Perched on a rock cliff 100 feet above the ocean sits the cottage of Stan and France Jacot of Minneapolis. Their cottage in Deep Cove, Nova Scotia, a 45-minute drive from Halifax, is a place to slow down and enjoy nature. "We want to build memories here, doing it year after year," said France, who grew up in Nova Scotia. "I go for two months with the kids every summer."

Getting there: Fly into Detroit, New York or Boston and then to Halifax.

Best part: No schedule. What to do depends on the weather.

Worst part: It's difficult to get there quickly, so it's not a good weekend retreat. The slow pace means that it can take forever to get projects like landscaping or building a deck completed.

Favorite activities: Going to apple orchards, the wine country, cheese factories, fishing, shell collecting, boogie boarding on the beach, making smores over the firepit.

Area must-see: Peggy's Cove is a popular historic area with a post office at the tip of the ocean. Lunenburg, a fisherman's village 45 minutes from Deep Cove, looks like Britain in the "olden days." Cape Breton Island, three hours away, resembles the rugged beauty of Scotland.

Traditions: Every Saturday morning they go to the farmers' market and get food for the week, then to the local Tim Hortons coffee shop for a $1 java and doughnut holes. Both the coffee chain and the hockey great whom it is named for are legendary in Canada. In the summer, a visit to the cheese factory in Port Williams.