First, I’d like to thank those of you who sent me birthday greetings! God used each and every one of you to warm my heart and I am grateful!
Halifax is the capital city of Nova Scotia. Any guesses as to the capital of Canada??
We left early this morning because it was about a 45 minute drive and Blaine had researched parking in the city and discovered you could leave your car at the Citadel (our first destination) all day for $3.15! (Public parking in town was anywhere from $10-20) Walking to the boardwalk and around the area of town we wanted was only about a 15-20 minute walk.
Definition of a citadel? a fortress, typically on high ground, protecting or dominating a city. The Halifax Citadel is DEFINITELY on high ground! As we walked down to the wharf, we kept thinking, “We have to come back up here . . .” It seemed the entire city was set on a steep hill.
Picture from a tourist book. It shows the layout and also gives you an idea of how far down the wharf was.
The staff here was in costume similar to the Louisburg Fortress, but set in 1869.
Parking within the citadel
The way inside
Some views from inside and looking out:
There seemed to be a lot of Scottish/Irish influence here. Men in kilts, bagpipes, etc.
I think these guys were practicing. I think the one with the beard was teaching the other one. We saw info that said they teach bagpipe here.
IMG_1835 We saw the ‘newbie’ playing earlier.
This guy was telling us abut the changing of the guard, which I’ll get to later.
There were reenactments of cannon firing and changing of the guard and also various drills going on all the time.
We were far away to take this, so the quality’s not very good
Practicing drills
The first re-enactor we came across was an ambulance driver from WWII. I know I said 1869, but they’re doing this special WWII segment this summer. He was very interesting and walked us all around his ambulance – a modified, Model-T Ford that still runs. He told us this funny story about how Westinghouse signed a contract with Henry Ford to provide headlights and they had to agree to his specific shipping instructions – hard wood (as opposed to soft), the size of the box, the length of the screws, etc. When they discovered that good ol’ Henry was using the packing material for seats in the ambulances, they wanted to back out, but they had no choice. When the contract was up, they vowed not to re-sign, but by then Ford was already making his own lights. 😊
There was this picture on the side of the ambulance of service men who’d been recently treated (you could tell because the bandages were so white) and were being transported further from the front lines. The one with the most suffered chemical/gas burns. Next to him was artillery/gunshot to the side of his face. The third had no discernible wound.
There were also a couple of museums to go through, medical tents where you could learn about how men were treated on the battlefield and a trench you could walk through – complete with mud splatters everywhere. It was all very interesting!
Mock up medical triage tent
Copy of an actual recruitment poster
The Trenches:
Officer’s quarters
Barracks
This is a scale model of a monument France made to honor the Canadian servicemen during WWII
The actual monument covers 250 acres in France!
I especially liked watching the changing of the guard.
These are summer jobs for all these people. The guards stand for 1 hour in heat, cold, rain or shine. Then they’re off for 2 hours. Then back on again. And yes. These are wool clothes.
Here’s part of it in two short videos:
Now it’s time for our boardwalk experience. The Tall Ships were in town. We were soooo excited to see them! So were about a million other people! We learned after getting to town there were five cruise ships in port. We purposely went on a Monday to try and avoid some of the crowds. Well, if there were more people on the weekend, I don’t think anyone was moving! Getting from ship to ship was interesting – kinda like herding cattle for branding I think. The ships were great, though! Unfortunately, none of the sails were unfurled, but still, they were incredible to see! And so many! And one looked just like a pirate ship! 😊
That’s part of the line of people waiting to board the ship to look around! It’s also the boardwalk . . .
Here’s some more! You can see all the masts of ships we haven’t been to yet.
This part of the boardwalk was floating. Blaine said he could feel it, but I didn’t. Guess that means I’d make a better sailor! : )
This is Theodore Tugboat. He’s from a popular children’s series. I know he’s not a tall ship, but he’s still cute!
We also checked out Nova Scotia Crystal. They work right out in the open where people can watch and ask questions! Beautiful – and expensive – pieces!
Here’s some info
Lunch was at Baton Rouge. After reading lots of reviews and lots of menus, we (actually I, since it was my birthday) settled here. It was close to the wharf in an old building. No pictures, but Blaine had their raved about ribs and I opted for surf and turf. Apparently no one calls it that around here, but that’s what it was. It was steak oscar and lobster. The steak had good flavor, but was a little tough – but then I should have expected that since it was sirloin rather than strip or rib eye, etc. The lobster tail was the best I’ve ever had! Not that I’ve had that much in my life, but I almost didn’t order it because I’ve never thought lobster was all that great. The secret?? When I told the waitress it was the best, she said the chef poaches it in butter. Well, no wonder!!
After lunch we headed over to the Maritime Museum which was also very interesting.
This is what greeted you when you first walked in the door
And a little something to go with it – isn’t he beautiful??
This quilt commemorates the Halifax explosion in 1917. Two ships collided in the harbor setting off an explosion of mammoth proportions.
The small panels have the names of those who died in English and braille because so many people lost eyes or vision that day.
Here are some random pictures from around town:
We finally found a moose!!
Looks just like a picture we have of Blaine’s sister from our trip to Alaska 12 years ago
I know it doesn’t look like it was all that crowded in these pictures, but you’ll have to take my word for it . . . it really was! We only took pictures when it thinned out a little.
I think they could use some better electricians here in Halifax!
We were tired by the time we left the wharf at about 4pm. We wanted to get back to our car with time to spare because if you don’t make it they lock the gates – with your car inside – and you don’t get it until they open in the morning! Can you just imagine what would happen if they tried that in the States??
Now, to answer your question – – it’s Ottawa.
You guys are gonna be great at Trivia games by the time I’m done with you! : )