Halifax and the South Shore

I'm not much for touring in cities – I prefer the national parks and other outdoor kinds of attractions. But Halifax seemed like a city I should at least take a look at, and I'm glad I did.  One of my best friends has a cousin who lives here.  She put us in contact, which made Halifax even more important.

The first day, though, I went into the city on my own.  First I did a city/harbor tour with a company that has amphibious vehicles that go from land to water and back. Kind of a fun concept, and it was a fun tour, which gave me an idea of where I wanted to go next and how to get there! The guide was a young college boy who knew his Halifax history, and shared some great stories while we were riding around. 

 

Harbor hopper

After lunch at a fish and chips stand along the waterfront, I decided that the main thing I had to see was the Citadel – the fort defending the city and harbor of Halifax. It was another beautiful day, and I spent the whole afternoon at the fort, talking to the interpreters, looking at the armaments, peeking into the various rooms, and admiring the view from the top of the fort.

Inside the Citadel

City View

The next day I met up with my friend's cousin, Frances, and after a stop at the memorial to the Swissair plane that crashed there, we went to Peggy's Cove – a fishing village south of Halifax, and apparently the #1 photographed town in Nova Scotia.  It was very pretty, the boats were lined up in the little harbor, the houses clung to the shores (some of them by the skin of their teeth!) and the lighthouse stood on the point.  What amazed me there was that the coast was smooth worn rocks – not small ones, or even medium size ones, but huge, bigger than house sized.  More like factory sized!  It was certainly a different kind of shore than I had seen before.

 

Frances!

Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Rocky beach

After a lovely lunch (lobster roll!) we headed along the coast, stopping whenever I saw something pretty I wanted a photo of, and ended up in Lunenburg, a UNESCO heritage site. The town was built on a hill, and the streets were narrow, the houses an amazing array of bright colors, and there were all kinds of different fish sculptures hanging from the light posts.  Everywhere you turned your head there was something fun to look at.

 

Squid on the lamppost

Very colorful houses. 

The next day I was on my own and went back to Lunenburg to see the Marine museum there.  It also had some fish tanks, and a touch tank – one of my favorite things in a museum/aquarium. There was also a program going on about lobster fishing which proved to be quite interesting. They had preserved lobsters that were so huge I could hardly believe it – one that they said weighed about 40 pounds and was over 100 years old.

 

One HUGE lobster!

After a night in Yarmouth, and a shore drive up the Fundy coast in the fog (couldn't see a thing) I ended up in Digby for lunch.  A high school friend had told me that they have the best scallops in the world in Digby, and she was right! Thanks for that tip, Linda!

Scallops for lunch