Halifax

Thursday morning, we woke up to very thick fog, and a delay getting to the port because of it.  We took our time getting to breakfast.  We ate in the dining room this day instead of the buffet and sat at a table with some strangers.  It was kind of awkward, but yummy anyway.  You could see nothing but white fog out the window, and an occasional glimpse of the ocean.  It was crazy.  It felt like we were flying through the clouds.  Eventually, we made it into port, and headed to our tour bus to start our day with our guide and his little skirt.  Or kilt.  Whatever.  They look like skirts to me. 

He was a nice guy, and a very informative guide.  He first took us on a little drive through Halifax to the Public Gardens.  Beautiful.  I loved it there, and would have been happy to sit there for much of the day with a good book.  

If I remember right, this gazebo was built in 1887 in honor of Queen Victoria, to celebrate her 50th year of reigning.

And this fountain was for the 60th year or reigning.

The fog would come and go all day long.  We drove up to Citadel Hill where we had a photo op with the guard there.  I must say, this is one job I would never aspire to have.

 From the top of the hill, we had a great view of the clock tower, commissioned by Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and finished in 1803 to supposedly help what he felt was the tardiness of the local garrison.  There was also a great view of the harbor.  Sort of.  There was a lot of fog. 

(Yikes.  My headache is showing in this picture.  It was a miserable, miserable pain day.  I gave it my best effort, but there are a few times when I guess I just couldn't look pleasant.) 

Then we were off to Downtown Halifax.  Which was supposed to be right on the ocean, but our only indication of that were the "waterfront" signs and one ghostly ship.  The rest was just one white cloud. 

We did a little shopping and eating, and then were off to the "most photographed fishing village" of Peggy's Cove.  It was charming.  We first visited Peggy's Point Lighthouse, and did not get swept off of the rocks, because we heeded the numerous signs.

We wandered around the little town, and learned that the name of the cove has many legends of lone survivors of shipwrecks named Peggy that the town was named after, but really, the name comes because it is the first cove off of St. Margaret's Bay, and Peggy is a nickname for Margaret.  Not very romantic, but true nonetheless. 

I just liked this mail box and phone booth by the restaurant.

Old and new style lobster traps.

 On the way back to Halifax, we passed the Swiss Air Flight 11 Memorial.  Then we stopped at a Maple Syrup factory.  Did you know it takes one tree's maple for the entire season (which is just a few weeks) to make just a quart of maple syrup.  I guess I'd forgotten that.  Wow.


Back in Halifax, we went to the Fairview Lawn cemetery where 121 bodies from the Titanic shipwreck are buried.  Halifax was the closest port to where the Titanic went down, so several fishing boats and military ships were dispatched right away.  It took them a couple of days to get there, and they were only able to pull frozen bodies from the wreckage.  They numbered each body, and all belongings from each body so they could identify some.  It was very sobering being there.  (And I am quite sure that this is not the best place to visit when you are on a cruise and there is so much fog it is impossible to see the water.  Just sayin'.)

Jack Dawson?  Kate Winslet's boyfriend?  Nope, but director James Cameron did use this name because he could not find any family or connections that could sue him, and he wanted the movie to have "real" characters.

I really liked the things we saw in Halifax and St. Margarets Bay.  It was a nice day, if a little chilly, drizzly, and foggy.  I feel a little bit like I was in my own fog, trying to push through a major migraine and act decent to all I came in contact with.  I was glad I had a few minutes to sleep before dinner, and even more glad that the dining room was flexible enough they didn't mind that I had two appetizers and no dinner.  And two desserts, of course.  Nausea from migraine won't keep me from desserts.  :)  I was glad to climb into bed that night after a full day, and the boat rocked us (not so gently) to sleep.