Today I’m taking a break – sort of.  I’m almost done with New York, but it feels wrong to talk about the United States on Canada Day!  So it’s all Canada, all day (or at least for the next little while – after all, it’s Canada Day, so I’m not going to waste this free day in front of my computer… or am I?  Nope, I’m writing this post the night before and scheduling it!  Yay technology!)!

Halifax has a few interesting things to do Canada Day.  One year I went with a friend and chased down free cake and free cookies (yes it makes me sound cheap, but I love free!).  The other year some friends and I hung out with American sailors and saw the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

This year there’s going to be free pancake breakfasts in Dartmouth and Halifax (which I won’t be awake for – it is a holiday people).  I went a couple of years ago with friends and we ate regular pancakes and blueberry pancakes.  Yum.

All day on Canada Day the Halifax Citadel is open to the public for FREE!  It’s might sound awful, but I’ve only ever gone to the Citadel when it was free (about 4 times in the past 8 years).

They have their employees dressed up in traditional garb, and you can wander all over the site.  The downside is that it’s a bit crowded in certain areas.  The upside is that there’s free cake at noon!

After wandering around the citadel you might want to check out the public gardens.  One year they handed out free maple cookies – not sure if they’re doing that again this year.  There is a nice cafe with great ice cream.  But the gardens are really pretty, and even though you can’t walk on the grass there are interesting trees, occasional benches, and a place to play chess (provided you bring your own pieces).

There’s a concert at Alderney Landing (just a short ferry ride away in Dartmouth), but the real end of the night for me will be the fireworks!  It can be hard to find a good spot to see the fireworks in Halifax and I’ve heard that Alderney Landing has some good spots.  Since the ferry will be free (with suggested food donation) it’s easy to get over there.

So in honour of today go put some maple syrup on your pancakes, have a slice of cake, and sing “O Canada”!

[Or you could always pull a Shatner.]