Tuesday October 17, 2006

The morning started off by Meg burrowing into Matt at 6:30am. Then we fell back asleep until the alarm clock woke us up at 8:00am. After showering and getting dressed, we got our complimentary hot breakfast (part of the ‘romance package’ that we paid for). After an entertaining run in with the restaurant manager, we quickly packed up our stuff for the day (warmer cloths, laptop, camera, maps, and purse) and headed out of Halifax for Peggy’s Cove. We arrived there after an hour of driving (Matt driving, Meg sleeping of course) and listening, intermittently, to iTunes on the laptop. Peggy’s Cove was beautiful! We walked around the light house and up and down the rock formations for a good hour or so, before taking a quick jaunt in the gift shop (we bought postcards). We then headed back to Halifax, stopping a few times along the way to take photos. Once we arrived in Halifax, we headed to the Public Gardens on Spring Garden Road. The gardens are amazingly well-kept, and obviously well used—there were a lot of people there despite the chilly weather! We also stopped in Peel’s Pub for a late lunch before doing some window shopping in the malls nearby. From there, we went back down to the Cable Wharf and parked our car (a way better deal since it was after 4:00pm and we could leave it there for the rest of the evening for $6). We walked around the Historic District (Re: old buildings with expensive shops in them), and Meg picked up a cute Christmas ornament for our tree this year—a Santa Claus sitting on an anchor. It is pretty funny because there are huge anchors everywhere, and we have been posing and taking photos of ourselves on top/around/hugging these huge anchors. We visited Nova Scotian Crystal—the only mouth blown and hand cut crystal maker in Canada, as well as a few art galleries and tourist-trap-type shops (luckily, we did not get ‘trapped’). Getting a little hungry, we stopped to ‘Cows’ a re-nowned ice cream shop for some delicious ice cream. We stopped by the car again for a warmer jacket and the laptop, and went to the coffee house called “Perks” in the hopes of some Wi-Fi, but found none. So Meg decided to start the Honeymoon Journal, while Matt reviewed the million plus photos that he has taken so far. We then headed down to the infamous Alexander Keith’s Brewery where we enjoyed a tour of the original building and tales of Keith’s history and brewing skills. Interesting to note was that Alexander Keith made his fortune establishing an India Pale Ale for British soldiers, as their ration was one gallon a day… for vitamins of course! It was formulated to make the trip from England to India without spoiling. We got to smell some hops and barley malt, as well as smell the various stages of fermentation in brewing one of Keith’s fine ales. At the end, we sampled a bit of the brew while being serenaded by folks in period costume. After that, we headed up the harbor to Sweet Basil’s, a fine bistro where we had a fantastic linguini with lobster meat, garlic, and other great tastes. Mix that with the mozzarella, tomato and basil salad with balsamic vinaigrette and you’ve got yourself a fantastic dinner. We then asked where we might find a Wi-Fi connection, and headed out to a coffee shop back down by the brewery in the Bishop’s Landing area. We hooked up, had a cookie, and had just enough time to shoot off a couple emails and check some sites before they closed for the night. After that we walked around a bit and Meg found a new friend… a giant floral painted lobster. Don’t worry, there are pictures! As you might believe, seeing a giant floral lobster was just a bit too much fun, so we headed back to the hotel, but not before riding one last anchor that we found on the way!