Halifax and the Visit of the Tall Ships

Halifax is, and has always been, a major seaport of the east coast, protecting lanes of commerce between England and the New World. Fishing and seafood have been major players in the local industry. Here's a local monument to the lobster, a key to the success of that area. On Thursday 12 July we visited the downtown and harbo(u)r area.Here's St. Paul's Church, the oldest protestant church in North America, founded in 1749. And directly across the square from the church is the City Hall, a magnificent structure indeed.


Every year there is at least one large gathering of the "tall ships", relics or replicas of the sailing vessels of times past. This year was Tall Ships Festival Nova Scotia, and the ships began arriving on Thursday the 12th of July in rather dense fog. Friday was beautiful, however, and with our tickets in hand we visited the ships and boarded maybe twenty of them. The crews were very helpful and friendly and happy to have "landlubbers" aboard so they could show off their crafts. They came from all over the world: Germany and India as well as Canada, UK and, of course, our own USA This replica of a privateer used during the War of 1812, is flying "Old Glory" of that year, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."

There were pirates there also; in fact, "Pirates: Facts and Fancy" was the theme of this year's festival.Here Meg has captured two of the scurvy dogs! Or, is it the other way around?

The Bounty was in port, too. Originally constructed and commissioned for the filming of the 1962 movie with Marlon Brando, she was most recently seen being swallowed by a sea monster in Pirates of the Caribbean 2. She looked pretty good for all she's been through!


Here's Jon, inspecting the guns on one of the ships. As each ship entered the Halifax harbor she saluted the crowd with cannonfire, much to the thrill of us all!

On the last day, Monday the 16th the ships left Halifax harbor in a "parade of sails." Quite a spectacle! They split up from there and groups of them went to smaller harbors around Nova Scotia, in order that more people could enjoy the festival.

Well, even the best of days must eventually come to an end. Weariness overtakes enthusiasm, and we start back toward the campground. But it's not always easy to know exactly what to do when you're driving in a new town:

Wish you were here!!

Roger and Meg