We left PEI early Sunday and crossed the Confederation Bridge back into New Brunswick and then over to Nova Scotia. The bridge only charges you when you leave, so we had to pay the toll of $55.00 for our truck and trailer. As we drove closer to Halifax, the fog started settling in and 
we could barely see the city as we drove by. The coastal drive to our campground, Wayside RV Park on St. Margaret’s Bay was very beautiful. 
On Monday, we decided to drive into Halifax. With a population of close to 373,000,(more than one-third of Nova Scotia’s population) Halifax Regional Municipality is the largest city east of Quebec City and north of Boston. Since we arrived early, we thought a ferry trip over to Dartmouth, Halifax’s sister city, might be a good way to start the day.
Dartmouth was established in 1750, just a year after the founding of Halifax. The Dartmouth waterfront park has a boardwalk that stretches out to the east and west of the ferry terminal and provides an excellent view of McNab’s Island, George’s Island (bet you didn’t know George owned an island), and the two bridges. Just a short walk along the boardwalk brought us to the Peace Pavillion which displays historically or culturally significant stones and bricks contributed by countries all over the world. We saw a stone from the Berlin Wall
and also one from the Great Wall in China.
While we were in Dartmouth, we noticed everyone lining up along the sides of the street.
Upon asking, we were told they were waiting for the Natal Day Parade which celebrates the birth of Nova Scotia.
Once back on the ferry, and headed back to the Halifax waterfront,
we passed Theodore Too. Based on a popular TV show, this world renown tugboat offers tours that bring the big harbor to life.
Throughout the year, the waterfront bustles with events and activities, such as today when everyone was on hand for the celebration of Natal Day.
Dozens of performers offer free entertainment, and believe me, San Francisco has nothing on this town as far as hilly streets go!
I was seriously puffing by the time we walked to the Public Gardens, about 12 blocks from the
wharf area. Begun in 1836, the 17 acres are a wonderful place to enjoy the shady tranquility of a bench.
Winding pathways lead past duck ponds,
sparkling fountains, stately trees and formal floating flowerbeds.
There is also a charming red-roofed bandstand in the center of the cool oasis, where bands give free concerts.
It was so tranquil and beautiful here. The Dahlias were in bloom and enormous 
and the serpentine flower beds were vibrant with color. 
While in the wharf area, we visited the NovaScotian Crystal studio where the old-world craft of mouth-blown, hand-cut crystal has been revived. I just had to have a small piece of the beautiful crystal with a lighthouse cut into it as a remembrance.
Since we hadn’t visited a museum in a while, we decided to go into the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which commemorates two catastrophes – the Halifax Explosion and the “unsinkable” Titanic. The museum also displays over 20,000 maritime artifacts, providing a vital link between the city and the sea and seafaring life.
On December 6, 1917, the Norwegian ship, Imo, collided with a French ammunition ship, Mont Blanc outside the mouth of the Halifax Harbor. At 8:45 a.m., Imo’s bow struck the Mont Blanc, tearing her hull and creating showers of sparks. Fire broke out quickly spreading through the ship. Taking to lifeboats, Mont Blanc’s crew roared frantically towards shore. The Captain, pilot and five crew members of the Imo were killed. All the crew of the Mont Blanc survived. The huge column of black smoke with flames bursting thru, attracted crowds of spectators. Slowly the burning ship drifted toward Halifax and came to rest at Pier 6. Seconds before 9:05 a.m., the Mont Blanc blew up. There was such terrific force that one gun barrel landed more than 3 ½ miles away. Not one piece of her remained beside the dock where she had finished her voyage. Fragments rained on the surrounding area, crashing through buildings with enough force to embed them where they landed. Churches, houses, schools, factories, docks and ships were destroyed in the swath of the blast. A thick fog filled with soot and oil shrouded the area. The wooden buildings turned to cinders and the town was ablaze. The death toll rose to over 1,700.
Vincent Coleman worked at the station in the Richmond rail yard only a few hundred feet from Pier 6 where the Mont Blanc drifted ashore in flames. Warned of her explosive cargo, he returned to his telegraph key to stop incoming trains. He was killed by the explosion but his message was heard by every station from Halifax to Truro, alerting the Canadian Government Railway to the imminent disaster. The Railway was able to respond very quickly sending 6 relief trains to Halifax the day of the explosion with medical help and firefighters from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Help poured in from far and near. Maine quickly sent a completely equipped expedition and set up a temporary hospital. Over 12,000 homes were damaged and 6,000 people were left without shelter.
The official inquiry opened less than a week after the explosion. The captain and pilot of the Mont Blanc and the naval commanding officer were charged with manslaughter and released on bail. Later the charges were dropped because gross negligence causing death could not be proved against any one of them. In the Nova Scotia District Court of Canada in April 1918, the Mont Blanc was declared solely to blame for the disaster. In May, 1919, on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, both ships were judged equally at fault. Thus no blame was ever laid in the largest man-made explosion of that time.
The years passed and the city’s scars gradually disappeared. New homes, schools, churches, factories and docks replace the desolation that had existed. Every year the Province of Nova Scotia presents a Christmas tree to Boston in gratitude for their help after the explosion.
The second really interesting area of the museum was about the Titantic. As we all know, on April 10, 1912, the Titanic left on her maiden voyage with over 2,200 passengers and crew members on board. Four days later, she struck an iceberg south of Newfoundland. She sank in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Just over 700 survivors in lifeboats were rescued by the Carpathia and taken to New York. What we didn’t know,was that the White Star Line, which had offices located on Hollis street in Halifax, commissioned four Canadian vessels to look for bodies in the area of the disaster. Two of these ships, the Mackay-Bennett and the Minia were cable ships based in Halifax. The four ships were able to recover 330 Titanic victims. Many were buried at sea, but the remaining bodies were brought to Halifax the closest major port to the area of the sinking. All of the Titanic victims, thought to be Protestant, were buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, just outside downtown Halifax.
John Henry Barnstead, Deputy Registrar of Deaths, improvised a remarkably thorough identification system for the bodies brought back to Halifax. They were numbered as soon as they were pulled from the sea and all personal affects were put into bags. Further details (tattoos, clothing, jewelry) were noted and photos were taken at the temporary morgue. (This system was later used during the Halifax explosion in 1917).
Though we had seen some of the Titanic exhibits previously, this museum had a couple of artifacts we had never seen before. The first was a pair of small brown shoes
. These shoes were saved by Clarence Northtower, a Halifax police sergeant in 1912 who helped guard the bodies and belongings of the Titanic victims. Clothing was burned to stop souvenir hunters but he was too emotional when he saw the little pair of brown leather shoes and didn’t have the heart to burn them. When no relatives came to claim the shoes, he placed them in his desk drawer at the police station and there they remained until he retired in 1918. Many researchers now believe that the shoes belonged to the two year old son of Alma Paulson, a third class passenger traveling with her four children, who all perished.
Another unique artifact was a complete deck chair made of mahogany and other hardwoods that bears a carved five-pointed star, the emblem of the White Star Line.
Having relived the catastrophe of the Titanic, we decided to drive down to Fairview Lawn Cemetery – the final resting place of her victims!
We learned that since the Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, and given the freezing temperature of the water, it was believed that most of the victims died of exposure soon after the sinking. Therefore, all the gravestones have the inscription “Died on April 15, 1912.” The numbers on the gravestones are the number that was assigned when the body was found. Some gravestones don’t have a name, because in many cases, there were no distinguishing marks or personal belongings that enabled a positive identification. However, thanks to careful research based on details provided in the Coroner’s files – a number of the Titanic victims have been identified in recent years. A few of the stones are larger because the families, friends or other groups assumed the cost. The White Star line purchased a section of land in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery and paid for small black granite headstones engraved with the name and/or number of the victim and the date of the tragedy.
There were over three times as many men (including the crew) on board the Titanic as there were women. However, the percentage of women who survived was much greater. In fact, because the Titanic’s crew tried to give preference to women and children, over half of the 705 survivors were women and children. Four of the 19 female victims recovered are buried at Fairview.
At the top of the first row of the graves, is a small vertical monument with the following etched on it - “Created to the memory of an Unknown Child”.
The body of this very young child was one of the first bodies recovered by the seamen from Mackay-Bennett. Profoundly moved by this sad event, the crew of the Mackay-Bennett asked to sponsor a memorial service for the “Unknown Child”. The service was held on May 4, 1912 at St. George’s Round Church and the crew purchased the headstone for the child. The Coroner’s records and the passenger list combined to later identify the child as Gosta Leonard Paulson, age 2 years, who was traveling with his mother, Alma and his brothers and sisters. Alma’s grave is located directly across from her son.
About one-third of the victims remain unidentified at this point.
The City of Halifax also has many other interesting attractions. We only touched the tip of the iceberg. We did stop by Pier 21 which is Canada’s “Ellis Island”.
In the decade immediately following World War II, Canada received about 1 ¼ million immigrants from Europe. The newcomers consisted of dependants of returning Canadian servicemen and people dislocated by the conflict and its aftermath in their homelands. Most of them arrived by sea with Halifax serving as the major point of entry. The immigration shed was opened in 1928 and closed in 1971.
Halifax also has a star-shaped Citadel and at midday, cover your ears – the firing of the noon-day gun is a Halifax tradition dating from the late 1800’s.
On the way back to our campsite, we decided to take a quick tour to Peggy’s Cove. The graceful lighthouse sits high upon the smooth wave-worn granite of the coast and is a revered symbol of the sea-born spirit of Nova Scotia.
We’ll come back here tomorrow when we do our coastal shore drive. Just west of Peggy’s Cove, a short walking trail leads to a stone monument at the Swiss Air Memorial Site, 
in memory of the 229 lives lost when Swiss Air Flight 111 crashed into the bay September 2, 1998. 
Tomorrow we’ll drive along the South Shore Lighthouse Route to see some more of the magnificent harbor views. Nova Scotia is definitely a very beautiful province.
we could barely see the city as we drove by. The coastal drive to our campground, Wayside RV Park on St. Margaret’s Bay was very beautiful. On Monday, we decided to drive into Halifax. With a population of close to 373,000,(more than one-third of Nova Scotia’s population) Halifax Regional Municipality is the largest city east of Quebec City and north of Boston. Since we arrived early, we thought a ferry trip over to Dartmouth, Halifax’s sister city, might be a good way to start the day. Dartmouth was established in 1750, just a year after the founding of Halifax. The Dartmouth waterfront park has a boardwalk that stretches out to the east and west of the ferry terminal and provides an excellent view of McNab’s Island, George’s Island (bet you didn’t know George owned an island), and the two bridges. Just a short walk along the boardwalk brought us to the Peace Pavillion which displays historically or culturally significant stones and bricks contributed by countries all over the world. We saw a stone from the Berlin Wall and also one from the Great Wall in China. While we were in Dartmouth, we noticed everyone lining up along the sides of the street. Upon asking, we were told they were waiting for the Natal Day Parade which celebrates the birth of Nova Scotia.Once back on the ferry, and headed back to the Halifax waterfront,
we passed Theodore Too. Based on a popular TV show, this world renown tugboat offers tours that bring the big harbor to life. Throughout the year, the waterfront bustles with events and activities, such as today when everyone was on hand for the celebration of Natal Day. Dozens of performers offer free entertainment, and believe me, San Francisco has nothing on this town as far as hilly streets go! I was seriously puffing by the time we walked to the Public Gardens, about 12 blocks from the wharf area. Begun in 1836, the 17 acres are a wonderful place to enjoy the shady tranquility of a bench. Winding pathways lead past duck ponds, sparkling fountains, stately trees and formal floating flowerbeds. There is also a charming red-roofed bandstand in the center of the cool oasis, where bands give free concerts. It was so tranquil and beautiful here. The Dahlias were in bloom and enormous and the serpentine flower beds were vibrant with color. While in the wharf area, we visited the NovaScotian Crystal studio where the old-world craft of mouth-blown, hand-cut crystal has been revived. I just had to have a small piece of the beautiful crystal with a lighthouse cut into it as a remembrance.
Since we hadn’t visited a museum in a while, we decided to go into the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which commemorates two catastrophes – the Halifax Explosion and the “unsinkable” Titanic. The museum also displays over 20,000 maritime artifacts, providing a vital link between the city and the sea and seafaring life.
On December 6, 1917, the Norwegian ship, Imo, collided with a French ammunition ship, Mont Blanc outside the mouth of the Halifax Harbor. At 8:45 a.m., Imo’s bow struck the Mont Blanc, tearing her hull and creating showers of sparks. Fire broke out quickly spreading through the ship. Taking to lifeboats, Mont Blanc’s crew roared frantically towards shore. The Captain, pilot and five crew members of the Imo were killed. All the crew of the Mont Blanc survived. The huge column of black smoke with flames bursting thru, attracted crowds of spectators. Slowly the burning ship drifted toward Halifax and came to rest at Pier 6. Seconds before 9:05 a.m., the Mont Blanc blew up. There was such terrific force that one gun barrel landed more than 3 ½ miles away. Not one piece of her remained beside the dock where she had finished her voyage. Fragments rained on the surrounding area, crashing through buildings with enough force to embed them where they landed. Churches, houses, schools, factories, docks and ships were destroyed in the swath of the blast. A thick fog filled with soot and oil shrouded the area. The wooden buildings turned to cinders and the town was ablaze. The death toll rose to over 1,700.
Vincent Coleman worked at the station in the Richmond rail yard only a few hundred feet from Pier 6 where the Mont Blanc drifted ashore in flames. Warned of her explosive cargo, he returned to his telegraph key to stop incoming trains. He was killed by the explosion but his message was heard by every station from Halifax to Truro, alerting the Canadian Government Railway to the imminent disaster. The Railway was able to respond very quickly sending 6 relief trains to Halifax the day of the explosion with medical help and firefighters from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Help poured in from far and near. Maine quickly sent a completely equipped expedition and set up a temporary hospital. Over 12,000 homes were damaged and 6,000 people were left without shelter.
The official inquiry opened less than a week after the explosion. The captain and pilot of the Mont Blanc and the naval commanding officer were charged with manslaughter and released on bail. Later the charges were dropped because gross negligence causing death could not be proved against any one of them. In the Nova Scotia District Court of Canada in April 1918, the Mont Blanc was declared solely to blame for the disaster. In May, 1919, on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, both ships were judged equally at fault. Thus no blame was ever laid in the largest man-made explosion of that time.
The years passed and the city’s scars gradually disappeared. New homes, schools, churches, factories and docks replace the desolation that had existed. Every year the Province of Nova Scotia presents a Christmas tree to Boston in gratitude for their help after the explosion.
The second really interesting area of the museum was about the Titantic. As we all know, on April 10, 1912, the Titanic left on her maiden voyage with over 2,200 passengers and crew members on board. Four days later, she struck an iceberg south of Newfoundland. She sank in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Just over 700 survivors in lifeboats were rescued by the Carpathia and taken to New York. What we didn’t know,was that the White Star Line, which had offices located on Hollis street in Halifax, commissioned four Canadian vessels to look for bodies in the area of the disaster. Two of these ships, the Mackay-Bennett and the Minia were cable ships based in Halifax. The four ships were able to recover 330 Titanic victims. Many were buried at sea, but the remaining bodies were brought to Halifax the closest major port to the area of the sinking. All of the Titanic victims, thought to be Protestant, were buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery, just outside downtown Halifax.
John Henry Barnstead, Deputy Registrar of Deaths, improvised a remarkably thorough identification system for the bodies brought back to Halifax. They were numbered as soon as they were pulled from the sea and all personal affects were put into bags. Further details (tattoos, clothing, jewelry) were noted and photos were taken at the temporary morgue. (This system was later used during the Halifax explosion in 1917).
Though we had seen some of the Titanic exhibits previously, this museum had a couple of artifacts we had never seen before. The first was a pair of small brown shoes
. These shoes were saved by Clarence Northtower, a Halifax police sergeant in 1912 who helped guard the bodies and belongings of the Titanic victims. Clothing was burned to stop souvenir hunters but he was too emotional when he saw the little pair of brown leather shoes and didn’t have the heart to burn them. When no relatives came to claim the shoes, he placed them in his desk drawer at the police station and there they remained until he retired in 1918. Many researchers now believe that the shoes belonged to the two year old son of Alma Paulson, a third class passenger traveling with her four children, who all perished.Another unique artifact was a complete deck chair made of mahogany and other hardwoods that bears a carved five-pointed star, the emblem of the White Star Line.
Having relived the catastrophe of the Titanic, we decided to drive down to Fairview Lawn Cemetery – the final resting place of her victims!
We learned that since the Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, and given the freezing temperature of the water, it was believed that most of the victims died of exposure soon after the sinking. Therefore, all the gravestones have the inscription “Died on April 15, 1912.” The numbers on the gravestones are the number that was assigned when the body was found. Some gravestones don’t have a name, because in many cases, there were no distinguishing marks or personal belongings that enabled a positive identification. However, thanks to careful research based on details provided in the Coroner’s files – a number of the Titanic victims have been identified in recent years. A few of the stones are larger because the families, friends or other groups assumed the cost. The White Star line purchased a section of land in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery and paid for small black granite headstones engraved with the name and/or number of the victim and the date of the tragedy.There were over three times as many men (including the crew) on board the Titanic as there were women. However, the percentage of women who survived was much greater. In fact, because the Titanic’s crew tried to give preference to women and children, over half of the 705 survivors were women and children. Four of the 19 female victims recovered are buried at Fairview.
At the top of the first row of the graves, is a small vertical monument with the following etched on it - “Created to the memory of an Unknown Child”.
The body of this very young child was one of the first bodies recovered by the seamen from Mackay-Bennett. Profoundly moved by this sad event, the crew of the Mackay-Bennett asked to sponsor a memorial service for the “Unknown Child”. The service was held on May 4, 1912 at St. George’s Round Church and the crew purchased the headstone for the child. The Coroner’s records and the passenger list combined to later identify the child as Gosta Leonard Paulson, age 2 years, who was traveling with his mother, Alma and his brothers and sisters. Alma’s grave is located directly across from her son. About one-third of the victims remain unidentified at this point.The City of Halifax also has many other interesting attractions. We only touched the tip of the iceberg. We did stop by Pier 21 which is Canada’s “Ellis Island”.
In the decade immediately following World War II, Canada received about 1 ¼ million immigrants from Europe. The newcomers consisted of dependants of returning Canadian servicemen and people dislocated by the conflict and its aftermath in their homelands. Most of them arrived by sea with Halifax serving as the major point of entry. The immigration shed was opened in 1928 and closed in 1971.Halifax also has a star-shaped Citadel and at midday, cover your ears – the firing of the noon-day gun is a Halifax tradition dating from the late 1800’s.
On the way back to our campsite, we decided to take a quick tour to Peggy’s Cove. The graceful lighthouse sits high upon the smooth wave-worn granite of the coast and is a revered symbol of the sea-born spirit of Nova Scotia.
We’ll come back here tomorrow when we do our coastal shore drive. Just west of Peggy’s Cove, a short walking trail leads to a stone monument at the Swiss Air Memorial Site, in memory of the 229 lives lost when Swiss Air Flight 111 crashed into the bay September 2, 1998. Tomorrow we’ll drive along the South Shore Lighthouse Route to see some more of the magnificent harbor views. Nova Scotia is definitely a very beautiful province.
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