After All These Years song

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #1)

Our cruise from Montreal to Boston on Holland America’s Volendam continued and the sixth day we made port at Halifax, Nova Scotia – a delightful and picturesque city – with a current population of 441,000 – the capital and most populous municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. (Wikipedia)

Halifax has the social, cultural and economic features of a major urban center, but rugged natural beauty nearby within its boundaries:

” …famed for its massive natural port, which is one of the world’s largest and greatest of its sort. Halifax was created in 1749, and the Halifax Harbor has given significant benefits throughout the years.” (Port of Halifax)

Given the early date in the season, we were the only cruise ship in port, however, that was an anomaly. Besides being an international marine shipping and cargo center:

” In 2019, the Port of Halifax had 179 cruise vessel calls with over 323,000 passengers aboard. It is estimated that cruise passengers alone contribute about $172 million to Halifax’s economy every year.” (#2 – #3)

Nearby Natural Beauty

While I was most enthused to visit a thriving brewery very close to our pier (see below), we first visited a beautiful natural area reached by a twenty-seven mile scenic bus ride to Peggy’s Cove:

“Peggy’s Cove is a small rural community located on the eastern shore of St. Margarets Bay in the Halifax Regional Municipality, which is the site of Peggys Cove Lighthouse (established 1868.)”

Although it was cloudy with light rain, the destination and the history made it worth seeing. The surrounding community also appeared to be a close-knit group bound by braving harsh Atlantic weather and their occupations as can be evidenced below.

“On September 2, 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed into St. Margaret’s Bay approximately eight kilometres (five miles) southwest of Peggy’s Cove with the loss of all 229 aboard. The cove became one of the staging areas for first responders that were involved in the search-and-rescue response, crash recovery operation, and investigation of the crash.

Many of the CCGA volunteers that were first to approach the crash site were privately owned fishing boats that were operating out of Peggy’s Cove and surrounding harbours.”

The memorial below is a tribute to the crew and passengers on that ill-fated flight. (#4)

Let’s not forget about Beerchasing…!

We hadn’t had a beer at a brewery for two days when we had enjoyed a pint in Charlottetown at the Gahan Brewery. The selection of beer on the ship was dismal although they had great martinis, but I was ready to hit this brewery on the south waterfront.

And it has a good story spurred by its motto “Art, Science and Good ‘ol Hard Work.” Garrison Brewing originally opened in 1971 and has expanded. Located in a wonderful historic building, it evidently has had one of its brewpubs in this location since 2006.

They had a decent selection of beers on tap, but we were delighted with our selection – Janet had a Tall Ship East Coast Ale:

“Brewed with adventure, craft, pride & independence, this beer delivers on true refreshment with an easy-going style. Drop anchor & hoist a glass.” I also loved the fact that it’s made with Willamette (Oregon) hops.

I’m a big fan of red ales and Garrison’s Irish Red Ale was wonderful and the initial beer brewed when Garrison opened:

“Ruby red with a smooth malt base, Irish Red Ale is where it all began. Taste the beer that launched a brewery.“ (#5 – #6)

Photo May 09 2024, 12 14 32 PM

And Garrison Brewing had a great atmosphere ranging from our friendly bartender, Wilken, to the pet-friendly environment evidenced by the poster in the photo below. We were sorry that we would not be able to visit their other location.

From some quick research, it appeared that Halifax has a significant number of quality craft breweries which may merit a return visit, but our ship was ready to weigh anchor and head to Bar Harbor, Maine, our next port-of-call.

And this day meant some travel in the Atlantic Ocean which I was anticipating. The map below is in reverse order and doesn’t include our port of origin, Montreal, but it will give you an idea of the two remaining days of the cruise. (#7)

The People

One of the unexpected joys of this trip was the people we met besides our long-time friends and cruise companions – Jeff and Susan Nopper, I have mentioned in previous posts. There was Brad and Tammy from Colorado Springs.

Brad, when he found out about my Beerchasing hobby, gave an immediate invitation to visit his city and hit the numerous quality breweries. I could attest to this based on a previous Colorado road trip and reminded him that I had seen Colorado Springs labeled “The Napa Valley of Beer.”

He was especially enthused about Red Leg Brewing and Janet and I will visit it on a September road trip. (#8 – #9)

Then there was Sonny – one of the most energetic eighty-seven year old guys I’ve seen who is still working as an electrician in Florida. We ate dinner with him and his wife (whose name escapes me) – a few years younger and who still works as a teacher.

I can’t forget JD and Jennifer, a very friendly couple from Houston, who we met at the bar one night. Both a few years from retirement – he works as a petroleum consultant and she in the legal field.

They had just returned from riding their Harleys to Sturgis for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota – a ten-day event attended by over 500,000. What an interesting couple! (#10)

But the most interesting and engaging person we met was at a breakfast on the ship when an attractive woman came up and asked if she could join us as there was a vacant two-person table adjacent to ours.

Anne Cochran introduced herself and told us that her husband was playing Texas Holdem – one of the daily activities on the ship – and she was grabbing a late breakfast. (#11)

We started exchanging information and I gave her my Beerchasing card which she said her husband – a trial lawyer, would love.

She’s from Cleveland and related that she met him after serving on a jury in a trial that he won. Anne was very personable and I asked her what she did for a living. She modestly stated, “Well, I don’t know if you know of Jim Brickman, but I do vocal accompaniment for him.”

I replied that I certainly did know of Jim Brickman. He’s one of the most well-known solo pianists in the nation and a multiple Grammy winner. I have a bunch of his numbers on my iTunes.

“The hit-making songwriter is the best-selling solo pianist of our time, earning 22 Number One albums and 32 Top 20 Radio Singles.

He’s garnered two Grammy nominations, Gospel Music’s Dove Award, two SESAC Songwriter of the Year Awards, a Canadian Country Music Award, and is a member of Pandora’s ‘2 Billion Streams’ Club.” (https://www.jimbrickman.com/bio/) (#12 – #13)

Of course, I was curious and after breakfast checked out the Web. I first came across a clip from a 2010 CBS Good Morning Show where the duo performed “Never Alone” released in 2006.

Anne has a captivating background which has led to a long and impressive vocal career.

“Anne Cochran began her career as a teenage, lead vocalist in Cleveland Ohio…while earning her degree in Theater and Voice at Case Western Reserve University by day.

When Anne and her young friend, (the soon-to-become ‘Piano Romance Man’) Jim Brickman, entered and won a ‘You Light Up My Life’ radio contest, they began a stellar twenty-year stage and studio collaboration that has gone on to produce many hits, 4 PBS Specials and countless sold out shows throughout the world.” Story – Anne Cochran

To get another idea of the quality of her voice, check out this Youtube link to the number she recorded in 2008 entitled “Face of Your Heart.” (#14)

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8wSuy1dTNkc

We saw Anne and her husband a night later in the lounge and had a nice conversation. They were both very enjoyable people and one of the highlights of the cruise.

Stay tuned for our final stop before ending the cruise in Boston. Bar Harbor was a wonderful stop for several reasons I will cover in my next post.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (2022-08-15 01 Wide angle view of Halifax skyline, Nova Scotia, Canada 1801 Hollis crop – File:2022-08-15 01 Wide angle view of Halifax skyline, Nova Scotia, Canada.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) By Gordon Leggett – File:2022-08- Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. – 15 August 2022.

#2. Wikimedia Commons (File:Enchantment of the Seas Halifax 2011 (cropped).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: ctgreybeard – 27 September 2011.

#3. Port of Halifax – Stories from Our Port | One Port City (oneportcityhfx.ca))

#4. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Swissair 111 Memorial near Peggys Cove – Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia – Wikipedia) By Own work, Public Domain – 22 September 2006 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61550912). This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Josephbrophy. This applies worldwide.

#5. Garrison Brewing ((Beer/Soda | Garrison (garrisonbrewing.com)

#6. Garrison Brewing (Beer/Soda | Garrison (garrisonbrewing.com)

#7. Holland America Website (Best Canada and New England Cruises | Holland America)

#8 – #9. Red Leg Brewing Facebook Page (Red Leg Brewing Company | Facebook).

#10. Wikimedia Commons (Main Street Sturgis South Dakota Bike Week – Sturgis Motorcycle Rally – Wikipedia) By I, Cumulus Clouds, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2346862. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. 11 Aug 2006.