[ back ]
Cruising � Fall Foliage, Part 2: Halifax, Nova Scotia Can
(by Lanny Dragon - November 17, 2008)
Fall Foliage in Canada 2008 was just a little past its peak when our cruise ship, the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Spirit, tied up at Halifax harbor that Tuesday morning. The air was clear and a crisp 57°F with a gentle breeze across the water. Our other family members, Bill and Laurie, were doing a shorter tour to Peggy’s Cove, a scenic coastal town and the location of the commemorative marker for the air tragedy of Swiss Air Flight 111 of September 1998.
Halifax has a history of disaster association. The graveyard of the Titanic victims lies in its city limits and was featured in James Cameron’s movie. Less than two miles away was the site of one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions in history when two military ships, the French munitions ship, Mont Blanc, and a Norwegian relief ship, Imo, collided in the narrows of the harbor and caught fire. The 1917 explosion leveled buildings, shattered windows and killed or injured thousands while rescue workers struggled to avert the disaster.
The city, with its star-shaped fort, The Citadel, and its many shops and restaurants, is a major tourist destination in the Canadian Atlantic Provinces.
Called Nova Scotia for its Scots-English settlers, the province was a fishing and agricultural center in the New World. The first settlers in the area, the Acadian French, were driven out by the mercantile and political policies of the English. The Acadians moved westward to Montreal and south as far as New Orleans to found the Creole culture in America. Perhaps you remember the poem Evangeline which chronicled the struggle.
Judy and I had spent time in Halifax before, so we opted for a longer seven-hour tour to Mahone Bay and Lunenburg. We had an early wake-up call for breakfast and waited to clear Canadian customs. Every border crossing and entry is more complicated since 9/11, and bureaucrats love to be in charge!
The late start meant a shorter visit in Mahone Bay, but the drive there was scenic and wonderfully narrated by our guide. His pride in his area was well deserved, and he moved up and down the aisle of our motor coach answering questions and sharing photos from his two small albums of local highlights. He warned us that our first glimpse of Mahone Bay would result in a collective “Wow!” He was right!
Picture a small bay with glassy smooth water capped at one end by a colorful boatyard of multi-colored boats, ringed by quaint ships and cottages and crowned by the steeples of the three main churches located side by side, all reflected in the mirror-smooth water of Mahone Bay. If that wasn’t enough, add hundreds of stylishly decorated scarecrows in full costume, with painted life-like faces and arranged thematically all over town.
Is it any wonder that the producers of actor Tom Selleck’s new Jesse Stone detective series have chosen the area as the locale for his show. It feels like a blend of Tom’s earlier Hawaii and Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove!
With tours as with cruises there is rarely enough time to see everything, and with a heavy heart we left Mahone Bay fifteen minutes before the ice cream and candy shop was due to open. Scarecrow photos of Charles and Camilla, the sultan and his harem, pirates, a bride and groom and even the entire cast of the 2008 U.S. presidential hopefuls did not quite replace a chocolate sundae.
Lunenburg was about fifteen minutes away. This city was founded by German Protestants brought in to dilute the numbers and influence of the remaining French Catholics. The city was located on a hill with a prominent black and white four story school building. Most houses featured widow’s walks and the Lunenburg “nose,” or projecting and partially enclosed front vestibule, which allowed the house occupants to step out and check both ways before committing themselves to a direction of travel.
We took the walking tour down from the school past the city hall adjoining a church, whose minister also served as mayor, down to well-ordered streets to the waterfront. A wonderfully appointed maritime museum competed for our time with a local café and the café won. Food was fresh and tasty and served by an enthusiastic wait staff. We purchased the obligatory post cards and remarked about the friendly shopkeepers and their end of season sales.
There were spots of color everywhere from garishly painted houses and neighborhoods, making it possible for returning sailors to see their homes all the better, to the leafy hardwoods putting on a last display of fall color.
The “down Easter” had learned to live with nature and to enjoy it. He fished the Grand Banks for cod, tuna, lobster, blue fins and shrimp and fed Europe’s Catholics on meatless Fridays and the days of Lent. He drank his beer and grog and maintained a reputation for honesty, friendship and frugality. Nova Scotia is beautiful country and Nova Scotians are wonderful people and neighbors.
Our next Digger article continues the voyage southward to St. John, New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy. The ship sailed at night, and a starry sky with seas of two to four foot swells made a restful end to our first day of touring. Look for Part 3 in a later Digger.
[ back ]
