Welcome to Halifax
Posted on October 27, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi 17 Comments
When the folks at Hal-Con asked if I would come visit their convention, I said I would if they supplied me with Coke Zero, Tiger Tail ice cream, and a framed picture of either Halifax’s own Sarah McLachlan, or, if one were not available, at least one member of the band Sloan (also Halifax’s own). As you can see, they gave me framed pictures of both, and threw in (Halifax’s own!) Anne Murray to boot! Plus ketchup chips! And hickory sticks! And chicken bones! Among other things. No Tiger Tail ice cream yet, but the fridge in my hotel room doesn’t have a freezer, so that’s reasonable. There’s time for it.
In other news, hello, I’m in Halifax, here for Hal-Con. It’s been lovely so far. As soon as I got my stuff stowed away, I set out in search of a (Halifax’s own) donair, the local spin on the gyro, basically, and enthusiastically consumed it. Now I am full and immobile on my hotel couch. Also, as I drive into town there was this:
A good omen for the weekend, if you ask me. If you’re in the area, hope to see you at the convention. If you’re not in the area, well, try to have fun anyway.
— JS
I see they include the new, limited flavor Dreamworld. It is supposed to taste like dreams. It taste like mangoes to me, but I’d be interested in other’s tastes.
For some reason I cannot see “Welcome to Halifax” without hearing it the voice from picnicface’s “All About Halifax” video (https://youtu.be/oz88kJSdT6Y), but when I watch it, that phrase isn’t actually in there. Maybe I hallucinated it? Picnicface is like that.
Anyway, glad they’re taking proper care of you.
Are you the last of Barrett’s Privateers, by any chance?
Also, have a lovely time at the con, and raise a glass to Stan Rogers–who was from Hamilton, but famously sung about Halifax.
I hope you enjoy your time in Halifax!
The weather is quite changeable any time of the year, so I hope you brought layers.
But it’s one of the nicest parts of the Canadian Atlantic coast.
Long ago when I was there, I would check out “Wormwood’s Dog and Monkey Cinema” to see what was playing; it was a tiny repertory/ art-house place that ran all sorts of things.
Long gone now of course but that area of Barrington Street, near downtown, is still interesting.
Halifax is delightful! It punches far above its weight in terms of being a food city. Enjoy your stay!
If you can get your hands on them, Miss Vickies make a killer spicy ketchup chip. Also, and non-food-related, if you have the time both the Citadel and the graveyard with victims of the Titanic are worth seeing. And while I agree with you about Tiger Tail (also known as Tiger Tiger in some parts of the country), Grape Nut ice cream is the actual Nova Scotia frozen delicacy.
It’s Halifax! It’s Nova Scotia! Try the seafood chowder.
I’m not a fan of donair sauce…too sweet for my taste…but everything seafood was great when I was there. It was only two days before Fiona. Are you seeing any damage? We sailed away from Yarmouth as soon as the waves laid down.
IF you have time, consider a trip down to either Peggy’s Cove, or Lunenburg (just an hour to two, down the ‘103’). Both are eminently worthwhile, and highly recommended.
If you DON’T have time (likely), then consider looking at some of their postcards, at teh airport on your way home.
Enjoy your sojurn in Atlantic Canada.
Two words: Lobster poutine.
While you’re in Halifax, I’ll be on your home turf, relatively speaking. Specifically the Columbus area, for the Ohio Valley Filk Festival.
I have been to Halifax and Peggy’s Cove. We flew out there at the start of our TorCon III trip to visit someone my wife knew from the rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc newsgroup.
Two things:
1. The demonym for Halifax is “Haligonian.” You may or may not have known this, but it is a very fun word to say, so I’d take any excuse to do so if I were you.
2. I don’t know for sure if anyone leaving Nova Scotia is legally compelled to sing the song “Farewell to Nova Scotia” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWQzW4bpsm4), but better safe than sorry.
Aww! Wish I were there :( What would it take to get you to come here to Ottawa?
Anne Murray is NOT a Haligonian, she is proudly from Springhill!
Halifax is not the be l end all of this province! Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville were all their own cities or towns until the current mayor father decided to force amalga.ation onto these communities without the publics input!!
Did they remember to remove the brown m&m’s?
At the risk of starting a war in the comments… I hope that donair was from Tony’s.
I always wanted to visit Nova Scotia. The family and I made it to PEI in 2014. It was a delight to visit. My wife is an Anne of Green Gables fan, so it was her idea.
My Grandma Sears was a big Anne Murray fan. I heard “You Needed Me” on the radio a couple of years ago and almost broke down in the middle of Goodwill.