I toured the Citadel but found I was a bit too early so I found a cafe that functioned as an internet centre, convience store, and anything else you needed. People all said hello as they came in. Lisa, the co-owner has quite a steady stream of regular customers. She even gave me an apple when she found out I had biked across the country. It was an extremely tasty piece of fruit!
I sat there about an hour before heading down to the pier and stumbling upon the Alexandre Keiths Brewery Tour. I would need to get to that later as first I was going to the Maritime Museum. It is an impressive place! I admired the exhibits on sailors who had sailed around the world alone and usually in tiny boats and who questioned why they had undertaken the trip. Many of their quotes resonated with me. The sailboat is something I have always admired and dreamed of doing. Maybe for the next sabbattical! :) I also liked the Titanic exhibit and was surprised at the Halifax connection. Many of the survivors and victims were brought here and the bodies, if not claimed, were buried here. They had the actual shoes from a baby who was found in the water and I think that they actually identified him recently through. Apparently, when rescuing or recovering, sailors will take pieces of the wreck and make something from them. There was an assortment of wooden games, crafts, and art made from the Titanic debris. The museum also has a deck chair from the wreck. Many sad stories. Not too many apparently because Hasbro came out with the board game Titanic in 1976. The race was to get off the ship and if you were a 1st class piece, you were automatically closer to the boats to start compared to the 3rd class who started their pieces in the bowels of the ship! I would have liked to sit in on that game pitch! And then you figure, they had to convince someone else it was a great idea and the thing went into production! Set amongst the true stories and wreckage of the ship disaster, it is shockingly tacky! The gentleman behind me said, Whats next, the game of Dauchau. Give it enough time.....Sadder still is that the game reincarnated as Abandon Ship which was a family favourite of mine at the cottage. Substitute the sand, shrubs, and rocks for the different classes of passengers and you have got the same game!
The next favourite part of the museum was the Halifax Explosion. Until you see the pictures and realize the extent of the damage, its hard to appreciate the extent of the blast. Interesting stories come out of this section too. Crew from the munitions ship scrambling to the shore as their ship burns and rescuing a women and her baby even though she didnt understand what was going on. The wireless operator who knew he was toast but decided to send a stop message to a train coming into the city just in time before the harbour exploded. I hadnt thought about the blast effect of clearing all the water and carrying and lifting debris for kilometers around! Out of all this damage though, a small miracle-the Alexander Keith Brewery was protected from the blast by the Citadel Hill. At the end, I finally see the gibbeted pirate hanging above the ticket wickets. It is the actual skull of the pirate Edward Norton along with a fake skeleton hanging in a wire cage. Apparently, the spot where I ended my trip was near the spot where they tarred, feathered, and caged these criminals to hang and rot in the sun and they were posted as warnings to others. Black Rock was the spot in Pleasant Point Park. The pictures of Hurricane Juan in 1996 were also impressive-Im so glad I wasnt cycling through here that year! My only criticism of the museum was that they didnt have those wooden cutouts where you could stick your face through. You know, a scene from the ship sinking or a one from the blast...that would have made the museum complete.
The tour at the Brewery is quite neat. The centre courtyard is done in old brick and you feel like you have stepped back a bit in time. A gentleman dressed in period clothing (1863) starts you off on the tour and in character. The tour is one long commercial for the beer but done with lots of dry humour. A good time. Different characters take over and lead you through the brewery. The highlight of the tour is the tasting and entertainment. They sing us a song, tell us a story, ask where we are from relative to 1863. Prince George was not around so apparently, I am from the Rupert Islands give or take 800 kms. It is a bit like watching a class being taught as they are trying to move people through in 3o minutes segments so they encourage us to toast and lift our mugs several times to speed up the tour. A little hokey but still enjoyable and the red Keiths was excellent.
Now, my evening went a little astray since I was going to see the ghost walk but due to the weather, I suspect it was cancelled. I was waiting for it in the Red Stag next to the Brewery. I had several more samples of Keiths and wrote postcards while I waited. For those of you who received them, I apologize if the writing was scribbly or messy. I also delighted in texting my friends a particularly crude joke about the maritime museum which I am prohibited from repeating here due to my high standards on good taste and morality! A guitar player came on about 7 and I stayed for a few tunes before heading home in the rain. Disaster almost struck when I found the back door of the host had been locked but I was rescued minutes into my plan to sleep in the old coal cellar. A dry place is not looked lightly upon now. Today (13) I find myself in a moral dilemma. I m to meet my Dads friend Gary Macey in Mahone Bay today but I discovered that Valdy is also playing tonight. I dont usually like to name drop but we have played on the same stage together as we did a festival in Terrace in 2005 while I played with the Lakeside Ramblers. Still not sure what to do. Also, Im to give a talk to a group of elementary school kids on Tuesday and I am not sure if I should go with my biking shorts presentation or just my regular shorts. I feel a little of the realism is lost when I am out of my official cycling gear. Decisions, decisions....