Maritime Adventure - Part Thirteen

Ohhhh....part thirteen.... K, last one for today I promise!!

Woke up Wednesday to much better weather! So I proceded with my plan to check out the Citadel and do some exploring on my own. While driving around on the Sunday I had realized how close Spring Garden Road was, and we had seen this really cool church and cemetary I wanted to check out.

So after my breaky of Special K and yummy yogurt (thanks Honey!) I got myself a cab and set out on my adventure.

It's a little wierd walking around a touristy attraction such as the Citadel when you are all alone. I just sort of wandered it a bit aimlessly, then happened upon the end of a tour that was going on so hung out with them for a bit. The fort has some cool history, but it took them so bloody long to build the last time that it never really saw any action. Coolest part was watching the regiment students practice marching and such. 30 lbs of uniform on in the blazing sun!!

I spent some time in the museum displays to keep from scorching myself in the high sun and of course had to browse the gift shop. :) Amazingly I didn't buy anything!! I did find some very cool Claddagh rings there...but that's not something you buy yourself (made mental note to tell DBF how cool they were though!).

After about an hour and a half there I decided to set out exploring a bit. I had a vague idea where I was going so I wasn't too terribly concerned. It was just nice to get out and walk around. I headed for Spring Garden Road, which is supposed to be the shopping district, etc. Mostly it's just a lot of restaurants and odd little stores....somewhat like Robson Street in Vancouver but not quite as many good stores. I browsed a bit, but didn't see too much of interest.

But at the end of the steet is the entrance to the Public Gardens. So cool!!! Just what I needed. Lovely and quiet and beautiful. Sort of like Beacon Hill Park meets Butchart Gardens. They have a small canteen in the middle of the park, so I got a coffee and sat to watch some little kids feeding pigeons. I walked around and took lots of pictures of flowers (maybe some ideas for next year's garden!) and just enjoyed the space.

I then headed out to find that massive church we had seen. Turns out it was St. Mary's Basilica. Built in 1820, it is topped with the tallest polished granite spire in Canada. 128 feet!

Across the street from there is the Old Burying Ground. Established in 1749, it is the oldest known cemetary in the area. I'm not a huge fan of cemetaries, but there were some really cool old headstones and it was a peaceful (and a little strange!) place to visit in the middle of a lot of city hustle.

After that, I just headed towards the water...walked through what I assume to be part of the University district...lots of Dalhousie buildings, historic houses, hostels, pubs, etc. I wound up down at the very end of the boardwalk so I could take a few pictures. I just kept walking and walking. :)

DBF came down to meet me after his classes, and we finally went on the tour at Alexander Keith's Brewery. We had heard it was a bit hokey, but we really enjoyed it! They've gone all out with actors in period costumes, and basically try to take you back in time to when the brewery first started. You tour through some set rooms with displays and such from the original brewery. They take you into a "tavern" to enjoy a couple of mugs of their ale and the actors sing and involve everyone in games and such. We had a lot of fun...even if some of the other people on the tour were a bit like dead fish. LOL. I'm guessing a Saturday afternoon tour would be more exciting.

We had a bite to eat in the pub at the brewery and then headed over to the Shoe Shop again to meet up with some of DBF's buddies. After my long day, I was pretty pooped, so after a few drinks we set off back for the hotel and a good night's sleep.