Early April found me in Halifax. I had to attend “Human Rights” training sponsored by our union (PIPSC). I was excited to fly back there, even if it was for only a few days. It would have been better if the training had been in May (weatherwise) but it was a great time nevertheless.
I had been in Halifax in the summer of 1989, when I went camping all over the East Coast. I remembered the harbour and the historic properties on the waterfront. I also remembered walking around the Citadel. Halifax seemed smaller than I remembered it to be. It was obviously a very historical city as we came across several very old cemeteries. It was amazing to think of the history of the area, and the fact that the city was levelled by the explosion.
On Sunday we rented a car and drove to Peggy’s Cove. The weather had cleared up a bit by then. We had spent two days in amazing fog. One minute it was there all around you, and five minutes later it was gone.
With the assistance of our GPS we drove to Peggy’s Cove. It has become the icon lighthouse of the west coast. When you actually see it, it seems like so much less. It is an old weathered, wooden lighthouse which is badly in need of a paint job. The rocks around it are worn and weather beaten. I love the sound of the waves as they hit the rocks as they splash up. Many people have been washed over the rocks there and it’s not hard to see how. Apparently, everyone told us that “when you go over, nobody bothers to try to rescue you”. I can see why.
It was sooo cold when we walked around those rocks – a real feeling of desolation and remoteness. Of course the area is one big tourist trap and there was the requisite tourist shop full of tacky treasures and a very busy restaurant. The town looked exactly as it did twenty years ago, as though it was stuck in a time warp.
We were lucky enough to eat amazing food in Halifax. Lobster, shrimp, scallops…all delicious. I know the lobster we eat in the pacific northwest comes from the atlantic, but to eat it fresh fresh fresh was amazing. There is nothing like atlantic scallops. If you can say that fish melts in your mouth…. We also had some great local wine with dinner. Markat I think it was called. We ate at the Economy Shoe Factory, Salty’s and Five Fishermen which were all faboulous and I would highly recommend to anybody who asked.
I look forward to the day when I can go back to the east coast and spend two or three weeks exploring the area as I did twenty years ago. I love the east coast and still find myself missing it.