Come with me to Halifax...

Our tour guide claimed this was the most photographed spot in North America.  I would argue with him, except I know I've seen puzzles that looked like this ...

Brent had a Board of Directors meeting he was sent to by his company last week - same meeting we went to Whistler for last year, and the Bahamas last spring, and Toronto a couple of years before that. 

We flew out on Wednesday - leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. and not arriving in Halifax until 10:30 pm or so.  Yes, it was a long day of flying and being stuck in an airport (Toronto) longer than we had planned.  But we finally got there, found a terrific cab driver who didn't even scare me, and made our way to the Marriott we were staying at.

The next morning we went on a tour of the Halifax area that included a stop at Peggy's Cove where the picture at the top was taken.   Here are a few more pictures from that very quaint little fishing village:

 Other photos can be found by clicking here.

I think I was more fascinated with the ocean than anything else, however.  It was angry on Thursday, lashing out at the shoreline with vicious slams of waves that had been churned up hundreds of miles off shore by Hurricane Katia.  It had been raining all morning, too, so there was a misty fog hanging around the Cove - which I thought was just perfect.  Isn't that what a fishing village is supposed to look like?

Poor unknown tourist who just happened to turn and see me snapping this picture of the waves .....

We returned to Halifax and had lunch at Murpheys on the harbor - very close to our hotel.  The tide was very low by then.  Halifax has what is known as a diurnal tide - it goes in and out twice in a 24 hr period rather than once like most of the rest of the world.  That helps keep the water warmer in this northern climate so even in the coldest weather the harbor never freezes over.

I loved the artists who, I assume, were students from the art academy near by.   They were positioned all along the wharf, and I was jealous.  I had almost packed a sketch pad and some pencils, but there really wasn't room.  So I took their picture instead.

Artists drawing on the wharf outside of Murphey's Restaurant.

On Friday Brent had meetings all day, so I took a walk along the wharf to see what I could take pictures of.  I took a lot of pictures, but thought this seagull looked especially intriguing - first of all because it was a different color than the gulls in Utah, and secondly because I watched it pluck what looked like a piece of garbage from the water.  I wanted to see what it was going to do with it.  First of all, it carried it for a little while almost like a whistle in its beak (above).

Then it put it back in the water and washed it off, before grabbing it again.

Silly bird.
Then it tossed the "garbage" in the air and swallowed it whole in one large gulp.

It wasn't until later when I was able to enlarge the picture on a computer screen that I realized with a start what it was actually eating:

Poor baby starfish.  Such is the life of the food chain on the waterfront!

We had a great time in Halifax and I took a ton of pictures.  Be sure to use the link above to check out some of the rest, if you're interested.  There are a few, very few, pictures of Brent in there, too.

(Oh, and I'm trying to convince him to let me post a few of the pictures he took on my blog, too.  He has the craziest photo of a seagull I've ever seen - could swear it was a cartoon and not a real photo.  Also, there is a picture of me holding the lobster - the very much alive live lobster - just had to have proof I was brave enough to hold it!  Not sure I'll ever be able to eat one again, however.  Glad that was after we had our lobster feast.)