Day 1: Halifax Hotwired

Day 1 was a travel day on our scouting trip to Halifax. After a day of travel, we arrived in Halifax with enough time and energy to find our hotel and soak in the hot tub. In the hot tub, we met a couple from Alberta that told us to head down to the Halifax harbour to catch the tail end of a concert. Well it turned out to be Alexander Keith's 200th Birthday Beer Bash. A couple of locals with dead give-a-way accents gave us their free passes on their way out. We took them just to buy a hot dog as we couldn't find any dinner anywhere. We listened to a couple songs, but the university beer bash crowd was a bit too much to take!

We walked all the way up the huge hill, burning off our hot dog, to stay at the hotel we booked that morning. On the way to the airport, I called the local hostel, but no private accomodations were available. At the last minute I fluked upon a site called Hotwire. This is the Russian Roulette of hotel rentals. Every morning, I check this site and book the cheapest hotel I can. The "catch" to these half price rates is that you don't find out which hotel you stay in until you pay for it. They are all 3 star and higher, and in the vincinity of the downtown area. Day 1 was the Citadel - lumpy beds, dinged up furniture. I booked this and the next days hotel all from my iPhone. Isn't that crazy amazing technology?!

So, what have we gleaned on day one? We read, Nova Scotia Book of Everything on the plane, and it was right on several counts already:

1. There are 173 Tim Horton's in Nova Scotia and that means a "Timmie's" on every corner around here. Some, right across the street from one another!

2a. They also said the people are VERY friendly, and we have already found this to be the case. We stopped to eat on the pier and although they were closing, he spent time finding his lunch menu so we would know the prices for the next day.

b. The two men with the beer passes and green moose antlers were also incredibly friendly, making sure we had directions and specific instructions: "They are closing in 20 minutes, but if you just turn left right there and walk in a straight line for about 3 minutes, you'll can get in and get what you can while you can!"

c. At the hotel we asked our clerk, "Can you tell us where we can find the homeless in Halifax?"

She knew we were on foot, and asked, "Oh, you want to avoid them, right?"

"No, actually, we are looking for skid row!"