Halifax, Nova Scotia: A beautiful waterfront and public gardens, and links to a pair of maritime mega-disasters

We camped four nights this past week near Halifax, Nova Scotia, a city with a splendid harbor-front boardwalk and links to the Titanic and another major maritime disaster, the Halifax Explosion of 1917.

On the disaster theme, our first stop on Saturday morning was Fairview Lawn Cemetery where 121 victims of the Titanic are buried. In the days after the liner sank, several ships were sent out from Halifax to recover bodies still floating in the frigid waters where the ship went down. Of the more than 300 recovered, some were buried at sea, others claimed by relatives, and the rest buried at three cemeteries in Halifax, with the largest number at Fairview. Many were never identified, so we saw rows of simple headstones inscribed “Died April 15, 1912,” followed by a three-digit number. The numbering system allowed the recovery team to keep track of the bodies and whatever personal items were still on them for later identification. One headstone was erected especially for “an unknown child,” the only infant body recovered. The child was later identified as 19-month-old Sidney Leslie Goodwin, the youngest member of a large family that perished and the only one whose body was recovered. During our time there we saw guides leading two small groups and a bus full of tourists arriving just as we were leaving.

At the harbor front, we walked through the shops in the Historic Properties, which were once warehouses on the waterfront. We admired the tall ships docked at the harbor and shared an ice cream cone while sitting in the Adirondack chairs along the boardwalk. Our main destination, however, was the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, where we learned a few more details about the Titanic and saw artifacts from the recovery. At the museum you can see the only deck chaired recovered from the ship. Most of the clothes on the recovered bodies were eventually burned, but somebody was moved to save the pair of shoes that were still on Baby Goodwin. I didn’t know that it is a maritime tradition to carve objects from the wood recovered from wrecks. One such “wreckwood” object in the museum is a cribbage board made from a piece of oak from the Titanic (see photo). I’d read a book on the Titanic years ago (Unsinkable: The Full Story of The RMS Titanic by Daniel Allen Butler) and toured the excellent Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN, so I knew the basic story, but I did learn a few new details, such as the fact that Capt. Smith was inexperienced with larger ships.

Another maritime disaster we learned a lot about at the museum was the Halifax Explosion. On the morning of Thursday, December 6, 1917–during World War I when Halifax was teaming with activity–the French war ship Mont Blanc was entering the harbor laden with TNT, airplane fuel and other explosives. Shortly before 9 a.m., the ship collided with a Norwegian relief ship and immediately caught fire. At 9:05 a.m. its cargo exploded in what was the largest manmade explosion in human history before the atomic bombs in 1945. It killed 2,000 and injured another 10,000 while wiping out a third of the city. It flung large pieces of metal more than 3 miles away. The bomb blast was estimated at 2.9 kilotons. The museum provides dramatic details, including the story of the port worker Vincent Coleman who knew the ship was about to explode but remained at his station to telegraph a warning to incoming trains. He died moments later in the blast. We joined a free guided talk on the disaster and watched an excellent short documentary film from the 1950s with the voices of people who actually witnessed it.

After our time in the museum we walked up the hilly streets away from the harbor for a restful walk through the Halifax Public Gardens. The Victorian-era park was full of beautiful flower arrangements, large trees and water fountains. It was one of the loveliest public urban spaces we’ve come across in our travels. From there we walked back down to the harbor front for dinner at the well-known seafood restaurant Salty’s.

On Sunday we joined the good folks at Bedford Presbyterian Church (PCA) for the 10 a.m. worship service. The pastor preached a good sermon on the parable of the sower. He told us afterwards that he is from Michigan originally, and we talked to other church members with American connections. In our four Sundays in Canada, we have twice live-streamed services from our home church, Grace OPC in Vienna, and while in Quebec City we attended the only English-speaking church in the city, Quebec Baptist Church. Most of the churches we pass by in Canada are either Catholic or Anglican, but we did count three Pentecostal churches in Newfoundland.

On Monday, our last full day in the Halifax area, we spent the entire morning watching the royal funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II. We were fortunate that we could receive TV broadcast signals for two stations at our campground, and one of them carried the entire service. Being part of the Commonwealth, the Canadian commentators were especially informative about the royal family and the ceremony. Elizabeth and I were both encouraged by the many Bible verses that were read, the traditional hymns that were beautifully sung, and the strong Christian message from the pulpits.

That afternoon we drove down the coast to the picturesque lighthouse on the granite rocks at Peggys Cove. We’ve seen a number of lighthouses on our travels the past two years, but this was one of the most striking. We had fun jumping across the rocks and looking back at the lighthouse and up the coast. This is a major tourist spot, with 10 or so tour buses parked in the visitor’s lot near the lighthouse.

From there we drove further down the coast to the historical fishing village of Lunenberg. This was a thriving fishing port in the 18^th and 19^th centuries with a number of colorfully painted houses and other buildings still standing from that era. Its harbor is home to Bluenose II, a working replica of a famous fishing vessel from the 1920s called the Bluenose. The town is so well preserved that it’s been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We arrived toward the end of the afternoon as most of the shops were closing, so we didn’t get the full effect of Lunenberg as a lively tourist destination. We did walk through its streets and admired the buildings, including the oldest house in town, built in 1760, and the beautiful St. John’s Anglican Church, founded in 1753.

* * *

Earlier today (Tuesday) we hitched up the RV and drove through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and then across the 7-mile long Confederate Bridge to Prince Edward Island. We’ll spend three nights here at the PEI National Park on the north coast. We are now neighbors to the home that was the setting for the L.M. Montgomery novel Anne of Green Gables!