Summertime in Nova Scotia
A new place for us, and another country to add to our "list of places traveled" - CANADA! We were in Halifax; Nova Scotia, to be exact. It was a short four-hour flight from Iceland on the new Boeing 737 MAX plane - I was in airplane heaven.
Since we usually have a pretty flexible schedule, we often don't buy round trip tickets - we prefer to see where our energy is, closer to leaving home or leaving wherever, to see what we want to do. Halifax wasn't even a thought when the summer started, and this summer, there were A LOT of options on the table - we could meet some friends in Paris, visit the west coast, go on a Caribbean cruise, etc etc. We decided to book a 7-night Caribbean cruise to hang with my brother and sister-in-law for the week, so we had some time free after our Iceland trip. Hence, Halifax: Isaac found a really cheap deal to get there from Iceland, so we swung through Nova Scotia for a five day visit!
It ended up being a lovely and kind of weird trip, in its own way. We stayed at an incredible Airbnb that was really well appointed, had won architectural awards in Canada, and really inspired us for the future home we will either build or buy one day. :) I think it was a little weird to me because Isaac was pretty sick most of the week, and he got my buddy Devan and me sick as well. (Isaac wants you to know that he's sorry!) So, while we were in a fantastic, quaint and surprisingly liberal town, we were mostly taking it easy as we took care of ourselves. :)
We were able to visit Peggy's Cove, which was a short 50 minute drive from Halifax. If we are visiting a city that doesn't have good public transportation, we always rent a car. Isaac, the trusted driver extraordinaire, is amazing at the wheel. He once drove a large RV in south New Zealand on the left side of the road - what a legend! I was scared shitless, so I'm grateful that he wasn't. HA.
Anyways, we spent a day walking around Peggy's Cove, checking out different shops, being some of the many tourists in the area. All while sniffling and coughing and pouring rounds of hand sanitizer.
We stayed in a pretty gay-centric neighborhood - I am beginning to love those. There is a sense of safety and inclusion and normalcy that comes with staying in a neighborhood that is 100% accepting, and vocally accepting, of the queer community. I am going to write about our favorite gay-friendly places we stay on our travels and have it be an ongoing series. :)
It was the beginning of Pride month in Canada / Halifax, so we saw rainbow flags EVERYWHERE. I'm not kidding - EVERYWHERE! Grocery stores, gas stations, banks, ship yards, bathrooms, cars, etc; the town was decked out and it made me so happy. What a special time to be alive.
With us being sick, we spent a lot of time working and relaxing. What's really nice about finding cool Airbnbs is being and working in an inspiring place. Isaac has been working really hard on creating a new app on Shopify - Mechanic. It's an automation app that helps merchants automate mostly anything for their online store. His other app, Locksmith, has been really successful on the Shopify platform, so it's an exciting time for him and his team. He will write more about his projects soon, but in the meantime, check out his company's website - lightward.com!
Randomly, on a tour, I learned a fun fact about Halifax: after the Titanic sank, four ships were sent out from that port to recover hundreds of bodies of the humans that were lost. Around half of those recovered were buried at sea, while the others were taken back to Halifax and some were even buried there in the town. I have always been fascinated by the tragic story of Titanic, so it was really interested to visit such an important landmark in her story.
Overall, a really really chill week for us. We spent time eating, exploring a bit, working and resting. Thankfully our friend Devan was there to keep us company, even though he was sick as well. :) I think visiting Halifax during the summer is a PERFECT time to visit as the weather is temperate and lovely. Apparently it's cloudy/rainy over 300 days in Halifax. So, I'm glad we went in the summer because I LOVE THE SUN. :)
Thanks for sharing Halifax with us. :) Up next on this blog: cruising the Caribbean!
Onward and upward,
Abe and Isaac