The skies have finally cleared, the sun is out, and we are back to wearing shorts! The sun feels so good after over 2 weeks without seeing it very much!
We have really enjoyed being in Halifax for two days, spending most of our time in the old part of the city by the harbor. They have a great boardwalk there, and we enjoyed walking along it looking at the ships and the buildings. Halifax is a city of about 400,000 that has done much to retain the character of its original city. There are many old buildings there that have been kept in good repair and are still in use today.
One of those historic buildings is the Alexander Keith Brewery where we went on a tour. This was the best brewery tour we have ever been on. It was more of an interactive play than a tour. There were four different guides, all dressed in period costumes for the year 1863, who kept us entertained for an hour in this brewery that is the oldest in North America dating back to 1820. They actually gave us two large mugs of beer for our tasting while they sang, danced, and told stories in a great stone-walled bar that had originally been Keith’s basement in the house that dates to the early 1800s.
We also visited the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. There we saw artifacts from the Titanic and other shipwrecks, lots of different boats, dozens of model ships and a model fishing village with people about 5mm high that looked pretty realistic. There were also exhibits showing the horrible disaster that took place in Halifax in December, 1917 when two ships collided in the harbor. One of the ships was carrying a load of explosives. The explosion that took place after the collision leveled much of the city of Halifax, killed 2,000 people, and left thousands homeless. Evidently Boston, the closest city of any size, sent lots of help in the form of people, doctors, building supplies, tents for the homeless, etc. In return, Halifax sends a large Christmas tree to Boston every year that rivals the tree in Rockefeller Center in height.
High on a hill above the city is a fort called The Citadel built in the early 1800s as a defense for the city. It is now a national park with lots of costumed guides giving informative tours. The best part was the military precision marches and drills preformed by about 20 young men dressed in the kilt uniform of the Cape Breton Highlanders. The men are not really soldiers. They are college students doing this as a summer job, but I’m sure they’ve learned a lot from the job, like following orders and working as a team as well as the military marching skills. They put on a special firing drill in the afternoon, showing how they could all fire their rifles at once, or one at a time in a precision drill. Along with them, we saw a company of men fire the cannon several times. It, too, was done in precision, with everyone having a certain task to do. We also saw them fire the noon cannon, something that has been done 364 days a year since the fort was finished in 1856. They related a story of how the US Secret Service swarmed around Bill Clinton when he was downtown one day and the cannon went off :) There was also a drum and bagpipe band that played many great Scottish tunes, and the Army Band of the Atlantic Provinces also took part. There was a lot of pageantry, so it was a lot of fun.
On the boardwalk we saw several different “busker” shows. This is the 25th annual 10 day busker festival in Halifax. Buskers are street performers doing acrobatics, juggling, comedy, music, etc. Five shows were going on simultaneously in different parts of the boardwalk, each one attended by a couple hundred people. Everyone was having a great time and the shows were quite entertaining. We saw one guy with phenomenal drum skills who showcased his art by beating on 5 gallon plastic pails. Using his feet to raise and lower one of the “drums” against the sidewalk while he beat on the upturned pail with his drumsticks, he was able to create a bass drum sound. He entertained us by druming on just about everything around from baby strollers, to garbage cans, light poles, and people’s heads. Another busker showed his prowess with juggling soccer balls. Others did acrobatics, leaping over 6 people at a time, or rolling around in large hoops. Some did magic, some sang, etc. They really drew the crowds to the harbor front.
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