Family Visit

Halifax and Family,

Today we were in Halifax and it was an absolutely wonderful sunny day.

We began by watching the sunrise and enjoying our view of George’s Island  lighthouse which was right in front of our balcony. Soon we were entertained by Theadore tugboat and he passed in front of our balcony.

We spoke to Valerie on the phone and it was agreed that we would meet in front of the Nova Scotian Hotel at noon.

While waiting for time to pass we chatted with Elizabeth and Gwen. Both seemed really happy to hear from us.

Then we made our was ashore and shopped around in the cruise ship center for awhile. There were some crafts but a lot of it was resellers. Ken was quite excited to find a book about Maude Lewis which was written by one of his former students. It took very little convincing to have him purchase it.

We met Valerie and Barb and Barb’s husband John as we said we would and they took us to Barrington Street where we decided on a restaurant called Henry’s as a good place to have lunch. Henry’s is on the registry of haunted places in Halifax but the ghost did not make an appearance while we were there.

The food was good but the conversation was better. When we three are together time loses its meaning and we visit as if no time has passed since we were children together. (Ken was with me and so John had someone to visit with, because usually he can’t get a word in edgewise.) we grew up 3 doors apart and I was often at Aunt Et’s and Uncle Tom’s playing school in their basement or going on hikes with all of the other children from the neighborhood. So many wonderful memories.

Soon it was time to go , Valerie had to go out of town on court business  on Saturday and Barb was as busy as usual so we only had a couple of hours to visit. But on the way back to the ship they took us to a Superstore where Ken was able to buy some yellow eyed beans. We can’t get them in Abby and Ken loves to use them to make his home made beans.

My ankle was feeling pretty sore and tired by then so they drove us back to the ship and we said our good byes.

 That was a great visit and a highlight of our stop in the Maritimes.

Back at the ship we were treated to a performance by the RCMP pipe and drum band. This was great and everyone seemed to enjoy it. So many of the ladies were anxious to pose with the officer in his red serge.

Gee it is time to go to eat again…!!!:-)

Did You Know??

James Arnold, the fifth son of Benedict Arnold was educated in Nova Scotia and he masterminded the initial plans for the design of the famed Citadel Fort

Halifax is home to the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, the world’s largest Oceanographic institute.

Halifax is also a major North American Medical center and the locally based IWK Children’s Hospital has been recognized nationally for superior medical services.

Halifax is home to six universities with large enrolments.

Halifax is the half way point between the west coast of North America and Europe as the distance between Halifax and Victoria,BC on the west coast of Canada is 2785 miles and the distance between Halifax and London England is a very close 2881 miles.