With many downtown hotels booked solid this summer many visitors are flocking to the suburbs this year for accommodations.
Dawn Scott and Joan Hill left their homes in Salisbury, N.B. looking for a mother/daughter adventure. They wound up in the KOA campground in Upper Sackville because it was close to Halifax and the Halifax International Busker Festival, but plan to come back because they love the spot.
"You're always taking a chance," said Hill. "My husband and I have done a lot of camping and sometimes you end up at your campground and it's a field - one time in PEI we arrived to find a parking lot. This place is clean and beautiful."
KOA campground owners Joe and Christine Idy have been in the business for many years and saw more than 8,000 campers last year in their park alone. They said people they talk to are often camping as an alternative to pricey downtown hotels with concrete views.
"They are coming from across Canada, across the ocean and down the road to enjoy nature," said Joe.
People from Europe looking to really get away from it all even ship their cars along with them, he said.
According to the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS), the province welcomed more than two million visitors last year, and many of them took advantage of accommodations in outlying areas.
Dawn Scott (left) and Joan Hill of Salisbury, N.B. chose Upper Sackville for a mother/daughter road trip on Aug. 7 to go to the Halifax International Busker Festival, the duo said they would come back just to camp" />
"There is something for everyone throughout the many communities in Nova Scotia," said Darlene Grant Fiander, president of TIANS.
Although they didn't travel from too far away, Wayne and Alice Redmond from Glen Margaret said Upper Sackville is the perfect spot for a family reunion.
"Everyone is meeting here for the weekend," said Wayne as he picked up his guitar. "It's a chance to spend time together."
The Carelsen family traveled a bit further.
"We're originally from the Netherlands," said Suzan Carelsen. "But now we live in Boston and this is the first time we've been here."
The family of four found the Upper Sackville campground online and were happy with what they saw.
"We've never really been camping as a family before," said Carelsen. "It's beautiful here and we're having a great time."
blhall@eastlink.ca
