Monday, January 18, 2016

Ain't No Halifax Girl

13 June 2015
Halifax, Nova Scotia

We had a slow-moving cloudy morning before making it to the Citadel of Halifax by noon for the cannon firing.   We were way-off in thinking that we almost missed the only reenactment of the day – this place was one constant reenactment.  There were people marching around in multiple kinds of uniforms and kilts, carrying everything from weapons to pipes and drums.  (And, interestingly, the musicians were also the best-dressed soldiers back in the day).  There was even an exhibit that allowed visitors to fire blanks out of actual old war rifles! 

After watching the changing-of-the-guard, we left the Citadel to grab lunch in downtown Halifax.  Turns out we finally found a legit Scottish pub – The Loose Cannon – where Matt finally got his haggis.  I ordered the bangers and mash for myself, and the girls had fish & chips again.  Only they mostly just eat the chips part… and whatever’s on my plate. 

We walked around town after lunch and did a little consignment shopping on Vintage Row before strolling through the public gardens.  The gardens were prettier than I expected, and also much busier – it was prom night for three local high schools, and apparently this is the place to go for photos.  It made for some good people-watching, fashion-critiquing, and conversation.  Sissy liked all the ball gowns too. 

On our way to dinner, we stopped in a little square with some live music where the girls danced around with some other kids their age.  We had dinner at a place called Salty’s on the waterfront, (we were literally out on the dock), but the food wasn’t anything special, as expected.  It was pretty much just a tourist trap with a great location.  The food was mediocre and the effort to keep the girls happy in such a crowded outdoor venue wasn’t worth the squeeze.  We’ve really benefitted by having most restaurants being largely empty, allowing them to shake some of their sillies out.  Also, with the time change, it was still pretty late in the evening for them to be out.  Knowing this has been our trend, we put them in jammies for the car-ride home, and little E was passed out before we got back to the Casita.

Gear used today:

The Citadel:  Both the City Mini GT Double and the Ergo.  The Citadel grounds are covered in loose gravel, and it put the GT tires to work getting up the gravel ramp to the roof level.  I don’t think the regular City Mini tires would have handled it nearly as well, if at all.  (The only other stroller I saw there was a jogger, which obvi would have been fine too).  Eloise went in the Ergo when we did the Army museum part of things for her nap - we were able to fit the stroller through the handicap-accessible doors on one side of the building, but we decided to leave it parked for the interior rooms, as it wouldn’t have fit through the archways upstairs anyway.

Downtown Halifax:  Just the City Mini GT Double.  We even left Eloise in there to eat lunch at the Scottish pub, since we ate al fresco and they had no high chairs.  When we got to dinner, she sat in a real high chair and we left the stroller near the hostess desk.

Car Potty:  I’ve forgotten to mention this in previous posts!  Our Fisher Price folding car and travel potty has been nothing short of fabulous.  We’ve (and I mean that in the plural – mommy and Sis are on the same bladder sched.) used it in the tailgate, the front seat, the Casita, (though we also brought along her Boon potty as a more permanent Casita commode), and it even has a seat cover detachment that can be used on public toilets too (though I haven’t done that yet with it).  It uses plastic bags that you can just dispose of when you’re done, and then the potty itself folds up and fits under a seat.  Highly-recommended space-saving car potty.



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