Halifax, Nova Scotia

Memorial to the Swiss Air victims at Baywaters, Nova Scotia (SW of Halifax)

Halifax    Story of 3 disasters.

1912    April 15 the Titantic hits an iceberg off of Newfoundland. Out of 2200 passengers, only 700 survived.    4 ships from Halifax were able to recover 328 bodies.   Each body was given a number with a description as best they could.   All clothing and jewelry were put in a canvas bag with their number.  121 are buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Halifax.  Many were never identified, so the only thing marking their graves is the number given them . 

1917   A ship carrying TNT headed for England at the beginning of World War I, was pulling into the Halifax harbor when it was hit by another ship.  It initially caught fire and was abandoned by the crew.  It continued to float  toward the city and then exploded killing over 2000 people and leveling a good part of the city.

1998    Swiss Air Flight 111 with smoke in the cabin was trying desperately to make it to the Halifax airport.   It crashed killing all 229 aboard.  2 memorials were built to honor the victims.  At Bayswater, the remains that could be recovered were buried in a common grave. 

Where remains were buried in a common grave.   The points of the triangle below are Baywaters, Whaleswatch (near Peggy's Cove), and the 3rd point is where the crash occurred.

Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove (SW of Halifax).

 

Peggy's Cove is a quaint little fishing village and a huge tourist attraction.  The rocks deposited by glaciers at the end of the Ice Age, makes this little village so picturesque.

Marker of a child lost in the Titantic catastrophe.  Originally unknown but later identified and name was placed on monument.

121 graves of victims are buried here in Fairview Cemetery,  Halifax.

The Citadel was built in the early 1800's and was used until the late 1800's, but never was in a battle.  These soldiers had a little trouble getting this canon to fire, but eventually got it to fire.  Below was the changing of the guard.

On the boardwalk in downtown Halifax.

We took a tour of Keith's brewery which is one of the oldest in North America.  Actors in period dress gave us the tour and acted the parts perfectly.   It was very entertaining as was the sampling of the beer.

We took a sail boat ride on this ship around the Halifax harbor.

The tall ship Lady Baltimore entering the Halifax harbor.  The Tall Ship festival is in Halifax this weekend.  We missed the festival, but got to see several of these majestic ships.