Check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Completed: December 4, 2018

In 2001, the first Harry Potter movie was coming out in theatres and as a class project we read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone book. We even got sorted into houses; I got put in Slytherin. Ever since then I have enjoyed the Harry Potter series and have read all 7 books at least 3 times and have all the movies as well. So when I heard that Universal was making a land based around the JK Rowling series at their Florida location, I knew I had to go at some point. My cousin, Kiersten is a big fan of the series too and has even met Matthew Lewis (who plays Neville Longbottom).

We decided to dedicate two days to going to Universal Orlando. Kiersten and I got park-to-park tickets so we could go on the Hogwarts Express which was really cool. It was a long wait but worth it. Our first day at Universal was on the Friday of our trip. There was so much to take in when you walked through the brick wall to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I asked an employee at the London train station where Diagon Alley was and they didn't know so I was glad to see them playing their roles. It is narrow walk ways so even though it was not as busy as it is some other times, it was still difficult to move around and see everything especially since we didn't get one of the special wands that do 'spells'. We did see a wand ceremony at Ollivander's and got to go into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes where we both got some candy. That night, we stay to watch the fireworks and light show they have on the castle.

On our last day in Florida, we went back because we didn't get to see everything in the HP world and I also wanted to buy a few extra things including postcards to send to my family. I tried Butterbeer for the first time, got the frozen kind which was really sweet so I had a hard time finishing it. We also went into Zonko's and watched a couple of the HP themed performances.

I really wanna go back and spend more time because there was some stuff that we didn't get to do. I didn't do any of the rides because they are all roller coasters and the one I thought I might've been able to do, a few of my friends said that they got sick on it because it moves you around like you're flying so I decided against going on it. It was the one in the castle which I really wanted to see the detail inside so I thought I was out of luck but there was an exit ride before the ride.

The attention to detail was really well done, it was exactly how I imagined Diagon Alley to look like. They even had snow on top of the shelves since it was late November when we went. 

Burger Week 2019

Photo - Burger Week 2019 Facebook page

I love my city and my province. Every year, Halifax has Burger Week towards the end of March which raises money for Feed Nova Scotia. It has grown to be really big with over 140 restaurants participating in 2019. Each place has a special burger for the seven days, most times one that is just for this event and most will have a donation made however there are about forty restaurants that have $6 burgers that do not include donations. These places I guess have to put money towards the cause themselves to participate. Restaurants are all over the city with a majority in downtown Halifax but a number are in Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, Clayton Park, etc. The 7th edition, Burger Week 2019 was held from March 28 to April 3.

I tried six actual burgers while there was also a cute burger macaron. Here are my thoughts on the ones I tried. 

Stop #1: The Old Apothecary - Bug Mac(aron) $7 (FeedNS donation $1)

This was one I wanted to try last year but didn't get a chance to pop in. The Old Apothecary is a bakery on Barrington Street in downtown Halifax. When I saw they were having their macaron again, I stopped in before I went to meet my mom. You got a package of three for $7 with one dollar being donated to Feed NS. The description says 'a dessert burger with a flavour combo of chocolate, vanilla, bacon, maple, bourbon and peanut butter.' I wasn't sure what to expect as I've never had a macaron before but it was pretty good. I could really taste the chocolate ganache that was in it. 

Grade: 5/10

Maple Bacon Burger

Stop #2: Clay West Bar & Grill - Maple Bacon Burger $6

My mom and I went to this one together for lunch. We had their burger last year which was the Smokehouse (it's on their normal menu) and enjoyed that really well. I had high hopes for this one and I was a tad disappointed. Not with the flavour, it was really yummy and how can you go wrong with maple bacon? The presentation was what disappointed me; the bacon was hidden beneath the cheese on mine and the patty was smaller than the bun. My mom's looked better. It did keep both of us full for a very long time which was nice. 

Grade: 8/10

Stop #3: Vandal Doughnuts - Birthday Sex $9.50 (FeedNS donation $1)

Doughnuts and hamburgers, two things I really enjoy but didn't think it would taste so good together. The Birthday Sex burger was explained as 'a 5-oz beef patty with melted cheddar cheese, spicy chipotle sauce, mixed greens and crispy bacon, and a glazed doughnut bun with rainbow sprinkles.' The new Vandal Doughnuts shop doesn't have any seating which sucks during the winter so I had to take it home. i'm glad I did because I probably would've bought another one if I had stayed, it was so delicious. It was spicy for me but even so I ate the whole thing, it was also a bit messy. This was my favourite burger of the week.

Grade: 10/10

Stop #4: Evan's Seafood - Classic Fishburger $7 (FeedNS donation $1)
There seemed to be a number of fish burgers this year and Evan's Seafood was one of them. Evan's is located on the lower level of Alderney Landing, I never noticed it before but you can see the sign outside. You were able to get it with spicy tartar sauce which I didn't do. The breaded fish was nice and light and flaky but the whole burger was nothing special.

Grade 5/10

Stop #5: The Watch That Ends The Night - Meatball Marina Burger $10 (FeedNS donation $1)
I've never been to this restaurant either but I had stayed at work late so I decided to pop in here for supper on my way home. The Watch That Ends The Night is a cute little place in one of the King's Wharf buildings. They had a meatball burger with whole meatballs so that made it a bit hard to eat especially right out of the oven but it was still yummy. I might've added a little more marinara sauce, however that's always a hit or miss thing.

Grade: 4.5/10

Stop #6: Krave Burger - Bacon Jam Cheeseburger $6
Krave has had this burg every year I believe and people enjoy it so much that they normally bring it back for the weekend after burger week and a couple of more times during the year as well. This sandwich was only surpassed by the Birthday Sex burger. I really like their burgers normally and adding bacon jam to their cheeseburger was definitely a smart idea.

Peanut Butter burger

Grade: 9/10

Stop #7: Darrell's Restaurant - Peanut Butter Burger $6
I wanted to try this one as well, even though it is on Darrell's regular menu I didn't want to pay almost fifteen dollars for a burger that I might not like or be able to finish. I'm really not sure how I feel about this one, the peanut butter was good on it but I had a few bites that it was too much and I'm really used to having lots of mayo on my hamburger so it was definitely different. I'm glad I only paid 6 dollars on it.

Grade: 5/10

Thanks for reading my review of the burgers I tried. I can't wait to see what restaurants come up with for next year and try more hopefully.

Have fun at a Disney park

Completed: December 3, 2018

After the hockey wishes, the next thing I put on my bucket list was to have fun at Walt Disney World which looking back I really did. I keep thinking about it. I grew up watching Disney movies and the Disney channel, I loved the Toy Story films and when I found out that they were going to have a Toy Story Land I knew I had to go. My cousin Kiersten agreed to go with me and after some planning we had booked our flights in April and the countdown was on.

We went down to Florida for a little over a week (Nov 27-Dec 5), stayed at an off property hotel and spent four days at WDW. We didn't go to a park the day we arrived.

On Wednesday, we visited EPCOT to start the trip. We got the early shuttle from the hotel and joined the line to get in to the park. The next day we checked out Animal Kingdom, we didn't stay all day there because there wasn't as much to do. My highlights during those two days are The Seas with Nemo & Friends, meeting Mickey Mouse, Test Track, our teppanyaki style supper, the Kilimanjaro Safari, seeing Festival of the Lion King and the Epcot fireworks. I got a Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich which was yummy. The guy who served me the ice cream noticed my Halifax Mooseheads t-shirt that I was wearing that day and made a comment about it. Not many people know who they are so I was surprised and he mentioned that he was from Kingston. I said that I'm from Nova Scotia too and I actually have a grandfather that lives around there so that was cool to meet someone who was from home.

Festival of the Lion King

Steak supper at the Japanese pavilion restaurant

After taking a day to see Universal Orlando, we went to Magic Kingdom on Saturday than we visited Hollywood Studios on Monday. Like I said above my favourite movie was Toy Story growing up so I was so excited for Toy Story Land. We went straight to that land when we got to the park and everybody else seemed to have the same idea. The Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster was already at 90 minutes long by 9am so we didn't go on that. We did Toy Story Mania instead and I got to meet Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear. The MK fireworks were amazing, much better than local ones, and I also liked Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Kiersten convinced me to go on Splash Mountain which I liked but was scared on and on the big drop my stomach went in my throat!

Cinderella Castle lit up

Entrance of Toy Story Land

We did a bunch of other rides, saw a few more shows and ate lots of food but I thought I would share my highlights. I did have a lot of fun and the trip was definitely worth the money.

A Different New Year's Day

OMG it was amazing!

For my 23rd birthday, my mom gave me money so I could head to Toronto for a Maple Leafs game that was being played on New Year's Day 2017. Since 2008, the National Hockey League has hosted a Winter Classic outdoor match, normally held at a football or baseball stadium. In 2014 they added other outdoor games.

The Leafs were playing the Detroit Red Wings that day, to celebrate the NHL's 100th anniversary they played in what was dubbed the Centennial Classic. It was very different having to wear all my winter clothes to a hockey game but it was chilly out of course and even with snow pants on over my jeans, my butt was still cold from sitting on metal bleachers for almost 4 hours. Even though it was chilly, it was a nice sunny day and was awesome to walk around Exhibition Place. They had a fan zone set up across the street, which I did not go in to because it was so full, and you could definitely tell who was playing that day with all the logos everywhere. I liked the logos that they had set up on the field to show where the players would be coming out.

Lining up for Oh Canada

The game was awesome to witness. The first period was a little boring with no score and then Detroit got the first goal in the middle period to lead 1-0 after 40 minutes. The crowd really came alive in the final frame after the Maple Leafs scored 4 straight goals. It was so cool seeing the young guys score and make some really nice plays during the game. Even though the Red Wings tied it up with 2 goals in the last two minutes and forced overtime, I was just a tiny bit happy that the game wasn't over quite yet. Then Toronto's 1st overall pick in 2016; Auston Matthews, scored mid way through the extra period to win the game for the home team. When it happened not many people thought the game was over and I was one of them because the puck just squeaked by the visiting goalie, but people knew once the boys started celebrating. I was so ecstatic that Matthews scored and I finally got to see the Leafs win live. During one of the intermissions, the league brought out a bunch of guests as the league announced the NHL's Top 100 players of the last century. That was cool to see as well and I recognized almost every name, many were from the Montreal Canadians, Wings or Leafs and a number of current Chicago Blackhawks.

I'm very glad I have a friend who lives in Toronto so I didn't have to pay for a hotel as well because it was expensive to fly up there and back and the ticket for the game was too but I told my mom that it was worth it big time because I had a great experience.

See Sidney Crosby play live

Completed: November 1, 2017

After watching the 2007 Stanley Cup finals, I have been paying attention to the sport a lot more and since then I have wanted to see the greatest player of my generation play live. Sidney Crosby, who was born and raised in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, was projected to be the next Wayne Gretzky when he was still in minor hockey. Crosby has been my favourite player since I started watching him with the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

I love travelling and decided that in 2017, I would go see Sidney Crosby play live. It would've been very expensive and hard to get a ticket for a game in Pittsburgh so instead I went to Edmonton where I have family. On Halloween, I left Halifax and took the 5 & 1/2 hour flight out west to Alberta and did some exploring once I got there around the city as I had never been to Edmonton before. The game between the Penguins and Oilers was slated for the next day. My uncle went to the game with me and he was able to get tickets for us in the Sportsnet skybox. It was really cool, the arena was new and way different than I thought it would be. It was very spacious and you could tell that the Oilers played there. I went down by the glass to take some pictures of the Penguins warming up.

The game itself was pretty good, very close but just to be there and watch Crosby live was great for me. Luckily, Pittsburgh won so I went home happy but I would've been fine with Edmonton winning as well. Sid the Kid unfortunately didn't get a goal that night though he did get an assist, he played really well and I could see why he has been highly praised.

I hope to get to Pittsburgh and see a game there someday, hopefully while Crosby is still playing.

Watch a Toronto Maple Leafs game with my dad

Completed: February 21, 2012

I thought I would start with this one since it happened exactly 7 years ago today. This was the first thing ever to be on my bucket list (after becoming a sister). I have been a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs since I was a little girl as my dad got me into cheering for them at a young age and I had always wanted to see them play live. It finally happened in 2012.

I've been on a few trips but I had never been this excited for a vacation, I couldn't sleep the night before because I was so excited. I had been begging my father to take me to a game and he decided to take me during my spring break for three days.

We had an early flight from Halifax to Toronto and my dad is always early to stuff so we were at the airport way before we had to be. Once we arrived in Toronto, we had lunch at Eaton Centre and explored the mall for a couple hours. We took a subway to the Air Canada Centre and got some A&W for supper. Dad and I arrived early at the ACC as well. While we waited for the doors to open, we explored the Leafs store and I took some pictures around the lobby, including one with a cardboard cutout of my favourite goaltender (pic below).

The doors opened and I was shocked how big the rink was with plenty of things to see on the concourse. We watched warm-ups, than it was time for the anthem during which fans passed a gigantic Canadian flag along one side of the arena. I didn't get to touch it because we sat in the corner, about 12 rows up. They were great seats and we didn't even have to get up for food, one of the ACC employees took our order and brought the food to us. Toronto was playing the New Jersey Devils that night and the match was pretty good. The Leafs had played from behind all night so when they tied the game with less than a minute to go in regulation I was estatic just like the rest of the ACC. Unfortunately, the couldn't complete the comeback and lost in overtime. I still had such a fantastic time seeing my favourite team live and cheering on Luke Schenn, who was my fave player that I wasn't that upset.

We had to leave a couple days later but I really didn't want to as the Maple Leafs were playing at home again the night we left. I think the best part was spending more than 24 hours hanging with my dad and supporting a team that we both love.