Fall Foliage Cruise: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

October 15

Had to be up before sunrise for our tour. We met at 7:10 and had to wait about ten minutes before the gangway opened. Walked through the terminal and out to our bus. We took the "Halifax Top Ten" with Linda our guide and Larry as driver.

Halifax is an important port and was the "Ellis Island" of Canada where thousands of immigrants came to be processed. It was also a place where many Loyalists moved after the Revolutionary War and also accepted a number of runaway slaves who came north through the Underground Railroad.

We drove past some of the historic buildings on the way to the Public Gardens. We walked through and saw a number of beautiful dahlias (I had no idea there were so many varieties).

After about a 45 minute ride, passing some beautiful lakes and fall foliage, we were in Peggy's Cove. It was started as a fishing village and is very picturesque. It was still very early (at least for me) and it was quite chilly with wind whipping in from the water. We had about an hour to wander around, take pictures and shop. There are only about three dozen permanent residents here and they have to travel about 25 minutes to shop, visit the doctor/dentist, go to school, etc.

Upon leaving, we headed to see a maple syrup company. They had samples of maple candy and cookies but I have not grown any more fond of the taste of maple.

Our next stop was at Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Yes, a cemetery and also one of the reasons I wanted too take this tour. When the Titanic sank in 1912, boats were dispatched from Halifax (about 300 miles from the site where she sank) to find bodies. About 200 were found and most were brought back to Halifax (some were buried at sea because of the condition of the body). Clothing and any personal belongings were catalogued along with a description of the body. 59 were identified and the remains sent to the families but others either could not be identified or the family did not have the money to pay for the body to be returned. 121 bodies were buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery.

We walked through the rows of headstones. The plain ones were paid for by the White Star Line while the more elaborate ones were paid for by family or friends. The body of an infant was found and his body was identified about 90 years after the sinking as a 19 month old named Sidney Goodwin who perished with his entire family.

There is one headstone marked "J Dawson" who many thought was the Jack Dawson of movie fame but he was really Joseph Dawson who worked in the boiler room.

After leaving the cemetery we went back to the area near the Public Gardens for a lunch/shopping break. Carolyn and Gary went to look at a shop they had heard about in one of the lectures onboard while Barbara, Tommy and I went to a pub for lunch.

Our last stop was at the Citadel, a former British fort. This was just to take pictures from a panoramic spot in the city.

We arrived back at the ship about 2:30. There were a number of vendors in the terminal and we all looked at them before getting back onboard.

Visual trivia was at 4:00. This was on famous structures and you had to name the structure for one point and the location for another. We had 26 out of a possible 30 and the winner had 27.

Then a move to General Trivia in the Schooner Bar. We had 13 correct and the winner had 14.

Q1. Which is the largest species of tiger?
Q2. What country singer was only 13 when her album "Blue" was released?
Q3. First staged in 1911, which race is held at the Brickyard every May?
Q4. In what year did the Cuban Missile Crisis occur?

We had a 7:30 dinner reservation, so I got ready for dinner and then went to the Cafe Promenade because I thought they had lemonade - they didn't. I worked on the blog while waiting for dinner.

Dinner was a huge disappointment. For appetizers, Barbara and Carolyn had spinach dip which they enjoyed. Gary and Tommy had clam chowder which wasn't very good and I had a seafood cocktail which had the driest crabmeat I ever tasted. For the main course Carolyn had pasta, Gary and Barbara had chicken, and Gary and I had sliders. Most of us were very disappointed with this, too. The Maitre d' came over at the end of the meal and we let him know it was the poorest meal we've had. On the other hand the kiwi/strawberry Pavlova for dessert was delicious.

The show was Saturday Night Fever which we had already seen and then a comedian at 10:45. Gary and Carolyn went to bed and Barbara, Tommy and I went to hear The Sofia Band play pop tunes and watch the dancing.

We gain our hour back tonight.

Trivia Answers....
Q1. Siberian
Q2. Leeann Rimes
Q3. Indy 500
Q4. 1962

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