Travel to a New Country Solo

Like I mentioned in my introduction post, I love hockey and a life goal is to see a game at each of the NHL arenas. To give myself some guidance I decided to try and finish seeing the Original 6 teams before my 30th birthday (which won't happen now) so in November I traveled to Chicago, Boston and Detroit. I say finish as I have been to Toronto and New York already. This was the first trip that I had gone on outside of Canada all by myself which was a little scary. 

My first stop was to Boston, I had an early morning flight and thankfully it left basically on time as I only had less than 24 hours in before I had to get to the next city. Once I got to Boston, I got a bus to my hotel  from the airport but was unable to check in so I just dropped of my bag with the main desk. I headed out for lunch and decided to go to the Neptune Oyster restaurant. I've got a few "rules" for these NHL trips with one of them being have the local/well known dish of the city/area I am visiting. For Boston it is clam chowder so that is what I got. 

The Neptune is a pretty tiny restaurant so I ended up having to wait outside in a line for almost an hour. I was going to walk the Freedom Trail but by the time I finished eating, it was about 2pm already so instead I did the Sports Museum to learn about the history of sports in Boston. I wasn't expecting the museum to be on the upper concourses of the TD Garden so that was cool to see the ice surface from the box seats. The game I saw was an Original 6 matchup on Saturday night so it was a full house at the Garden. I don't like the Bruins but being there on a Saturday night was kind of special and I was happy to see them win on home ice, a dominating 6-1 victory against Chicago.

On Sunday, I flew to Chicago for the next stop on my vacation and it was another early flight. I took the train from the airport to downtown but I made a pit stop at the Greetings from Chicago mural first, which I forgot to actually look at. There was a restaurant nearby so I had lunch there (chocolate chip pancakes) since I was pretty hungry. Once I got to the hotel, I checked in then I visited the Shedd Aquarium for a couple of hours. The trains I took in Chicago were a bit freaky because most of them were on platforms and I'm scared of heights so I didn't like that part. I also lost data and my Visa card stopped working on this day so I was stressing out. 

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Chicago was playing the Pittsburgh Penguins and it was Evgeni Malkin's 1000th NHL game which was exciting. My second team is the Pens so I was cheering for them but I also would've been fine if Chicago had won. On Monday, I walked around and visited Cloud Gate. I've seen lots of photos of The Bean, which is a gigantic silver bean shaped sculpture, before and wanted to check it out. I didn't do to much more on that second day in Chicago, but I did go to Giordano's Pizza for lunch to get Chicago's deep dish pizza which was the best meal I had on my trip. 

As mentioned, I also visited Detroit and this part of the trip didn't go too well. I arrived to the city a little delayed then I had an hour bus ride to my hotel from the airport. However, the first bus broke down and the driver didn't let us know so I was very confused and I had to wait a half hour for the next one. I wanted to go to the Henry Ford museum but it was too late in the day plus it is closer to the airport which I didn't really realize while planning. After I checked in to the hotel, I just went to the Lafayette Coney Island restaurant for an early supper and got a Coney Dog. Mustard, raw onions and chili are things that I do not like but on a hot dog, they aren't bad. For the rest of the night, I just hung out in my room.My last full day was the day before Thanksgiving Day in the US and they were preparing for the parade so many of the main roads were closed so it was hard to get around on the bus. There was some kind of game place that I wanted to check out so I looked at the hours to make sure it would be open but when I got there it wasn't - I guess I looked at the wrong day. This left me a few free hours to kill before the game so I decided to go have food at Hockeytown Cafe and wait, however that restaurant didn't open until 4pm. The last game was the Red Wings versus the Nashville Predators with Detroit coming out on top so that was exciting. Little Caesars Arena is one of the newer ones and it is quite nice, the concourses are really big. They even had a drum band playing trying to hype people up. 

I was heading back home on Thanksgiving Day but as I was getting ready, I received a message that my flight to Toronto had been canceled because of fog. I waited for a little bit then I called the airline to see when they could get me on another flight but they already had. So instead of leaving Detroit at 11am, I would now be leaving at 4:30pm and going through Montreal. This gave me a chance to watch the parade though which was interesting. Even though I had some headaches and didn't get to see all the things I wanted to, I did have a good time and it was certainly an experience that I will learn from. 

Checking things off on the lists

30 before 30 - Travel to a new country solo ✓

Fall fun 

   - Cheer on an Original 6 team ✓

   - Look at vintage cars 𐄂

   - Check out the bean ✓

Photos of the arenas from outside

TD Garden - Boston Bruins
NHL arena 5 of 32

United Center - Chicago Blackhawks
NHL arena 6 of 32

Little Caesars Arena - Detroit Red Wings
NHL arena 7 of 32

  

A Day At Riverbreeze

Every year, I love doing the basic fall things - decorating my apartment for the season, going through a corn maze, taking a scenic fall drive, visiting a pumpkin patch and picking apples. There are more probably but these five have been on my fall 'bucket' list for a number of years now. I feel kind of childish admitting that I love going through corn mazes but we never really did any fall activities when I was growing up so now I'm making up for it with my young cousins and friend's kids. 

The last few falls I have gone to Noggins Corner in the Annapolis Valley but I wanted to go somewhere else this time. I was taking those cousins I mentioned above and since they live on the way to Truro, we visited Riverbreeze Farms in Onslow. We went up on the first weekend of October, it was a beautiful day and my cousins probably could've stayed even longer than we did but I had a hockey game to go to that night. 

I would say Riverbreeze is more for pre-teens and younger at least in the day time as there are a number of other activities on the property that kids can interact with. These include a petting zoo, human hamster wheel, a tire structure you can climb, pig races and many games that you can play plus more. As it was pretty much the first thing you come to after getting your tickets, we did the petting zoo first. You really can only pet the alpacas, llamas and goats but they also had bunnies and even kangaroos which I was surprised by. 

My cousins then did some of the games and had a ball on the human hamster wheel activity. It is very hard to stay standing so they couldn't stop laughing and went probably 10 times back and forth. Then we went to the corn maze. We had a hurricane about a week before so the stocks still hadn't had time to regrow to their full height when we were there. Meaning it was quite easy to navigate around the maze but we did still get a little lost. You were also able to play an 'investigation' game while going through the corn. Then we took a tractor hayride to the small pumpkin patch to get a few gourds. They had set up a few photo opportunities around the property as well which were cute and a couple of them had a stand to put your phone on. 

All and all, it was a great afternoon with my cousins. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them. 

Fall 2022 Adventures List

I am late sharing this but it's been a busy time since my last post. Over the summer, I had a job that was shift work so it was very hard to make plans, plus I was sore from standing and the hot weather didn't help either. This led me to not doing more than my birthday trip that was on my summer list. I've been able to complete more on my fall adventures list but haven't had much other time or energy to write about them. So you get this post now without what I have actually done. 

Fall 2022 (Sep 8-Dec 3)
Visit a pumpkin patch
Drink hot chocolate from a local cafe
Take photos of fall foliage
Look at vintage cars
Have a Hallowe'en movie night
Participate in Maritime Race Weekend
Cheer on an original six NHL team
Eat from a food truck
Go on a scenic drive
Navigate a corn maze
Visit my best friend
Decorate for fall
Take the kids to the zoo
Burn a fall scented candle
Spend Thanksgiving with family
Check out the bean
Make a pot of chilli
Walk in the Valley Harvest Marathon
Go for a hike in another city
Visit the immigration museum

15 Things to do in HRM

I know there are many lists like this out there but I'd figure I would share my opinion about what a tourist should do in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Most of these will be in the downtown Halifax core but I've added a few out of that area as well. I meant to share this during the summer but here it is now so you can start preparing for your next trip or day off. 

Harbour Hopper - The Harbour Hopper is one of my favourite things to do and suggest to people as it gives you a history of the city and shows you different places around the city. The tour is about 50 minutes long, is done on an old military vehicle that actually can turn into a boat so for part of the tour you are in the water and it goes all around downtown. It is expensive which is why I haven't done it for a number of years but highly recommend it if you only have a few hours. 

Maritime Museum display 

Self-guided mural tour - A few years ago, the city started a project called Gritty to Pretty where they commissioned local artists to do some murals to give the downtown area a new look. You can do a self-guided tour to see all the artwork, there's anything from facade lighting to bees to animal buskers. I haven't done the tour yet but I have seen quite a few of them anyways, you can find out more on the website. 

Visit the museums - Halifax has a number of museums and pretty much all of them showcase some part of the city's history. I've been to all of these but it has been quite awhile since I visited a couple. You can visit Pier 21 to learn about immigration in Canada, the Museum of Natural History is great for archeologists and geologists, or learn about disasters like the Halifax Explosion and the sinking of the Titanic at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Black history in Nova Scotia can be explored at the Africville Museum or the Black Cultural Centre. 

Halifax Central Library - The library is a good place to do schoolwork, read a book or check out some new material. Halifax built a new library across the street from the old one, which opened in 2014 and is five storeys high. It has floor to ceiling windows that allow you to see the downtown area and you can sit outside on the roof as well. 

Citadel Hill - One of the best places to see the landscape of the downtown area is on Citadel Hill. It is a designated historic site as the hill features a concrete star fortress that guarded the province over a hundred years ago. Throughout the summer, you can tour the fort either guided or alone while there is also ghost tours are available in October. The town clock also sits on the hill. If you are close by around midday, make sure you plug your ears as they shoot off a cannon at noon everyday. I hear it is also a good place to watch the sunrise or set. 

Georges and McNab's Islands - I have never been to either of these islands but the government did recently open them for the public to visit a couple years ago. Both can be accessed from the harbour either in a personal vessel or you can take a boat to them for a guided tour. 

Explore restaurants & bars in Dartmouth - Not many people visit the other side of the harbour but Dartmouth has changed quite a bit in the past decade with new restaurants, bars, small businesses and trail improvements. Some of these restaurants and bars include Chanoey's Pasta, Lake City Cider, Krave Burger, Pleasant Street Diner, New Scotland Brewing and Stone Pizza. There are quite a few other local restaurants on the Dartmouth side that have been around for awhile and are quite popular; Mic Mac Tavern, Two If By Sea Cafe and John's Lunch to name a few. 

Walking on Martinique Beach

Have a beach day - The Halifax Regional Municipality has a number of small beaches, mainly all of which are on the edge of lakes but there are a handful of provincial park beaches. My favourite to visit is Lawrencetown Beach on the eastern shore, it is rocky so not really a place for sunbathing but still a good place to read a book or watch people surf. 

Shubie Park - Another place you'll find me quite often is Shubie Park. There is a campground here and over 9-kilometres of walking trails. The park is named after the Shubenacadie Canal which allowed boats to travel from the Bay of Fundy to the Halifax Harbour back in the 1800's. If you wanted to learn about waterway locks work and were used back in the day, a visit to the park's Fairbanks Centre will give you the information. A great place for a walk, to go kayaking or taking pictures in the fall. 

Putting edge - Glow in the dark mini golfing, that's all I'm going to say. 😊 

Mini golfing in semi-darkness is quite fun and very colourful but because it is a different experience, you pay more than normal mini golf courses. The business is located in Bayers Lake and will cost you $14. It normally takes a half hour when I go with someone else to get through the course so I don't go often. However, it is a great place to have birthday parties which I did multiple times as a kid or go do with a group of friends. 

Projection on old post office in
Dartmouth (Evergreen Festival show)

I'll end this with a few events that happen around the city on a yearly basis. 

Tree lightings - Since it's almost Christmas, you will find multiple tree lighting ceremonies around the municipality including the ones done at Grand Parade in Halifax (November 26) and Sullivan's Pond in Dartmouth (December 3). 

Evergreen Festival - This festival was created in early 2020 and the planning committee had to change their original plans after COVID hit so their inaugural event was different than the second edition that happened last Christmas season. It will hopefully be better and more well attended in 2022 when it kicks off on November 25. There is a market, small concerts every weekend of the festival and light shows throughout the city. I really have enjoyed it and you can too until December 18. 

Halifax Busker Festival - It's a human circus on the waterfront. The Buskers come to town every natal day weekend and it will next be here from August 2-7, 2023. 

Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo - A great event that brings the world together.  Many international marching bands come to Halifax to show off their stuff along with other performances like the bicycling grandfathers. Looks like the 2023 version of the Tattoo will celebrate Oceans over Canada Day long weekend. 

Leaving NS For 1st Time in 29 Months

For the first time in 29 months, I left my home province of Nova Scotia to go travelling and I was very excited.

I have done a few road trips around NS the past two years (that I have shared on this blog) as we have mostly been forced to stay close to home. The last time I went on a trip outside of this province was in February 2020 when I travelled to Winnipeg for a Jets hockey game. Just like last year, I decided to do a road trip to celebrate my birthday and once again my cousin came with me. We took a three-day road trip to Prince Edward Island in mid-July. 

PEI is the smallest province in Canada and the birthplace of Confederation. We didn't check out anything really that had to do with confederation because there were other things I wanted to do in Charlottetown. My cousin and I left Wolfville around 9am, met up with my dad in Windsor so he could wish me a Happy Birthday in person than remade a stop in Oxford. The town of Oxford, Nova Scotia is known as the wild blueberry capital of Canada and because of that, they have a gigantic blueberry statue which I have wanted to see for a while. After we ate lunch we kept going to Charlottetown some could check in to our motel and chill out for a couple of hours. I was really wanting steak for supper so we went to a restaurant called Redwater Rustic Grille and celebrated my birthday. 

The next day, we headed to the north side of the island to check out the Anne of Green Gables museum. I'm glad we got there before they even opened because by the time we left, the parking lot was full. It was raining that day but it didn't ruin really what I wanted to do. We than went to the Cavendish Boardwalk where I got some Cows ice cream. The boardwalk was not what I was expecting but it was still nice to visit it. 

Than we drove to the beach, the sun came out while we were there but we didn't go swimming. We hung around watching the kids have fun in the water than we just drove the long way back to Charlottetown. Part of our drive was through the Prince Edward Island National Park which was really pretty. 

On Wednesday before we went back home, we visited the Argyle Shore Provincial Park and Victoria. Argyle Shore is best known for its red sand beaches and that was one thing I wanted to see. It is very shallow for a long time so kind of hard to go swimming at the Argyle beach but we did walk in our bare feet which was really nice actually. 

I had a good time and it was so nice to visit another province. Hopefully I'll get to check more things off my summer fun list. Follow more of my adventures on Instagram at @adventuresofansgirl 

Summer fun list
- Road trip for my birthday ✓
- Walk on a red beach ✓
- Check out a National Park ✓

Summer 2022 Adventures List

I probably say this every time but I can't believe we are into another season already and now half way through 2022. A few years ago, I started doing these summer fun lists to look forward to doing stuff during the hottest months of the year and have created lists for the other seasons too. Fall has always been my favourite season with summer being my least, so having some direction is good for me. Things have changed over the last couple of years and I have a different job now as well so it is not as easy for me to check things off but I am going to try really hard to complete as many things as I can this summer. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for more current updates of my adventures at @adventuresofansgirl. 

Mural on building beside McKelvie's restaurant
Taken June 9, 2022

Summer 2022 (Jun 13-Sep 7)

Visit a new to me bakery

Have a wiener roast

Search for murals in your city

Eat from a food truck

Take a photography class

Road trip for my birthday

Go on a picnic

Check out a national park

No screen day 

Hike a new trail

Play board games I did as a child

Visit the immigration museum

Touch a waterfall

Do an random act of kindness

Walk on a red beach

OnTree Fun & Adventure Park 

Read a new book

Go to Georges Island

Have a yard sale

Put together a summer photo album

Road trip with my grandmother

One thing I had on my spring adventure list was to do a road trip with my grandmother and a couple weeks ago, we made that happen. As you know I have been doing lots of travelling around Nova Scotia the last number of years and I have told my grandparents about all the trips I've done so my grandmother asked me if I would take her on one of my next road trips. I've been to the south shore a few times but we decided to go because there was still things I wanted to see. 

As I posted earlier in the week, my grandmother came down to Halifax on the bus and we spent the afternoon in the city. You can see that post here. The next day, we woke up around 7:30 in the morning and headed south on the 103 highway. We had originally booked a puffin tour that left from Peggy's Cove for this morning but the company emailed me a couple nights before to say they had to cancel because of mechanical issues. The puffin tour was the one thing we both really wanted to do but we licked our wounds and were able to visit Carter's Beach instead. This beach is past Liverpool and has been called Nova Scotia's Caribbean paradise. It has beautiful white sand and pretty clear blue water on a nice day but the downside is the water is not warm. It was well worth the 2 hour drive there even though we only spent half an hour looking around. On our way up we did a detour to the community of Hubbards which was pretty too. 

After the beach, we went back to Liverpool for lunch and to check out the Fort Point Lighthouse. You can go inside this lighthouse and even upstairs to see the lamp that powered the light back then. There is a little museum on the main floor and you can hear from the keepers in a video that plays on the second floor. Then we continued on to Lunenburg where we checked into our bed and breakfast, unpacked and had a nap before going back out for the evening. For supper, we went to The Dockside where I got mussels - can't go to a fishing town without getting seafood.

 

The Bluenose II (which was made in Luneneburg and is on our dime) was in port so we were able to go on the deck to check it out. It is a very nice vessel and the crew seemed to be happy that they are able to open the decks again after a two year absence. 

On Saturday, my grandmother and I had reservations for the Lunenburg Walking Tour which I have done before. The site said it would be an hour long but the tour ended up being 2 hours long though it was still great to walk around and learn about the history of the town so we finished just before noon. We were planning on going to the fisheries museum but I wanted to go to Mahone Bay still and I still had two hours of driving before I would get home so we just went straight to the bay. We ate at the Mug & Anchor Restaurant in Mahone Bay then walked around for a bit before stopping at an ice cream shack.