Halifax and environs

By Glen Bruels

After our overnight train trip from Quebec City (which was quite fun), we arrived in Halifax. It was the first time for both Deb and I, so we really had no idea what to expect. It is actually a lovely city that, from the amount of development we saw occurring, must be doing quite well. With a number of colleges and universities, it is also quite a young city. It also routinely ranks in the tops in the top 3 “quality of life” cities in Canada. The city and the nearby coastline are all very picturesque.

A little breakfast after a restful night on the train.
A very nice “soldier” that is guarding Ft. George at the Citadelle, the highest point in the city. This fort has undergone at least four major reconstructions over its life and today is a living museum. The “army” that staff the fort are mostly college students and are all very friendly and helpful. Sadly, I couldn’t get this Corporal to sell me her ostrich headdress.
These are actually signal masts — the one on the left for commercial interests and the one on the right for the military. Because of their commanding position, the soldiers could see what ships were approaching and send of the right flags to let the merchants in the city know when to come down to meet their ships. Clever!
Sgt. Deb of the Royal Canadian Mounted Yaksmen, celebrating her musketorial performance. Her instructor looks on with a combination of pride and relief.
I can see the gears in Deb’s head turning: “Maybe I can get a shot off while the gun crew is busy…”
The view from the Citadelle. Beautiful city and waterfront.
In the Citadelle gift shop. Certainly on my Christmas wish list!
Spring has sprung here!
A nice restaurant on the water, but not a very good bicycle thief.
Some cities have cows, some have pigs… Halifax has lobsters
Along the waterfront is the Atlantic Maritime museum which houses an amazing collection of marine artifacts, a large Titanic exhibit which includes a number of recovered items, and a working living history set of exhibits spanning boat building, model making, etc. Here, a new figurehead being carved at the maritime museum.
We wanted to see the area around Halifax, especially beautiful Peggy’s Cove — about a 30 minute drive outside the city. This is one of the most photographed places in Canada. In addition to the beautiful harbor, the coastline is marked by hug slabs of granite have probably been here for 350 million years. So why was it named Peggy’s Cove? Well, I heard at least three different stories on that while we were there, so the short answer is I have no idea (I don’t think they do either…)
The lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove. An iconic photograph of the area.
Amazing granite formations, with houses built right on them.
While a fair amount of the economy of Peggy’s Cove is shifting to tourism, there still is a robust fishing and lobstering industry here. Here they are keeping the lobsters nice and chilled until it is time for them to be in my belly!
A beautiful carving by local artist deGarthe. He was better known for his paintings, but he was working on this fishermen’s memorial until the time of his death.

But the thing that struck me most about Halifax is the amount of tragedy that they have witnessed or experienced. The people of Nova Scotia lived with almost continual war for nearly 200 years as France and Britain fought for control of North America, with this area serving as their base. But beyond war, along the rugged coastline of Nova Scotia where storms can whip up suddenly and fiercely, there have been up to 25,.000 shipwrecks, many with tragic loss of life. The fishermen of Halifax and surrounding communities have been the ones who had to retrieve the bodies and bear witness to the suffering. But it hasn’t only been ship tragedies. Shortly outside of Halifax is where SwissAir flight 111 went down and once again, the locals were pressed into service. But in addition to witnessing tragedy, they have experienced it. In December 1917, a collision between a French cargo ship carrying munitions and a Belgian relief vessel in Halifax Harbor caused the largest explosion on record before the advent of nuclear weapons. The explosion leveled a good portion of the city, killing 2000 and injuring 9000. What is amazing, however, is that the city of Boston came through in a big way, providing significant aid to help Halifax rebuild (pat yourself on the back, Boston!).

Along with scenic Peggy’s Cove, we visited the memorials to a couple of local tragedies. The White Star line suffered multiple tragedies in this area. Everyone can remember the Titanic, but few are aware of the S.S. Atlantic, a steamship that ran aground at speed into the rocks near Halifax. Of the 952 passengers and crew, 562 perished — including every woman and child (save one young boy). Ironically, they segregated passengers and all the women and children were in the bow where the ship collided.
Once again, the locals had to man their boats and both rescue survivors and recover the dead. 277 of the dead were buried in a mass grave here.
Amazingly, this plaque of the ship survived
The next stop was the memorial for SwissAir 111. The three slashes represent 111, but are also angled to link to a similar monument across the bay that then triangulate to the crash site.
As we arrived back in town, we stopped to see one of the Titanic graveyards. Of course, the Titanic was the White Star Line tragedy that everyone remembers. It was boats from Halifax that went out to recover bodies from the site of the sinking. 150 of the bodies were buried in three cemeteries according to their known (or assumed) religion. Here at the Protestant cemetery, the graves were arranged in the shape of a ship’s bow.
One of the hardest recoveries was that of an unknown (at the time — later identified by DNA) young boy. The crew that recovered his body were so grief stricken, they carried his body to his burial and paid for his headstone. His shoes are in the maritime museum.
Look at the stone in the middle. Yes, it’s that Jack. Why didn’t you let him on the deck chair raft, Rose?! There was plenty of room!

Anyway, we were definitely impressed with Halifax.

This entry was posted in Canada, Nova Scotia, Travel
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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