Finally, I have reached the end of the line. So far 6119 km traveled by train from Vancouver to Halifax and I still have a week left to go. The train arrived early by about 25 minutes so I decided to walk around the block. I saw Pier 21 as the train entered the terminal so I thought I could kill some time by walking there. Unfortunately my time estimation was way off and I left Mark waiting and wondering where the heck I was for about 20 minutes. Sorry about that Mark! I got introduced to Jack who is close to Alex's age then we went for a small tour and went back to his house where I was greeted my Erika his wife and his daughter Katie. I'm informed that the plan for the evening is to go to Marks parents place for a Walsh family dinner!
Dinner with the Walsh Family
I felt like I was an honorary Walsh for the night. They were extremely welcoming of this trouble maker from the West. I saw Margo, Mark's sister, who I partied with at Celebrities along with the rest of the Vancouver crew (Moya Walsh was privy to the party as well). It was a pleasant way to begin my stay in Halifax.
A Day as a Maritimer
The next day Mark was off on a business trip to Egypt. I tried to feel bad for him, but I just couldn't. So the first part of the day he was getting to leave so I occupied my time by helping Jack build some lego. Jack seemed to enjoy my mad spaceship making skills. I don't know why, but that's the first thing I think of when deciding to make something with lego.
Erika knew we didn't have much time for touring so she chose the most representative location that everyone should see when they are in the maritimes for the first time. Peggy's Cove is a small fishing village about 30 minutes outside of Halifax. The town signs greets you with the population count of 40. As you pass the beautiful quaint fishing shacks and homes along the waterfront you come to a giant parking lot. It was cloudy and windy, but that just added to the experience. We walked along the rocky shore for a while and I soaked up the environment. Seeing the Atlantic ocean felt like a symbol of how far I was from home. It's that giant blue spot nearly on the other side of the globe! After taking my touristy pictures we went inside the restaurant to have some gingerbread cake which is the local tradition. We also checked out the Swissair memorial for the crash that happened in 1998.
For dinner we went to McKelvies, because in my natural demanding nature, I wanted lobster. Another "Happiest Man in Canada" moment occurred. While eating the delicious arachnid I was reminded of the Simpon's episode where Homer buys a one pound lobster with the intent of growing it into a full grown one and eating it. He ends up loving the lobster like a pet and names him Pinchy. Homer decides to give the lobster a bath in boiling hot water and the episode ends with Homer eating Pinchy and crying out "Oh Pinchy, you're so tasty!". I exclaimed the same phrase except replace Pinchy with Snappy because I forgot the name. Jack seemed to think it was the funniest joke in the world and he and Katie had the giggles for the rest of the evening. I'm happy to say I was there for Jack and Katies first sampling of lobster.
The next morning Erika was out because she was helping with Katie's field trip. Robert, the contractor who was installing their cabinets, kindly offered to give me a lift downtown! How's that for a taste of East Coast friendliness. Not only did he give me a ride, he gave me a little tour as well. He had a pretty thick maritime accent and was fun to just hear him talk.
First item of the day is Pier 21. This is the pier where over 1 million people immigrated to Canada. My grandpa came through this pier so it was interesting to actually have some real connection with the place. I didn't realize that only 80,000 people immigrated from the Ukraine. It may not seem like much, but it was in the top 10 countries of origin. Just off the pier is George island where over 3000 people camped on at one time. Because the immigrants had a limit of $50 they could bring, some managed to pack their entire house with them. They would use the planks of their home to create the crates for their belongings! I tried to look up my relatives but I don't think their database has the correct spellings. If only I had known the name of the boat they were on and the date I could get the manifest of the ship.
After Pier 21 I head out along the waterfront to enjoy the view and eventually get something to eat. The wind is extremely strong on the water and made it very cold. I had some good Halifax hair going after I was done. I found a place called the Split Crow pub and had the seafood chowder and a beer. As expected, it was delicious. Not feeling up for braving the wind for hours I went to the casino. It was nice to not have to wait in line for an open seat and saddled up to the $1/$2 no-limit cash game. I picked the players that I thought I could do the best against and walked away a few hours later up $75.
The other major attraction I wanted to see was the Citadel. I manage to climb up the hill just as they were closing for the day. Very disappointed I walk back down and begin my quest to find a pool hall. I manage to find a place call Locas which looks to be the home of the Wednesday night pool league in town. It had similar tables that I play on and had a cool atmosphere. As I walked in I was greeted by the bartender Rhonda who introduced herself right away. She was extremely pleasant and every time I was at the bar she would introduce me to others around the bar. I can tell it's hard to be alone in this city. I play for an hour or so on my own and invite a guy from the bar to join me. He's an amazing player and is trying to get a professional pool circuit going in Halifax.
It was starting to get around dinner time and Rhonda recommended Salty's as a decent spot. I walk down there and have a feast of fish and chips along with a beer. Pairing beer with that kind of food was a bad idea because I was so full that I thought my stomach was going to burst. I decide to walk off the meal for a bit and enter another pub called the Old Triangle. Apparently this is one of Mark's favourite watering holes. It was busy for a Tuesday night and had a good atmosphere to it. I had a pint there and walked back to Locas for some more pool. I played some 9 ball for another hour or so and sat at the bar to chat with Rhonda and any other locals that were willing to chat. I ended up talking to a fellow named Jerry... well, he did most of the talking. He's first chef at the restaurant Murphy's and he told me his story of his hardships in a wonderful maritime accent. We wasn't too happy with his wife because all he asked for his birthday was a case a beer and she didn't even do that for him. I patiently listened and we also discussed classic rock bands since Trooper was blasting from the speakers. I had a concert to go to so I politely excused myself and made my way to the Frigate to catch Heavy Meadows.
Once I got to the venue I noticed something strange. No line up, and the doors were locked. I asked a couple people around me what's going on and none seemed to know of a concert happening there. I ended up going to the bar next door called Tribeca. They said some band was going to play there so I figured I might as well check it out. The room was a really cool venue but I really couldn't get into the band. They started off with a Bob Dylan cover and also a The Band cover. Both great songs and covers but not exactly what I was in the mood for. I decided to call it a night at that point.
Pimp my Taxi
I hail the first cab I see. My luck attribute must be high because I got the cabbie that is very well known in Halifax. Inside the cab are Christmas lights, and fuzzy dice that glow. He has neon lights on the dash, a pink neon antenna, and police lights. He also has an mp3 player head unit with a 10GB harddrive attached. Richard the cab driver owns this car and just needs to attach the meter and the magnetic cab sign to the top when he's working. It was a great way to end the night.
Except the night wasn't over just quite yet. While trying to pay for the ride and take pictures at the same time, I forgot the camera in the cab. I discovered this as I was explaining the taxi to Erika and was going to show her the pictures. I had no idea what the number is for Richards cab or the company, so I bring out the yellow pages and look forward to a night of lots of phone calls. I call the first number I see in the book and ask them about Richard the neon cab driver. The person puts me on hold and says that his cab company is called Dusk till Dawn. One more call and I got a hold of Richard! I couldn't believe my luck that I would get his number withing minutes of trying. Within 30 minutes Richard is back at the house with my camera. He even refused full fair for returning it, but I insisted. I wish I had interview skills because he would have been a treat to interview for some kind of radio segment.
The next morning Erika dropped me off at the Citadel a few hours before my bus leaves for North Sydney. This turned out great because the weather was a lot better and I got do a quick walk around the place. As I was leaving I caught the 12 o'clock cannon. It was pretty cool to be in one of the first fortifications in North America. Afterwards I kept walking to the bus terminal and got ready for whatever awaits me in Newfoundland.