Very Dirty with Three Olives

 May 26, 2022

Halifax, NS

Very Dirty with Three Olives

Five years have passed since the weather canceled our stop in Halifax. Today it’s bright and sunny with hardly a breath of wind so docking was easy and uneventful. We’re tied up at Pier 21, the Ellis Island of Nova Scotia. At one time, every immigrant was processed here. Nowadays the “processing” consists of a “Hi, Welcome” from yet another friendly Canadian. We were serenaded as we came down the gangway by a bag piper. Lots of Scottish influence here. Our guide, Cathy, wore a Stuart tartan kilt. Hap, the driver, said his kilt-wearing days were over. Come on, Hap, show us those knees.

Halifax is a much more commercial port and city than our previous stops. It is one of the largest natural, ice-free, deep water ports in the world. Home to nine colleges and universities and a population growing at 26% per year. Like anywhere else in the world, real estate prices are up, inventory is down, especially for rentals. Cathy breathlessly told us that rent on a two bedroom apartment in Halifax had jumped to $1800/month. That’s approximately US$1400. As current renters of a two bedroom apartment in Kennesaw, that sounded quite the bargain were it not for the location, location, location. Lots of building going on.

We stopped at the 16-acre Victorian garden in the middle of Halifax. It’s beautifully maintained by the city with a lake, gazebo, tea house, formal flower beds and 150 varieties of trees. And tulips. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of tulips in full bloom. They’ve got to be the favorite floral harbinger of spring up here. We’ve seen them in every municipal and home garden we’ve passed. After the garden we went up to the fortress on the hill above the city. This one is still an active base. Not sure if they’re waiting for those pesky French to storm the walls yet again. We missed the noon canon but we did see the changing of the guard all dressed up in a kilt, tall hat, etc. Not a real soldier but actors hired to entertain the tourists. 

And now off to Peggy’s Cove, an hour or so away on the rugged coast. As we drew closer the forests of pine and deciduous trees gradually gave way to granite. Peggy’s Cove has 35 full-time residents who live in brightly colored houses with steep roofs dotted along the narrow road that winds along the shoreline. The lighthouse is a classic white with red top, perched on massive hunks of granite rounded off by thousands of years of the blowing wind and pounding sea. The economy revolves around lobster fishing (lobster buoys in every bay and inlet) and tourism. There’s a bustling restaurant that serves lobster rolls and killer fish and chips plus a shop with the usual t-shirts, sweat shirts (it’s really windy and brisk) and other trinkets. Down the path are little shops that feature very tempting crafts made on site. I gave the local economy a boost.

Besides being the city that harbored the survivors from the Titanic, Halifax also sheltered 40 jumbo jets on 9/11. Cathy remembered the whole town banding together to provide shelter, food, clothes, etc to the passengers grounded by circumstance. She and I talked a bit about the musical telling the story of the jets who landed that day at Gander only to learn it’s now on Apple+. 

We had dinner at Canaletto, the Italian specialty restaurant on board tucked in a quiet corner on the Lido deck. In year’s past the setting and food haven’t been worth the effort, but the physical setting was revamped during the shutdown and the menu also reworked. Yummy.

Jim decided to go to the late show in the big showroom while I lolled about the stateroom. He came back afterwards to report that the  scheduled  performance by the ship’s troup was replaced by the vocalist and trio that are featured nightly in the Ocean Bar. Evidently some of the dancers had tested positive as had the cruise director. We’ve been wearing masks everywhere as have at least half of the passengers and all of the crew.

Very Dirty with Three Olives is my new go-to.