Eric Stendal

Date: Tuesday, 8 September 2026

City / Region: Halifax, NS and surrounding area

Weather: 16° this morning and cloudy with a slight chance of rain in the afternoon, but not for long period of time.

Morning Summary

A lazy morning this morning. We bought some bread, cheese, and eggs at the Shoppers Drug Mart last night (grocery stores were closed). We prepared some eggs ‘n cheese on toast with our tea and coffee. Maggie slept a little more in her little carrier. She is preparing for a big day of walking around and seeing the sights.

We’re heading to Sobey’s to buy some sandwiches for later; we’ll have a picnic lunch in a park somewhere. Then, we’re heading off to see the Fairview Lawn Cemetery where some of the bodies of those who did not survive the Titanic sinking are buried. After that, we’ll be lined up for our Alexander Keith’s Brewery Tour. We’ll then have our lunch, and walk over to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic followed by HMCS SACKVILLE in the harbour.

It’s 9:37 in the morning, and we’re at Sobeys picking up a few items for our picnic, and we’re on our way to the cemetery now.

The cemetery was a good size. It was quite far away from the harbour front area. Shelley was wondering why this was so. We found out that the reason all those bodies were buried in that cemetery was because it was the largest non-denominational cemetery that could accommodate all of the mass graves required. It had the layout, flexibility, and physical room required for the White Star Line to purchase a large block of land. This allowed them to bury 121 victims together in the famous, orderly rows that remain there today.

After viewing the cemetery we made our way to the harbour area to park the car and go see HMCS SACKVILLE.

HMCS SACKVILLE was a highlight for us. I’ve been before a long time ago (back in 1993) but Shelley had never been. She said it was ‘way cool’. She loved that I was able to point things out to her and explain circumstances of ship life and traditions. It was fun being reminded of some things and learning new stuff as well from the guides onboard.

After this, we took a stroll on the harbour front beside HMCS SACKVILLE and ate our sammiches and two-bite brownies. We ordered a couple of London Fog teas to go with them and Maggie-Mae had her very first ‘pup cup’ today. The look in her eyes and she licked the cream was funny!

Afternoon Summary

Our tour of Alexander Keiths started at 1:00 pm. The hour long tour was terrific. We learned a lot about what goes in to making their beer. The guides, in turn, were very entertaining and informative – as long as they didn’t get off script. There were many samples of beer during the tour – about 30 ounces all told! We met a couple from St Catherines, Ontario and shared a beer with them at table.

With that tour being done, we headed over to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and were told that we could not go in with Maggie. Sigh. Another “welcoming” place in Halifax. So we didn’t get to tour this museum. We elected to go drive over to Dartmouth and check out the Outlet centres there. We snooped in a couple shops but each bought one item from our favourite store.

Evening Summary

We stopped by Sobeys and bought our supper. We came back to the AirBnB and heated it up – quite tasty – pulled chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and stuffing! Mmm-mm-mmmm.

We then headed out to the Garrison Brew Pub to meet up with Shelley’s step-sister, Laura, who lives here in Halifax. She and “Bella”, her dog, greeted us warmly at the pub and I bought a flight of beer for Shelley and I to share along with two little bags of popcorn. We had a great time catching up since the last time we had all seen each other.

Photos

Daily Highlights

• Our best moment today was touring HMCS SACKVILLE
• Funniest moment? We happened to see a poor fellow just standing on a street corner who had a long, white beard and just happened to be in front of a very pirate-themed seafood restaurant.
• Biggest surprise today was discovering that yesterday wasn’t an omen on how today was going to turn out. We had a great day today.
• We learned a lot from our tours aboard HMCS SACKVILLE and during our brewery tour at Alexander Keiths.

Logistics

• We got a lot of steps in today; same with Maggie. She’s absolutely tuckered out.
• We bought our sammiches for lunch and bought dinner at Sobey’s to heat up here in the AirBnB. Some museum costs and parking.
• Peggy’s Cove tomorrow for viewing and lunch. CUT Steakhouse for supper – reservations booked a while ago back in Ottawa.

Closing Thoughts

A great day with some good tours. Still miffed about not being able to bring an under ten-pound Chihuahua kept in an enclosed knap-sack inside establishments – like we CAN do in Ontario…..but a lot of walking today and good sight-seeing.

We are really looking forward to Peggy’s Cove tomorrow.