Museum Day and Halifax Harbour

New immigrants to Canada arriving at Pier 21.

A naval ship dedicated to all the armed forces who never returned from the wars.

Folk artist Maud Lewis.

One of three of her paintings selected by the Post Office for the festive season of 2020.

The iconic Halifax lighthouse.

Shayna enjoying the sunshine on the beautiful Halifax boardwalk.

Friday, June 10th.

We woke up to a much nicer day. We heard that Halifax received 6.6cm of rain yesterday! We had a good breakfast at the hotel and then went back to downtown Halifax. We found a parking garage and left the car for the day. We found a good tourist information kiosk and made plans. Today was museum day. First, we went to the Immigration Museum at Pier 21 where over a million new Canadians arrived by ship between 1928-1971. The museum is a history of the waves of immigrants, war refugees and war brides. There were exhibits of their stories and a couple of excellent movies detailing their experiences. Then we visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to see two exhibits. One about Halifax’s role in the Titanic disaster – some of the dead are buried here; and the other about 1917 Halifax Harbour Disaster where a ship collided in the harbour with another munition ship causing a fire and a massive explosion that demolished large parts of the city and killed thousands of people. We also saw an exhibit about the disastrous Franklin Expedition to the Canadian Arctic where all the explorers perished. Then we went to the Nova Scotia Art Gallery to see the exhibit about Maud Lewis. If you have not seen the movie Maudie, staring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, I highly recommend it. She was a Nova Scotian folk artist who was stricken with juvenile arthritis. She lived in a tiny one room house with her husband and loved to paint. She painted cards that they sold, then eventually paintings that the public loved. After their deaths the small house was stored and displayed here because it is filled with her art. She painted everything inside, from the walls to the stove. Then we went for an early dinner at The Bicycle Thief Restaurant, recommended by a friend. It’s named after an old movie. We had a great seafood pasta meal. Then we wandered around the beautiful harbour boardwalk. It is a hive of activity with shops, eateries, and bars. Plus, it has lots of places to just sit and enjoy the sites of the harbour and the weather. We sat at an outside bar and had a drink before wandering around a bit more to find our car. Then we drove back to Dartmouth and the Comfort Inn from last night. We were out and about for over 10 hours.