When I traveled to Halifax in June, it was for an almost absurdly short amount of time. Fly in on a Friday, meetings on Saturday, fly back home before the sun was up on Sunday morning. With so little time, I knew this was going to be a “greatest hits” type of trip. With precious little personal time on this visit, I charted a precise course through a city I know very well… but one that is changing rapidly, and becoming a touch more unfamiliar on each and every return visit.

My flight touched down at 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon, and at 5:30 I was sitting at the bar of my hotel’s restaurant, which fortunately for me, is known for its oyster happy hour. A dozen delicious oysters to reacquaint me with the taste of the ocean… this is the way you kick off a visit to Halifax.

Just up the hill from my hotel was the smallest brewery tap room in the city, and quite possibly, North America. Tidehouse Brewing has seating for nine people, and I was lucky to grab a stool to try some of their beers.

This relatively new brewery is a short three block walk from where I used to live. After being blown away by a number of their offerings, in particular, their hibiscus gose (my favourite beer I’ve tried so far in 2019), I was sad to think I could have lived so close to a place where I’m pretty sure I’d have been a regular.

Having flown across the country earlier in the day, I needed to stretch my legs. Walking through my old neighbourhood made me a touch homesick for some of my favourite places. The Halifax Central Library was a couple of blocks from our condo and my wife and I used it like a second living room. From the comfortable chairs on the third floor facing this direction is where I prepared for my interviews that eventually landed me my job in Saskatoon.

Another favourite place of mine was up next on the walk – the Halifax Public Gardens. This is a place I spent a lot of time over the years. As a child, mom and dad would take me here to feed the ducks on summer afternoons. Later in life, this was a frequent destination, whether to sit and spend some time people watching or as a simple walk over a work day lunch hour to recharge.

Over the years I’ve contemplated lots of life’s big and little decisions in this park and the backdrop here has helped me find a lot of clarity when I needed it.

From the Public Gardens, I headed up to the top of Citadel Hill as the evening was turning from one of blue skies to an approaching rain storm. This is another of my favourite Halifax places for contemplation.

No visit to Halifax is complete without a stop at one of my favourite places in the world. Stillwell, a craft beer bar on Barrington Street, was a second home for me. On Saturday afternoons, I’d do some work, or some writing or reading while enjoying a pint of a new to me Atlantic Canadian beer. On this visit, I bellied up to the bar and ordered the DOA by Unfiltered, an IPA-oriented craft brewery in the north end of the city. Of all the non-people things I miss most about Halifax, Stillwell is tops.

No walk through the downtown Halifax is complete without some time along the water. It was quiet on this early June evening – tourist season wasn’t yet in full swing and the chill in the air and rain about to arrive meant the locals weren’t hanging around down here.

I was spoiled in the 11 or so years of my life that I lived in downtown Halifax. These waterfront piers were a great place to stroll and no two walks were ever the same. Sometimes crowded with people on summer evenings, other times almost eery on foggy nights, I was always drawn to the water when I lived here. Like old times, I sat on a bench and watched the clouds roll in.

The next day, before heading to my meetings, I stopped by the Seaport Market for breakfast. A flaky croissant and a great cup of coffee got the day off to a good start before I had to transition into work mode.

After my meetings wrapped up and before a dinner with some of my colleagues across Canada, I made a couple of rapid stops to hit a few more of my favourites. While this place is new to the city since I left, Stillwell’s outdoor beer garden is a beauty, especially on a rare sunny June day.

I hopped a ferry across to Dartmouth, and the $6 return fare was a steal to sit on the top deck both ways and take in the view of the Halifax waterfront.

The ferry ride wasn’t just for the views, it was also to grab a quick snack at Evans Seafood in the Dartmouth ferry terminal. Their fish (and chips) is amazing and gluten-free and was a hangout for my wife and I when we lived here. I also picked up a lobster roll because this prairie dweller needs to get a lobster fix whenever he gets to Nova Scotia.

Back on the Halifax side, there was one more stop that was a no-brainer. The beautiful weather gave me an excuse to have a pint on the patio of the Bicycle Thief restaurant on the boardwalk. This restaurant was a go-to for my wife and me for special occasions and while I didn’t get to eat a full meal here, an outdoor beer in June in Halifax is something to be cherished.

Later that evening I took advantage of the rooftop patio of my hotel to soak in the last sounds, sights, and the salt-water smells of Halifax before an absurdly early wake-up call for my 5:00am flight in the morning.

Even if it was a rushed visit, using the paraphrased words of Trooper, I was glad to be here for a good time, even if it was not a long time. Until next time…