Day Ninety Eight
Our last day in Halifax comprised of a trip to the Citadel National Historic Site. The Citadel was built in 1749 and originally known as Fort George, named after King George III. After the third upgrade to the fort, it was renamed the Citadel and kept this name through the fourth and final upgrade. In 1951 the fort was retired from the military and became a Canadian Historical site.
The fort is definitely a must for anyone visiting Halifax. The staff were dressed in original costumes of the period and played theirs roles perfectly. At noon, the noonday gun is still performed. At the back section of the fort where the powder is stored, a team of five soldiers carry a canister of powder to the noonday gun located on the upper wall facing down town Halifax. The loading and firing of the gun is a ceremonial process and timed perfectly to the second when it hits noon. The video below had the firing of the cannon, but the sound does not do it justice, we were across the compound and the firing was a huge boom.
We spent a good portion of the day exploring the grounds and learning the history of the park. Shortly after one the temperature was beginning to push towards thirty so we made a hasty retreat to the truck.
Since Halifax was known to be the donair capitol, we had planned on heading to the most highly recommended donair restaurant for lunch, unfortunately, the place did not open until 3:00 o’clock so we opted for the local pub just down the street for the Rv to cool off before calling it a day.
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