September 29, 2025
The next morning we started with breakfast at the Bluenose II restaurant and an open itinerary. The food was not as fabulous as the Stardust Café, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our placemat advertised a bookstore in the North End, Agricola Street Books, so we decided to head there after breakfast.
On the way we passed a window display of “Ideas on Paper” at the Nova Scotia design school. The pages feature wonderfully creative notes and thoughts and sketches. From there we walked up along the edge of the citadel, where we met a man walking a dog off leash and throwing a ball. We stopped and chatted (as is the custom) and Kitty asked him to throw the ball one more time. He tossed it and it bounced wildly into the street, right in the path of an oncoming car. It looked like a sure disaster. But then he called out “Wait!” and the dog froze in place before crossing the road. It was so impressive—the dog stopped instantly from a full-out run and held that position until he was called back. We praised the man and his dog and headed towards the bookstore, full of resolve to perfect Pip’s “Wait!” response. We find the neighborhood near the Citadel busy with traffic and mildly industrial with a looming armoury.
We passed another park (Halifax Commons) just beyond the Citadel and then walked up Agricola Street. It is lined with colorful row houses & stores, with an odd mix of industry, popular restaurants and trending bars.
The Agricola Street Books ended up being a good choice. We bought some gifts, and while Kitty browsed, I started a short book on issues regarding truth & reconciliation of Canadian indigenous people. The federal holiday is tomorrow. From there we wandered through some residential areas, noting how the houses went from single-family to duplex to quadraplex, though the size of the houses essentially stayed the same.
We were hungry after walking all morning so we went to a nearby restaurant I’d marked. “The Narrows Public House & Pub” turned out to be a contender for our best meal of the trip. The inn itself was amazing with its antiques and loving restoration. We explored several seating options both indoors and out, settling on a booth in the bar.
The waitress offered cabbage soup. Neither of us were super enthusiastic but decided to split a cup with a side of brown bread and see what to order from there. The soup was surprisingly rich and flavorful, as was the bread & butter. We decided to go all in, ordering croquettes and fried clams. The clams were my favorite: so fresh and tender and very lightly fried.
We finish our meal absolutely satisfied and take a different road home that leads us through some dodgier neighborhoods. But it’s Canada so the folks hanging out on street corners are happy to welcome us and chat. We follow the street signs for crossings that take us across and back, where two very high fellows laugh at our circuitous approach and tease, “What took you’se so long to get here?” We exchange the usual pleasantries and continue our walk home after a full day in the North End.
We finished our day close to the hotel. We went to a nearby beer garden, Stillwater, before strolling down the street only to be overwhelmed by a pet store window full of Lambchops!
K & L's Travel Blog 