Halifax - Historic Pub Crawl

Just home from the Canada/New England cruise on the Caribbean Princess yesterday. This was our third time on this cruise so we opted for different excursions than normal - at least for us.

In Halifax we decided to take the "Historic Pub Crawl" - along with about 35 other folks. They put us in a tour bus and took us down to the end of the boardwalk area - we probably could have walked it faster due to the traffic. We were met at the first pub by a bag piper who "piped" us into the pub - on the way in we were each handed a half pint glass of beer. Inside the pub the piper was joined by two others who sang and joked around - some of that was the "historic" part of the tour I guess because it's as close as we got to anything historic. If you wanted something besides the small glass of beer you ordered and paid for it. From there the piper led us to the next bar and the third - all the same routine - a small glass of beer on the way in and the three guys playing.

It was fun - just no where near $69 each fun. For $138 we could have taken a short cab ride and had considerably more than three small beers each :-)

Do you remember which pubs you went to? I grew up in Halifax and have some fond memories of the night life. And yes, sounds like you could have done this much better and cheaper yourself (although finding someone to play the bag pipes and follow you around might have been difficult :p).

Do you remember which pubs you went to? I grew up in Halifax and have some fond memories of the night life. And yes, sounds like you could have done this much better and cheaper yourself (although finding someone to play the bag pipes and follow you around might have been difficult :p).

Rick - I wish I remembered, but they just didn't make a big deal out of where we went. Looking at a map and pictures I want to say O'Carrolls or the Split Crow, The Old Triangle Irish Ale house and one other.

What a neat place to grow up - except for the winters of course (spoken like a true Texan) - it's a beautiful place.

Rick - I wish I remembered, but they just didn't make a big deal out of where we went. Looking at a map and pictures I want to say O'Carrolls or the Split Crow, The Old Triangle Irish Ale house and one other.

 

What a neat place to grow up - except for the winters of course (spoken like a true Texan) - it's a beautiful place.

We also took this tour last year. One of the places was called black crow of somthing like that. I too thought it was overpriced and not really historic or tourlike, but I was glad we did it.

The reason being, it was fun!

My husband and I are in our early 40's while most of the passengers on the cruise were 65++++ This was a group of people who were just happy and relaxed who signed up for this type of excursion. We had toured Halifax before and were looking for a fun activitiy on a cruise without our kids and this met those requirments.

On the bus ride back someone announced we should all wear our silly seaman yellow hats they had us wear for dinner tonight. It was formal night. We got back in enough time to throw our formal wear on and race to the past guest party. While in line this nicely dressed man said "hey where is your hats" and sheepishly pulled his out of his suite pocket. We had a good time.

We also took this tour last year. One of the places was called black grow of somthing like that. I too thought it was overpriced and not really historic or tourlike, but I was glad we did it. The reason being, it was fun! My husband and I are in our early 40's while most of the passengers on the cruise were 65++++ This was a group of people who were just happy and relaxed who signed up for this type of excursion. We had toured Halifax before and were looking for a fun activitiy on a cruise without our kids and this met those requirments.

On the bus ride back someone announced we should all wear our silly seaman yellow hats they had us wear to formal night. We got back in enough time to throw our formal wear on and race to the past guest party. While in line this nicely dressed man said "hey where is your hats and sheepishly pulled his out of his suite pocket.

We had talked about wearing the hats to formal night as well - but the day at Halifax was my birthday and friends treated us at the Crown Grill instead of doing formal night. It would have been funny if some of the others did it :-) And as I said in my original post, it was a fun time - just twice as expensive as it should be. We are going on a cruise next month that stops in Key West and we're doing the pub crawl there - 5 bars (instead of 3) with a beer or mixed drink - and a free T-shirt - for $28 a person less.

If you ever get back to Halifax check out the Alexander Keith Brewery. They do a tour where the people are in costumes like in the old shipping days. There is beer sampling and a little movie. Totally different though. I think it lasted about an hour and you could just walk off the streets and buy tickets for it. I bet if you googled it you could find a web site.

Thanks for the information. We will be in Halifax next month so this information is useful. We might try the pub crawl on our own though. :D

Rick - I wish I remembered, but they just didn't make a big deal out of where we went. Looking at a map and pictures I want to say O'Carrolls or the Split Crow, The Old Triangle Irish Ale house and one other.

 

What a neat place to grow up - except for the winters of course (spoken like a true Texan) - it's a beautiful place.

It was a great place to grow up. I try to get back to visit friends at least once a year but it doesn't always work out. And as far as the winters go, I miss them. I now live in a place where the winters are very cold and we get ten times the snow Halifax does. But we make the most of it.. and for the record, I miss the ocean, which is probably why I go on so many cruises.

And those "hats" you are talking about. I assume they are Sou'westers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sou%27wester Would have been funny to see them worn on formal nights.