Nova Scotia translates from Latin as New Scotland. Briefly called Nova Francia and New Caledonia, from French and Gaelic, Nova Scotia started as a Canadian province on July 1, 1867, on the day Canada became a country. The Province of Canada, which later became Ontario and Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined on that day to form the Dominion of Canada.

Established in 1749, Halifax now houses 45% of Nova Scotia’s residents. Like Los Angeles, the city has a longer name, though no one uses it. Officially, that’s Halifax Regional Municipality, and kind of like LA, it refers to a region in addition to an actual city.

Some Interesting HaliFacts

  • The city hires trained falcons to keep seagulls from pestering boardwalk visitors.
  • The donair, a take on the döner kebab, originated in Halifax. Created by Velos Pizza in 1971, this version of the Middle Eastern sandwich featured a sweet sauce made with condensed milk, sugar, garlic and vinegar. In 1973, King of Donair popularlized their version of the handheld meal and it eventually became the offical food of Halifax.
  • Canada had a 999-year lease for [Point Pleasant Park][ppp], paying the British government one shilling annually. At some point, ownership transferred to Canada. In 1994, a pipe bomb was discovered in a park trash can and defused by police. The Loki 7 terrorist group claimed responsibility, but that group turned out to be a single person. School teacher Roger Bell planted several bombs between 1988 and 1996, stating his motive was “revenge at society.”
  • Two ships collided in 1917. The resulting explosion destroyed much of the nortern part of Halifax. Until the advent of atomic weaponry, this marked the largest manmade explosion, equivalent to 2.9 kilotons of TNT.
  • The Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market has operated continuously since 1750, making it North America’s oldest.
  • A cannon fires from Halifax Citadel, at noon, daily. This helps people set their timepieces, supposedly. It has fired daily since 1857.
  • A city with a high number of pubs per capita, Halifax has drunken lampposts. A quirky artwork at Bishop’s Landing has one lamppost lying on the boardwalk and another that pukes (sprays water) into the harbor.

Rather than hanging out at the boardwalk, near the ship terminal, we rented a car to explore the countryside. Did not take many photos because it rained most of the day.

Three Churches

We drove out to Mahone Bay, a town with an interesting feature. Along the waterfront stand three churches, St James’ Anglican, St John’s Evangelical Lutheran and Trinity United. In 1861, Presyterians built Trinity United, no longer content to share Union Meeting House for worship with Lutherans, Methodists and Baptists. By 1869, Lutherans had their own church on the waterfront. Presbyterians moved their church to the waterfront in 1885. The Anglican services started in their church by 1887. In 1925, the Methodist and Presbyterian congregations, well, congregated, with the combined churched named Trinity United. Today, the three make for a nice photo.

George’s Island

Open to the public on weekends from June to November, George’s Island once served as a prison for Acadians, during the multi-year war to remove French colonists from the area. These days, people take ferries to the island to enjoy nature, have picnics and visit Fort Charlotte.