Although.... some livers might have been.
I went back up to Canada this past weekend. This time, I hit up Halifax, Nova Scotia. Which, honestly reminded me of Montreal. The building styles are the same and you could walk around and actually get to places of interest in about 20-30 minutes. Nowhere like Austin where you pretty much have to drive.
The one thing that surprised me when my plane was flying in was how green NS is. It was a brilliant green. I wish Texas could stay green for more than a week. Stupid drought.
Nova Scotia from the air
I had 3 planes on my trip up. That sucked. I didn't think it would suck though. I love flying, so I figured, well, this would take less points, I would still get there in the same amount of time... so why not? Well, I'll tell ya why. The first plane didn't have food. Or alcohol. Granted, it was early, but a bloody mary would have totally worked! The second plane didn't take credit cards. The third plane was such a short trip that they barely had enough time to really serve anything. It's all good though.
I flew from Austin to Chicago. And then Chicago to Ottawa. That flight was delayed by about 45 minutes, so I decided to grab a bite to eat. Conveniently enough, there was a bar in the food court. This is where I met Emma. And we had several drinks together. It was a blast. When I landed in Ottawa, I had only 40 minutes to get to my gate. To get through CUSTOMS and security. And then to my gate. Needless to say, I was a little panicked, but still drunk. So, that helped. It wasn't bad though. The lines were super short. And my flight got pushed back 30 minutes, so it all worked out.
Chicago - View from above
I landed in Halifax and found Angela. We got to SMU (pronounced smew, not S M U) and took the rickety elevator up to the 15th floor. Now, when I found out we were going to stay in dorm rooms, I was kind of excited. I mean, $30 a night? Yes, please! Then I sat on the bed and began to fear what my back would feel like in the morning. Thankfully, they were quite comfortable!
What a lovely bathmat! A piece of paper... that's just asking for a soggy mess.
Our Room.
We walked to a pub (The Foggy Goggle) to eat, drink and yak each others heads off. We finally said our good nights around 1am. The next morning, I headed to the bus station to head up to Pictou (pic-toe... not pic-too) to see Cynthia and meet her family and BFF Tammy. It is an adorable little town and why I wasn't taking pictures is beyond me! Ugh. Fail. We ate, had ice cream, chilled at the beach (literally.. it was frickin' cold and windy!), met the parents and headed to Tammy's.
Sophie and Cynthia at the beach. "Noooo! Mommy, don't leave! I want to play!" She's seriously a 3 year old Kaylee. I love it!
Beach in Pictou
Lighthouse at the beach
This is where Paul gained a couple of nicknames. Ya see, Paul has a wealth of information stored in his brain just itchin' to get out. I learned all about Pictou and Nova Scotia's history, which was pretty neat. He then became Mr. Google. On the way out to Tammy (aka Arch Nemesis), he's telling Cynthia how to get there. TO HER BEST FRIEND'S HOUSE. It cracked me up. He gained an additional nickname of Mr. GoogleMaps.
Cynthia and I... I didn't get a picture with her last time! For shame...
We got to Tammy's and headed down to Halifax singing 90's songs at the top of our lungs. We picked up Alex and headed to SMU. Most of the girls were there already and Erica showed up shortly after with a crazy amount of snacks and hospitality items. It was SO SWEET and awesome. We began drinking and finally headed off to dinner at a Thai restaurant. This is where Tammy fell up the stairs and met a new friend and attempted to read the menu in Taiwanese. At least we know how to entertain, right? The food was excellent.
View from the 15th floor dorm room
Hospitality packages, courtesy of Erica!
The unveiling of Cali. I think she's ready for some epic shenanigans.
Cali hangin' out with Mel and Cynthia.
After that, we headed over to the Fife and Drum for some drinks, music and little did we know... dancing! Cynthia and Tammy wanted to dance... so they became the trendsetters of the place. Next thing we know, a bunch of people are dancing - even me. Craziness. On the walk back, we stopped for pizza. Pizza is the perfect drunk food... it doesn't matter how bad it is, it's still good. The walk seemed much longer this time around. Probably because time was moving so slow since our brains were swimming in alcohol.
Saturday, we lazily crawl out of bed and finally get our day started around 11:15. We were supposed to meet up with Carol at noon. Needless to say, we were a bit late. I have no idea where we ate, but I have to say I jinxed myself. I refuse to eat Mexican food outside of Texas. I would probably try it in Arizona, but that's about it. Well, all I really felt like eating was nachos. How can you screw up cheese and chips? They do understand that cheese only takes a few minutes to melt, right? Apparently not... they were very hard, but I was starving, so I suffered through them. Lesson learned :)~
After that, we just walked around Halifax. We went to a coffee shop to warm up with some hot chocolate and coffee. Next up was the Freak Lunchbox. This is a pretty awesome candy store. I bought Jo a little treat for her surprise bachelorette party. After that we headed to the seaport. It was nice to be at the water. I miss water. Cali made several appearances here. She hung out at the anchors and in front of a few ships. It was glad to see her out and about having a good time. Her facial expression was pretty epic.
George Island near the Halifax seaport
Seaport
Cali hangin' out on the anchor.
Cali hangin' out at the seaport.
Theodore Tugboat!
Generic Picture of Halifax.
Epic candy store!
Who will win?? It better be Mario!
As we made our way back, we said our goodbyes to Carol and little Will. Such a cutie! Once back at the dorm, we began to get ready for dinner. Tammy was in the bathroom putting her face on... I guess she got to her hair and went to plug in the hair straightener. Next thing we hear things dropped and a loud pop. The power was out. I figured it was just a breaker blown. HA.. oh no... nothing is ever that simple. The hair straightener blew out THREE FLOORS. Sorry, guys! :)
Pink and black tulips and Bleeding heart!
We went to dinner at FireSide. This is actually the same place we went to in Montreal, so that was a nice little connection. I instantly missed Kerry Ann at that point. Earlier in the day, some of the girls had bought Tammy a birthday cake. So, when it came time to order dessert, Jo tells Tammy "Don't we have cake back at the dorm?" Cynthia is trying to get Jo to stop talking about the cake, but it didn't click immediately. Tammy nods, smiles and leaves the table, which is when we told Jo that it was a surprise. Jo replies, "Thank god for flaky!" So true, Jo... so true...
Raspberry Kochen... yummy dessert that I was able to split with Cynthia. I still managed to gain 6lbs! It had to be the drinking.... whoops!
After dinner, we headed back to SMew and attempted to play games. We brought out the cake and sang happy birthday. We also brought out the penis straws and tiara for Jo, who is getting married in August! That night was such a blast.
Marital Advice from the ladies! It's actually great for everyone, so I took a picture. (click for larger view)
Skype'ing Cali! Too bad Ange's speakers were acting up. Cali makes a great mime though. ;)
The last morning together, we all went down for breakfast, went back upstairs to pack and that was it... we said our goodbyes. I tried not to cry, but am pretty sure I got glassy eyed a time or two. Tammy and Cynthia took Alex, Jo and I to the airport. Mine and Alex's flights were 8 minutes apart, although I had to go through customs and security, so we got to chat it up for a few more hours. Right after that is when I actually did lose it.
My favorite picture of us!
Why can't I find this kind of group of girlfriends where I live? Seriously... the drama is minimal and everyone is pretty freakin' awesome.
I miss "all ya'll" so much already!
View from plane - New York Skyline from Newark
