Haligonian Ramble

We saw a beautiful sunrise and the promise of another nice day as we started our sail in to Halifax harbor. We were looking forward to our visit since we had not been to Halifax since 1995.

A smaller Regent ship was poised to follow us into the cruise terminal.

We could see the Halifax – Dartmouth bridge off in the distance, as we approached our berth.

The Halifax Citadel is at the top of the hill. It is getting much harder to see it from the waterfront as there are a lot more tall buildings nowadays.

The busy ferries scuttle back and forth from one side of the harbor to the other.

Now approaching our berth at the famous Pier 21. Pier 21 was the receiving site for Canadian immigration from 1928 until it closed in 1971. Now redeveloped as a cruise terminal, it houses the Canadian Museum of Immigration. Over a million immigrants passed through the Pier 21 facility in its lifetime.

Big Norwegian ship berthed behind us. Halifax can handle a couple of heavyweights like us, plus the Regent ship following us in. There is plenty of room and the waterfront didn’t seem crowded.

We got off the ship and started along the waterfront boardwalk. The first thing we noticed was the number of interesting statues along the way. This one is of Samuel Cunard – actually born and raised in Halifax. I wonder what he would think having his famous line owned by Carnival.

This statue is called Volunteers and celebrates the war effort by the women of Halifax.

This one is called The Emigrant and highlights the man leaving his family behind to make a place in the New World.

The Acadia was a surveying ship that mapped out most of the Newfoundland coastine in the 1940s. Now a museum ship.

The boardwalk is something we didn’t see back when we were here in the 1990s. Back then there was harbor access from Water Street and numerous gaps along the harborfront itself.

The cable wharf originally serviced ships that were laying communication cable from the port of Halifax. Now it serves as a starting point for harbor tours.

We walked as far as Historic Properties (a harborfront feature since the 1970s.) Then we came back along Water Street passing McKelvie’s – one of our favorite restaurants in the 1990s.

A World War II Royal Canadian Navy memorial that reminded me of my Uncle Rocky – actually he hated Halifax – much preferred cruising in the Caribbean.

Another interesting statue at the Immigration Museum.

Back aboard for a final look at the Halifax skyline. We were ready to sail on to St. John – our last port of call.

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