster. 

The final show we saw was a holiday play at Neptune, although I'm not sure Cinderella really is a holiday play. Anyways, it was good but not like the Disney movie at all. They really put a lot of local interests in the productions they do and there wasn't a step-mom/sister situation. We went for supper beforehand once again but I forget where. 

I saw one other stage show (I'm considering it) but went with my school aged cousins. We went to the Cirque Musica Holiday Wonderland which was a musical Cirque du Soliel show. The website states 'from awe-inspiring acrobatics to gravity-defying aerial feats, every moment is a testament to the extraordinary skill and boundless imagination of our performers.' I can never get over how acrobatics artists do their performances because I was holding my breath most of the time just hoping they didn't fall. I think my cousins enjoyed it. 

Cape Breton Road Trip

In October, my mom and I took a road trip to Cape Breton for the weekend and even though we had bad weather for most of the trip, we had a good time. 

Uisge Ban waterfall

We had previously been to CB like 5 years ago for about 48 hours but I felt like we didn't do much so this trip, I really wanted to drive the whole Cabot Trail during the fall. The Cabot Trail is a scenic highway that is a 298km loop that passes through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The drive is very nice most of the year but a lot of people say it is just stunning with the trees all different colours so I knew we had to do it during this time. 

Our trip began on October 14, with a stop at Heidi's Cafe for breakfast and to pick up some treats at the bakery. On our way to the island, near Truro we saw a rainbow during a break in the rain. We were quite excited to see it and surprised at the same time. The next thing we had planned was a walk to Uisge Ban waterfall near Baddeck. I wasn't sure if there was still going to be water flowing in the fall but with all the rain we had in the summer and that day, it was pretty good. Then we drove up to the Englishtown area for Cabotto Chocolates to see what treats they had before we had supper at a very small restaurant named Simply Pizza. 

Full rainbow we saw

We continued on the Cabot Trail to where we were spending the night but before we checked in, we saw another rainbow. I think it was the first time I had seen a full rainbow and the colours were very distinct. The first two nights of our trip, we slept in oTENTiks within the national park at Ingonish Beach campground then the Mkwesaqtuk/Cap-Rouge campground. Both were nice but the Cap-Rouge site was beautiful; it was feet away from the water so we could see the sunset through a break in the trees. We enjoyed sleeping in the oTENTiks, they are a wooden tent that is on a platform and have bunkbeds with a thick foam mattress. There is also a light, dinner table, bench and patio with chairs plus a barbecue outside to cook food. Since it was October, the nights were cold but thankfully we had brought lots of blankets and there was also a propane heater in the structure. I taught my mom how to play Cribbage so we played that both nights. 

View from Cape Smokey

The Sunday was the one nice day of our vacation so we went out for a short walk on the Freshwater Trail then made our way to Cape Smokey to try out the gondola they have. The view at the top of the ride was great so even though we had to pay $50 each, it was worth the trip. I had originally not put this stop on the itinerary as it was expensive but I'm glad we went. For lunch, we had breakfast sandwiches at Periwinkle Cafe then we continued driving the route while pulling over on the side of the road along the way. Our 'big' walk for this day was to MacIntosh Brook waterfall, however it was only about a 2km hike. We went to supper at The Doryman and listened to some live music for a few hours. 

Sandwich at Periwinkle Cafe 

For our third day, we spent some time in Cheticamp getting lost trying to find the trailhead for the Gypsum Mines. We weren't sure if we would this walk as it was raining quite hard but I had seen pictures from the mine and really wanted to do visit plus it was like two kilometres as well not the 5km I thought it was. I decided not to walk up to the look-off because it was very muddy and a bit steep. After our walk, we stopped in at Aucoin Bakery to get some road treats. We got a couple of sandwiches which we ended up not eating until we got home but my mom also got some bread and a coffee while I got caramel squares. For lunch, we went to a place called Le Gabriel which had a lot of sports memorabilia on their walls so I enjoyed it :). I didn't really like what I got (a pasta dish) but mom's steak poutine was good however it was huge so we really should've shared it. We made a few other stops on our way to our hotel in Baddeck. The food they had at their restaurant was pretty good and it is farm-to-table. 

Gypsum Mines in the rain

Before we headed home on October 17, we looked around the town and visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum which was very informative. I had no idea he was apart of inventing so much stuff and his wife had an interesting life as well. We saw another rainbow on our way home which was great. 

A few of the things we did and places we ate at were not on the original plan but I found them in a book called Explore Like a Tourist Nova Scotia. If you are visiting Nova Scotia in 2024 or are a local and want some new adventures, check out the guide. 

Sunset from our campsite at Cap-Rouge

Fall fun list

- Look out at the Gypsum Mines ✓

- Go for a hike on three new trails ✓

- Drive the full Cabot Trail route ✓

- Visit a new waterfall ✓

Food Friday: Chocolate Cream Squares

I can't remember what my grandmother used to call these but I've just been calling them chocolate cream squares for years now especially since I took over making them. With Christmas in a few days, I thought I would share this recipe since the holidays are when we eat them. When my mother's mother was alive she would play this trick on me during my late teenage/early adult years, where I would ask if she made them and she would tell me no but after our Christmas Eve dinner she would pull them out and say gotcha. 

Chocolate Cream Squares

Preheat: 350 F     Serves: 9-16     Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 2/3 c graham wafer crumbs

1/2 c melted butter

4 tbsp brown sugar

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1 c room temp butter

500g icing sugar

4 eggs

vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Mix graham wafers, melted butter, brown sugar and a splash of vanilla. Pat in 8" x 8" pan with hands, reserve some of mixture for later
3. Cook for approximately 5 minutes 
4. In a large bowl, cream room temp butter. Mix in icing sugar (cup by cup) and eggs (one by one) then add vanilla
5. Add melted chocolate, mix thoroughly
6. Pour mixture over cooled graham crust
7. Sprinkle remaining graham wafer mixture on top
8. Put in fridge overnight before serving

If you decide to makes these, I hope you enjoy them.