Hanging out in Halifax

L to R: Large waves, Cynthia with guide and lobster

Halifax was our favorite stop on our tour. The weather was cold, misty, and windy, but the scenery was wonderful; our guide was knowledgeable as well as good natured. During our visit to Peggy’s Cove we saw some of the largest waves of the season, and I had my picture taken with a live lobster. We also visited the cemetery in which are interred victims of the Titanic disaster.  Since Dave and I find cemeteries interesting, we were delighted to wander among the graves, reading the remembrances. All in all, it was one of the better shore excursions we experienced on this trip.

Long before Halifax was established, the Mi'kma'ki, one of Canada’s indigenous peoples, thought of the area as their ancestral lands. The

Public Gardens in Halifax

Mi'kmaq lived in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island long before the Europeans came in 15^th and 16^th centuries to set up fisheries. The area was full of wildlife, water, and good places to settle, so the Europeans established Halifax in the mid-1700s, displacing the local populations. The British quickly followed and, of course, a war ensued between the Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French (who were living rather calmly together) and the new British Protestant settlers. Life went on, with the city growing and becoming more prosperous. However, in 1917 the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship carrying munitions, struck the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo in "The Narrows" between upper Halifax Harbor and Bedford Basin. The ‘Halifax Explosion’, flattened the Richmond District of Halifax, resulting in the deaths of nearly 2,000 people and causing injuries to another 9,000.

About 25 miles from Halifax lies the scenic town of Peggy’s Cove. This small town was established in 1811 through a land grant to six families of German descent. Living where they did, the settlers relied on fishing, but also began farming, and cattle grazing to support the population. This

Top L to R: Fishing boats, Peggy's Cove
Bottom L to R: Light house, Old cannery

early community supported all sizes of boats, a church, a general store, a lobster cannery, and a schoolhouse. The town didn’t stay rural long; tourism arrived in the form of artists and photographers. And the tourist industry continues to support the town, although Peggy’s Cove remains a fishing village with the catch including lobster in season. The gorgeous landscape is the result of glacial action on 415-million-year-old Devonian granite. The lighthouse sitting in the middle of these glacial erratics adds to the charm of the town. Unfortunately, Peggy’s Cove was the site of the 1998 Swissair disaster. One of their airlines crashed into Margaret’s Bay, killing all 229 passengers. People involved in the search and rescue response first came in privately owned boats from Peggy’s Cove and other near-by harbors.

RMS Titanic was the largest ship on the seas at the time she began service; she was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. Early on the morning of April 15, 1912, during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City, she hit an iceberg

Titanic victims' graves in the shape of a ship

and sank. This resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers and crew. The CS Mackay-Bennett, the first ship to reach the site, found so many bodies that they quickly ran out of embalming supplies, and only embalmed bodies could be returned to port. Thus, the captain decided to transport only the bodies of first class passengers; the many third class and crew victims were buried at sea. John Henry Barnstead, Halifax coroner, devised a detailed system to identify bodies and to protect personal possessions. Because of this, families were able to identify the victims and to have the bodies shipped home to North America or Europe to be buried. Of the bodies returned, about two-thirds were identified; those unidentified victims were buried with numbers based on the order in which they were found. All body collection was not immediate: in mid-May 1912, RMS Oceanic recovered three bodies in a Collapsible life boat that had floated over 200 miles (320 km) from the site of the sinking. The last body recovered was that of a steward, James McGrady, Body No. 330; it was found by a Newfoundland sealing vessel on May 22^nd. In June, one of the last ships searching for bodies spotted life jackets supporting bodies, but they were disintegrating, releasing bodies to the ocean depths. Of the more than 1,500 Titanic victims, only 333 bodies were recovered. Fairview Lawn, Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch cemeteries are the final resting places of the victims from the Titanic sinking. With the advent of DNA identification, several of the victims have been disinterred and their bones tested. This has led to identification of several bodies.

Having gone as far east as we were allowed, we left Canada headed for Boston and New York City – back into the USA.

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