My Summer Cruise, Part 2: The Ports

Pier 1, Port of St. John. Our parking spot for the day.

On Thursday, June 6th, 2013, I woke to a bright, sunny day. It was about 6am EST, and looking out my porthole window, I start to see land. It's the second full day of the cruise and we are coming into the first of two port days: St John, New Brunswick.

St John--not to be confused with St Johns, they get very particular about that--is a small city with a population of 68,000 in the city proper; it is the largest city in the province. It is nice, but there's not much to do there except shop or head off for the Bay of Fundy. I did the bay last year, so I stayed in town. There are a good number of bars and restaurants, a craft fair, Farmer's Market, and the Brunswick Square Mall. There's even an old time General Store. The people are very friendly.


Since I had no particular rush to get off the ship as I was not on a group tour, I disembarked around 9. First stop, I needed to get to the mall as I heard about a store called the Little Shop of Science (those of you who know me well can see why this would be important.) And it's a little shop indeed, chock full of science toys, books and games.

After leaving the mall, I wandered around the park, past the University of New Brunswick-St John, and headed over to Barbour's General Store (www.barbours.ca) . This "old fashioned" general store and museum has been in operation for several generations and is a famous St John spot. Here I discovered something very delicious- and healthy- Barbour's own brand of almond butter with cinnamon. The roughly 14oz jar I bought cost $10 US, but it's definitely worth the money. So good.

Last stop, the Farmer's Market. This is a a great place to walk around and see some nice local crafts and food.

 

St  John Farmer's Market

You only need to be in town for a few hours to see it, in fact I was back on board in time for lunch, but it is a great place to take a break from the ship.

The next morning, Friday,  started with a bit of rain, but the ship's weather report said that it should clear early and be a sunny warm day--that, in fact, was the case. It's our second, and last, port day: Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Halifax, nicknamed by the locals as "Hill-ifax" or "The San Francisco of the North", is quite the hilly city with a population of 390,096 (2011 figures), is the largest city in eastern Canada, and is the seat of the provincial government. It's also home to the nearest North American airport to Europe.

Once again, I leave the ship around 9, but this time I'm going on a walking tour of the city. The tour, which will take about 3 1/2 hrs is lead by Jim, a former art teacher who grew up nearby.  We get on the bus for a quick drive to the Public Gardens, and will walk the rest of the tour from there.

 

Jim and the gang

The Public Gardens is a very beautiful place, although with my allergies, I wouldn't be able to spend the whole day there unless I planned ahead. The flowers and trees are perfectly manicured, however, as Jim told us,"Everything is left natural. No feeding, watering, or fertilizer or mulch. It either makes it or it doesn't". This is on purpose, he says. Once planted, the beds are manicured and weeded, but otherwise, nature just does what it does.

 

Halifax Public Gardens

The other interesting thing about the Gardens is down the center line, both sides are perfect mirror images.

As we leave the Gardens and head on the way to the Citadel, Halifax's old fort, we hear the story as to why Halifax has a close connection to Boston, Massachusetts.

They call it the Halifax Explosion. On December 6, 1917, 8:45am, the Belgian relief ship Imo was departing Halifax for New York when it collided with the French munitions ship Mont Blanc, which was coming in to wait for its convoy. The Mont Blanc was fully loaded and the resulting explosion killed nearly 2000 people and entire sections of the city were destroyed as the fire spread after the Imo crashed into Pier 9.

Boston's role here? Well, Boston was the first US city to send help. This is why Boston's official Christmas tree always comes from Halifax. Even all these years later the tradition continues as Halifax's way to say thank you. And it's a big deal for the Canadians too. If the tree comes from your land, you get to make the trip down to the States with the mayor for the lighting ceremony.

A few minutes later, we have climbed the hill to the Citidel and arrive just in time for the Changing of the Guard. In keeping with old tradition, the sentry at the gate is relieved every couple of hours and it is quite a show as the orders are given. Just before this (it's now local noontime) the ceremonial firing of the cannon takes place.

We didn't get a chance to actually go into the Citidel, but I certainly will when I go back. There are lots of great hotels in town, and it would be worth the trip to stay.

Changing of the Guard, Halifax Citidel

 



Working our way back down the hill to the boardwalk along the ocean front, you can see how the city's grid is laid out. All major roads work up the hill from the ocean, so it is easy to see where you are.

The tour has ended, but I'm not going back to the ship just yet; there is still one more stop to make. I have to get my Beaver Tail.

No, not an actual beaver tail...but the fried dough goodness that was probably the least healthy lunch of my life. I get a #9--peanut butter, chocolate, and Reese's Pieces. Yummy, yummy.                                                                                                 



With a full stomach, I wend my way a mile along the boardwalk and back to the ship. It was a good two days in Canada, and looking forward to going back.

In keeping with ancient tradition, the Nova Scotians see us off with a song on the bagpipes and drum.