As the ship moored right on the boardwalk of Halifax, on the other side of the ship we looked directly across at a lighthouse on a small island. It’s a good representation of Halifax and its maritime heritage. Halifax is where many of the survivors and casualties of the Titanic disaster were brought and it has been an important seaport for Canada’s involvement in World War I & II. It is also the main port where new immigrants arrived over the last two centuries. So let’s just say there’s lots of nautical stuff here!
We had a fairly ambitious plan for the day after some good advice from the locals. Halifax is built on hills much like Seattle, so our route for the day was designed to avoid climbing the hill multiple times. We first headed to the top of the hill where the Halifax Citadel is located, stopping at a couple of galleries along the way. We passed a number of old churches and many historic buildings along the way, all interspersed with more modern buildings, and many interesting restaurants as well.
Guard house – we were told the large bed platforms tilted at a bit of an angle “so they wouldn’t be too comfortable”
The Halifax Citadel was built by the British in the 1700’s, and has been expanded upon over the centuries. Like Québec City, it changed hands between the British and the French a few times, and then during the War of 1812 those pesky Americans attacked it to try and annex this region. So the history we read at the Citadel seemed to differ somewhat from our memory and prompted us to want to find out more about what exactly happened in the War of 1812. Not exactly one of those wars that was covered extensively in history class!
There was one memorial about how they would all be American if it hadn’t been for the brave souls who defended the city. It’s always interesting and elucidating to read about historical events from a different perspective. One particularly memorable event from the War of 1812 appears to have been the capture outside Boston of the American ship Chesapeake by the British ship Shannon. There were at least three different displays around the city and Citadel where that capture was described (and perhaps even gloated about).
A man and his gun
The Citadel is a National Heritage Park and had a number of staff in period uniforms. Many of the rooms were outfitted as when the fort was in use, and there were also a number of exhibits about the different wars and life in the fort. Oh, and there were some really good views from up on that hill, too!
Our lunch stop – very good!
All that walking necessitated a replenishment of energy, so our next task was lunch. Since this is both the tourist part of Halifax and also seemed to be the downtown business area of Halifax, there were a lot of good looking restaurants and pubs around. We also saw a couple of breweries. We opted for a restaurant that mainly carried seafood and yes, Tami did have yet another lobster roll, her third in as many days. It was absolutely delicious, the best of the three so far. Mike tried out the fish and chips and was also very happy.
Large mural on side of building.
We finished our walk heading back towards the ship along the waterfront boardwalk. There were several historical ships parked at piers, lots of tourist shops, and great views of the harbor. Though it should be said that many parts of the harbor are less attractive than downtown Halifax, being rather industrial. There were many areas that looked reminiscent of the north Eastbay area near San Francisco – lots of oil tank farms. Tami worked hard at keeping them out of her shots as much as possible.
As the ship pulled away from Halifax, we headed past a rocky spit and were soon headed to open water. While it was a beautiful clear evening and the seas were quite calm, there was a bit of a swell and in the open water, we could feel it a bit on the ship. As we left dinner and walked along on the top deck we passed the swimming pool and noticed that the motion of the ship was creating quite the sloshing action in the pool. That would have been a wild ride to try and swim in it! Instead we scurried down to our cabin to settle in for the evening and start reading about Saint Johns, New Brunswick, our next stop.
