Days 19 and 20 Halifax, Nova Scotia

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Today we left the Lobster Capital of the World behind, and headed to Halifax.  Here is there is so much available to do in the next  8 days.

The sky is merely overcast, which we are grateful for.  After 3 ½ hour drive, and a stop to gather armfuls of tourist brochures, we arrived at Woodhaven Campground in Hammond Plains, NS about 25 minutes outside of Halifax.   Boy, could they have wedged these campers in here more closely?  I don’t think so. At least on our site.  It is a holiday weekend, and it being Sunday, even though we reserved this back in April,  we were blessed with the only open site left, so it was the worst. 

The people in the office were extremely accommodating, though.  They gave us some options of other sites that will open up during the week that we could move to.  They have a constant flow of Caravan Tour companies, so the best sites seem to go to them, and that's okay with us.  Good Business. 

Wowie!!  Now THAT'S a lobster!

The BEST part, was that the gentleman in the office, perhaps the owner, will sell and cook you a lobster and deliver it to your site!!  Gee, he only had one left, and it was a 5 ½ pounder!  Oh, gee, what a shame. Yeah, right.  So for $30.00, we enjoyed the biggest lobster Norm had ever had. ( I had a 9 pound'er when I was pregnant with Laura 36 years ago ).  It was amazingly tender, but not a huge amount of flavor unfortunately.  We left the gigantic tail to make sandwiches. Now we LOVE this place!

After dinner I took advantage of the Laundromat a few feet from our door, and did 4 of my 5 loads at a cost of about $15.00.  If I had a wish, it would be to have a washer/dryer in the RV.  The only problem is that it would probably cost at least another $100,000.00  to purchase said RV. That's an expensive washer/dryer.

Monday, July 1^st  Canada Day

Hey, it’s Canada Day ( our equivalent for the 4^th of July ) and when I peer out the door, I feel such a heavy mist upon my face, that you could almost drink it.  The forecast is for on and off for continued rain for the next couple of days.  We need to make a decision, after all, it’s Canada Day, and there are all sorts of events downtown in Halifax.  A Parade!  Fireworks! Free entrance to museums!  But do we want to wait for a parade in the rain?  Norman say’s “ no way “.  I, on the other hand, might think it Is worth it. 

The minutes, then an hour ticked by.  I am annoying Norm like a hyperactive child wanting to go out and play. After checking all sorts of weather information sites, a little after 9 AM we finally make a decision what to do!  I spring into action like a tightly wound coil, grabbing every possible item we might need.  Outerwear, cameras, snacks and anything else I can drag into the car and off we go to Halifax, rain or shine. We are prepared for anything! Yeah! 

Ariel shot of The Citadel fortress, Halifax, NS

We surprisingly found a parking spot near the Citadel and happily discovered that the parade was heading in our direction!  As the marching bands came down the hill playing a wonderful march, it did not take me 15 seconds before I started to cry.  I don’t know why I do this when I see a parade!  It is so frustrating and then very hard to take pictures through my tears - besides, I feel like an idiot.  ( click on the parade picture above to watch a small tear-jerking video )

Folks in period costumes pulled cannons to be fired

After the very short parade, we trudged up the hill to take in the sights and sounds of The Citadel, Canada’s most visited National Historic Site.  It sits high on George Street, commanding a defensively strategic location with  views of the city.  This star-shaped fortress represented the pinnacle of defensive military technology, although thankfully was never tested by an attack. 

After witnessing the daily noon-time cannon blast, it started to rain in earnest.  We peeked over the tall fortress walls and we were really disappointed of the views.  The city below was either under construction with many massive cranes, and had too many of the city's industrial buildings.  Or perhaps it was the heavy rain that made it look less glamorous.  

Could not resist this picture!  

 Norm and I strolled downtown for lunch and to see the sights.  There were various street performers entertaining around the waterfront celebrating Canada Day. We visited the architecturally historical section of Halifax after first enjoying Cows Ice Cream.  I have been dreaming of this particular delight since I first tasted it in British Colombia 3 years ago, and it was as good as I remembered!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Good grief!  This guy
is stuffing fire down his pants!

Making fresh waffle cones at Cow's Ice Cream

We had a very late dinner and hit the sack to the much too familiar sounds of rain on the roof.