Citadel, Public Gardens, Halifax Seaport June 25, 2019 |

Halifax is a very large seaport city with lots of city traffic. Modern technology makes it easy to navigate the one way and curvy streets.

‘The Citadel is a huge structure with stone walls many feet thick. It was built to protect the Halifax Harbor which is a critical harbor to Nova Scotia and to Canada as a whole. The Citadel has never been attacked but they did practice a war game during the war of 1812 with the US as the enemy. In that scenario the US won. There were many exhibits and staff in period clothes practicing drills, shooting and canon practice. The Citadel also houses a great military museum that spans 300 years of weapons, and other military artifacts. This was a wonderful way to spend 4 hours.

‘We left the Citadel and drove a few blocks to the public gardens. The gardens were established in 1867 and it is the only surviving authentic Victorian Gardens in North America. The azaleas were in full bloom along with many other species. The gardens encompass 16 beautiful acres and when you go stop and have a coffee or ice cream at the shop on the grounds. A great place to have a picnic.

The Boardwalk along the Halifax Seaport and especially pier 21 which houses the Seaport Farmers Market is an eclectic assortment of retail and specialty services. We walked the boardwalk from Pier 21 to the Privateers Wharf where we saw the first bank building in North America and the oldest building in Halifax, the Privateers Warehouse. Along the way we enjoyed people watching and street musicians. Halifax is a great city to visit, bulging with friendly people, history and interesting sites to see.