Halifax, by the Sea

The drive to Halifax from Kentville is less than 2 hours, on very good roads, thankfully!  We checked into the Woodhaven RV Park, just north of Halifax.  Jammed full of huge rigs!  We were assigned a site that was about 2 feet too short for our tiny Cottage, but we managed to shove the Cottage in.  Rainy and cool.  At the office, our hosts told us about the International Royal Tattoo being held this week in Halifax.  What a chance!  We gathered the maps and drove into The Big City to buy tickets.  After having been in tiny villages and in out of the way places off the tourist track for a month, this was a little bit of a shock.  Our truck is too tall, with the kayak racks on top, to get into a parking garages (note to self:  remove the danged things when not hauling kayaks!), so we circle looking for on-street parking.  Tickets are available for tomorrow night, pretty good seats, $80 for the pair.  Yippppeee!

One of the museums on our list for Halifax is the Immigration Museum, on pier 21.  Sort of the Ellis Island of Canada.  Our tour guide, Charles, is an older man who arrived from Amsterdam through this sorting facility in 1951.  What a great guide he was, with great exhibits!  Lots of photographs, faces and ships and lists of places.  Nova Scotia, New Scotland in english, also attracted lots of Italians and eastern Europeans.  Afterwards, we found Garrison Brewery on pier 20, bought a couple of bottles, and lined up in the rush-hour traffic getting out of the city. Surprise:  lobster for dinner! 

Peggy's Cove is a famously pretty lighthouse and fishing village not far from , and we prepare lunch of lobster salad and crackers for the day trip.  There is some sun!  The drive down to Peggy's Cove follows along the west side of a wide penninsula, lined with small fishing villages and summer houses.

At Peggy's Cove, the landscape changed dramatically to low granite rocks, with a few scrubby-looking trees trying to live in the rocks.  This village has been here for 300 years, houses built right on the granite.  Lobstering, tuna and mackeral fishing kept a dozen families here.  The fishing is not so good anymore, like most places, and with the famous lighthouse, it has become a tourist destination.  With good cause:  it's one of the most  picturesque places around!

While we climbed on the rocks, a bagpiper stood near by, piping for the tourists.  It was really nice. 

Inside the Village of Peggy's Cove, which is really a collection of a couple of dozen scattered houses, we found the studio of William deGarthe.  He lived here most of his life, and began at age 70 this carving in the huge granite rock in his yard.  It's 100 feet long, and depicts 32 fishermen, their wives and children, all being hugged by the wings of St. Elmo, the patron saint of fishermen, and the woman credited as the namesake of the cove, Peggy.

Picnic of lobster salad on the shore of the Bay, and back to Halifax just in time to change clothes and drive into the city for the Tattoo!  Looking, again, for parking, we found a tourist booth for Cape Breton Island.  Lucky us, she gave us lots of good info and maps for the Cabot Trail.  Having exchanged a lot of money for a parking place, we found a pub for a quick pint and snack before the show. 

Inside the arena, we found our seats in the center, second tier up.  Perfect!  The show was as terrific as advertised, more than worth the price.  Teams of military musicians performed in fabulous costumes, lot of marching and dancers in kilts and plaid socks.  The trick motorcycle team from Hamburg Germany performed; a rogue Scottish fiddling band had the crowd clapping dancing in our seats; a ukelele band from NS had us laughing and cheering;

and a corps of fine-looking soldiers from the Citadel, Charleston, SC did The States proud.









A great day, full of adventure!  Tomorrow, we hear the sky will be CLEAR, and we'll begin the drive up to Cape Breton Islands.  I'm sure there is more in Halifax to see, but 2 days of Big City is enough for now.