Halifax Bound for Two Nights

 

We are up early and packed up the car.  I made a reservation at a lovely restaurant for brunch today.  All local food and it did not disappoint.  It is called The Flying Apron in Summerville.  Check out these amazing eggs Benedict. 

Here is our routing today.  

We booked two nights accommodation in Halifax at the Lord Nelson Hotel and Suites.  It is located right across from the Halifax Gardens and they had a great rate for Nova Scotians.

I did upgrade to a Garden Suite that had a separate living area and a view of the Gardens across the street.

It was a lovely room and we so enjoyed the air conditioning.  Again we are going through a heat wave at the moment.

Right away I notice two things.  There is only one remote, but each room has a tv.  Also the internet WiFi signal is almost non existent.  Kind of reminds me of the old days on cruise ships (or at least not any I have been on in a while).

I call down to the front desk to report both issues.  They promise to resolve both right away and to call the IT guy.

The remote appeared soon, but the internet signal was horrible.  You can see in the picture below the door to the suite.  I had to stand at the door just to get one or two bars.  Sitting on the couch or in the bedroom I had no signal.  I could see that the router was in the hallway about 40 feet away, but there were a few doors and an alcove in between that I am sure was causing issues.  

We walked down to the waterfront and enjoyed a lovely meal and a stroll.

We went out for dinner and when we came back the signal was still nothing.  I will deal with it in the morning.

The next morning I notice that there is a sign on the desk for the guests from the manager.  It states if you have any issues please email her or call her and then her details.  So I phoned and left a message.

We then went out for the day.  We did some shopping, some touring around and then again because of the heat we were wiped out.  Back in the room around 3 pm and still no signal.  By now I am frustrated.  I emailed the manager and no response.

At 5 pm I called back down to the front desk and stated my ongoing issue.  Of course they had no record of it.  I asked for a WiFi booster to be installed.  The IT guy appeared (who was also the guy that checked us in)  He agreed the WiFi signal is poor and installed a booster at the desk.  

I am disappointed that the hotel did not deal with the issue on my first two requests.  This style room obviously needs a booster and the fact that they promote this room for business trips where you can work from the room is sad.  

The hotel overall was lovely, the rooms were very clean, the location was great and staff wonderful.  Would I stay here again? Maybe, but probably just in a regular room.  

We had a great time in Halifax.  We have a lot of friends and family here in the city but this trip we decided to just focus on us. There will be other trips to the city.

I know there are tons of great things to do in Halifax.  We have cruised here four times. We have stayed here numerous times and played tourist.  Make sure to search the blogs for our previous stays here and what you could do if you only had a night here.

On the Tuesday morning we were up at a crazy hour!  Like 4 am!  We both were awake and decided well we may as well head home.  We actually were missing home.  In the car by 5 and home by 9:30 and that included a stop for breakfast.

We had a great staycation in Nova Scotia.  We really really really like the Valley and plan to go back.  For now we are going to focus on the house, the garden and preserving all the food that the garden is putting out.

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Saturday August 8 - Bay of Fundy

After a yummy breakfast with a nice coffee we are ready to take on the day.

It is another HOT day.  We are into a long hot stretch.  I think it has been like two weeks with no real rain and in the 30s every day.  It is even hotter down here in the valley.

It is great having the hot weather, but whenever we are wandering outside it does zap the energy levels.

We head East to Windsor and visit Fort Edward.  A small but important fort, or what remains of the fort.  We walk around and learn more about this fort.  

It was a fort set up by the English in this strategic spot to protect possible attacks from the Acadians to the newly acquired Halifax.  It was also an area where some of the Acadians were taken to and then departed from to places around the world.

I also learned that this was a spot where the first Jewish battalion came and was trained.  From that first group the first premier of Israeli came from.

We tried to visit a museum here but because of Covid they are limited to how many can enter and a family had just entered.  We took a seat outside on a bench.  But after 15 minutes we gave up.  Just too hot to sit outside and wait.

We park downtown and check out some of the stores.  A few are open, but most close around 1 pm on Saturdays.  Small town vibe.

After an iced coffee we set off to the Bay of Fundy Interpretive Center.  The Bay of Fundy has the biggest tides in the world.  This site offers an excellent vantage point to actually see the tide rushing in. 

So these pictures are how it looked when we arrived at the center. 

Make sure to check the tide schedule for the appropriate time to visit.

When we arrive you can see the sand bar, and the pylons, and the sides of the banks.  See picture above.

You can see the water rushing in and within a few minutes the sand bar is covered.

Then you see the pylon filling up with water around it.

Soon the whole river is covered and the sides of the bank are rising.  CRAZY.

We pull out our lawn chairs and enjoy the view with some cheese and crackers and fresh strawberries.  Damn life is good.  A small snack to tie us over.

We drive back to Wolfville and search out a place to eat.  

We end up at a Japanese/Chinese/Thai restaurant.  It was okay.  Certainly have had better but it hit the spot.

Back at the airbnb we open up a bottle of wine and relax outside watching the last few golfers on the 9th hole.  We discuss our plans tomorrow and when to head out.

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Luckett Vinyards

My sister in law had mentioned this place recently and so I added to my google map for a place I want to go to while down here.

It is close to Wolfville, but in the country.  The Valley view from the vineyard takes your breath away.

They are all set up for Covid and the gentleman that greets us is very friendly and immediately says Bowne Party of two?  We are lead to a table right on the edge of the vineyard.  Ahh .... 

Our server comes over and introduces us.  She is very helpful with advice on the wines.  She even says that if we try the wine and don't care for it we can switch it for something else.  

Now for those of you who don't know Pete Luckett originally came from Britain and settled in New Brunswick.  He started a fruit/veggie stand in the local market that really took off.  He opened other stands.  They became very well known.

He then started appearing on the local morning shows/news shows.  He would always end his segment with Too da loo.  

He sold his stores to Sobeys and moved out to this region.   He opened this vineyard about ten years ago.  

The Bistro offers special fresh cuisine.  

We start with a bowl of the carrot curry soup for me, and Bernie gets the Caesar salad.  Mine is great, Bernie found the Caesar over dressed but very tasty.

For my entree I had some chicken with a cherry onion chutney - to die for and Bernie had a steak with peppercorn butter which he raved about.

We are stuffed, we actually can't finish our entire meals and no room for dessert.

It was a lovely meal and I look forward to coming back some time.