The idea behind this date is quite easy – simply pick a letter of the alphabet and choose only activities that begin with that letter. We picked the letter “H” and ended up touring around town on the Harbour Hopper, visiting Historic Properties, eating Hamburgers, and shopping at the Hydrostone Market in Halifax.

SHE SAID:

When Brad first suggested the alphabet date, I was a bit skeptical. It sounded kind of dinky and full of potential disaster, but I was open to it and gave it a try. I’m not going to say it was the most amazing date we’ve ever been on, but it wasn’t a disaster either.

We decided to pick the letter “H” (Himmery our cat insisted) and set to brainstorming ideas. This step in the process is key to success. If you don’t do a quick brainstorm you might end up staring vacantly at each other all night, which probably isn’t what you had in mind. In fact, you might want to brainstorm the night before you do it in case it takes a while to decide on a letter and think of activities. During our brainstorm session we stumbled upon The Romantic Vineyard blog which helped immensely in deciding on a letter. The couple that runs this blog took the alphabet date idea to the extreme and had a separate date for each letter of the alphabet. They obviously have a wealth of ideas and are a great place to start brainstorming.

Brad thinks we chose the letter “H” because of our cat, but I really wanted to go with it because of a little tourist attraction in our city called The Harbour Hopper. Some may laugh in its face, but I am still amused at how a vehicle can travel on both land and water. The tour guides are high energy and point out many interesting facts about the city, such as the burial ground of Alexander Keith and the dock where many of the victims of the Titanic were laid. The tour is a solid hour long and takes you first through the streets of Halifax, up on to Citadel Hill, then down by the Casino where you climb into the water and make your way first to the MacDonald bridge and then back towards Purdy’s Wharf. We sat in the back of the Hopper and didn’t get wet, but it looked like the people in the front were getting a good amount of spray. Though a bit on the pricey side ($25.99 per adult), it was a unique way to learn new things about the streets we frequent.

When it came to figuring out a restaurant that starts with “H” we hit a wall. Since the only place was Harvey’s, we opted to eat a food that starts with “H” instead and headed to The Chickenburger in Bedford for my favourite hamburger in town. We didn’t do this, but we should have found a song in the jukebox there that started with “H.”

Once our bellies were full we headed to The Hydrostone Market in Halifax’s North End. We have driven past this cute little historic market before but never took the time to browse the shops. The website doesn’t display all of the shops, so we were pleasantly surprised to find more than we bargained for when we arrived. Rusty Hinges and the Hen House are two unique home décor type shops that had me wishing I was made of money. Probably my favourite shop was the antique shop that was packed with a great variety of items from years gone by. They had everything from really old spectacles to vintage Hot Wheels cars. Since my new obsession is crocheting we had to visit LK Yarns, a shop devoted entirely to yarns of every variety and colour. We finished off our Hydrostone experience at Julien’s Bakery, home of my favourite bread in the world – the honey apricot and currant with hazelnuts bread. Yum!

Though I was skeptical of the alphabet date at first, I ended up thoroughly enjoying myself. It got us out doing things we probably never would have done otherwise and is very useful when trying to think of things to do.

HE SAID:

We’ve all been there before. One person says “what do you want to do tonight?” and the other says “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” This continues until someone either breaks down and makes a decision, or things fall apart and you spend the rest of the evening at home checking Facebook.

Next time you find yourself in that predicament, try going on an alphabet date. After some brainstorming and searching online, we decided on using the letter “H” for our date. Luckily, I was wearing the perfect shirt for the occasion, my Hawaii shirt.

For a successful alphabet date, I recommend coming up with at least three things to do that start with your letter of choice.

We started by taking a tour of Halifax on the Harbour Hopper, a local tourist attraction that neither of us had done before. While we waited for our tour to begin, we walked down to Historic Properties where we enjoyed the scenery and perused some little shops. Once we finally boarded the Hopper, I knew I was going to have fun. According to the tour guide, the Harbour Hopper is actually called a Lark V, which was built for use in the Vietnam War. This was only the beginning of interesting facts we learned along the way. Of course my favourite part of the tour was the transition from land to water. Overall, it was a fun tour and a great way to experience an overview of Halifax.

After stuffing our faces with our favourite hamburgers from The Chickenburger, we checked out the Hydrostone Market. It’s quite a beautiful spot from the outside. I really enjoyed the antique store and the bakery. The yarn store wasn’t my thing, but Susan enjoyed it, so I made the best of it.

The Harbour Hopper was easily my favourite part of the date. It wasn’t super cheap, but it’s one of those things you have to do once, and I’m glad I did. The alphabet date has a lot of promise for the future. It’s the perfect way to spark some fun ideas during those times when it seems impossible to think of something to do. I had a great time with our “H” date and can’t wait to try it again.

Cost – Free!

Every town has its “thing”. You know what I mean. It’s the thing that every tourist does when they come to visit. It’s the thing you pass by every day, forgetting how great it really is. One of Halifax’s things is the Public Gardens. I’m sure most visitors to the city make time to walk through and enjoy what it has to offer, while those of us who live close by don’t think twice about it. That was the case for us, so we decided to go for a walk through the Public Gardens and see what we were missing.

SHE SAID:

I have lived in the Halifax area for almost ten years now and have never fully indulged in the treasure that exists right in the heart of our city – the Public Gardens. When I found out Brad had never EVER set foot inside its gates, despite living here practically his whole life, we both knew it was time to check out our city’s green space.

I’m really happy we gave the Public Gardens a chance. Though I’m sure the gardens are much more lush in the peak of summer, it was still a lovely place to stroll through and take pictures of. This may sound like a bit of a stretch, but one reason I enjoyed the gardens so much was because being in the green space and seeing all of the tall buildings shoot out over trees in the distance reminded me of strolling through Central Park in New York City last summer. There was even a bridge or two that reminded me of the Bow Bridge. The best part was that in order to see all of the Public Gardens we didn’t need to cover 843 acres of land! Don’t get me wrong, no public park I’ve experienced yet can compare to Central Park, but I can appreciate what the Public Gardens has to offer.

As we were leaving the gardens, we noticed a building in the centre and upon further inspection learned it housed a coffee shop and ice cream parlour! If only I had discovered this at the beginning of the summer! I can’t wait to visit next summer and order up a hot cup of tea to enjoy out on the tranquil patio with my man.

HE SAID:

Let me set the stage for you. New York City in the summer of 2008. It was our first time in the city and it was our last day before we had to leave. We were finally taking the time to see Central Park because Susan was determined to see the Bow Bridge. We had no idea where it was in the park, so we started walking…and walking….and walking….By the time we found the bridge I thought my feet were going to fall off. Then we had to walk all the way back to the gates of the park to get back in a cab. At the end of a long week of walking (although it was all totally worth it) I was not happy about this long trek through the park.

I say all that to illustrate why I enjoyed the Public Gardens as much as I did. It is big enough to take a nice leisurely walk and escape the city, but small enough that I wasn’t risking heart failure. It is very peaceful and there is a lot to look at. There are lots of places to sit down for those who like to just relax and enjoy the surroundings, but plenty of little walking trails for those looking to get a bit more exercise. The only thing that I found weird was the signs posted everywhere saying to keep off the grass, but I guess that’s because it’s not so much a park to run around in as it is a garden to walk through and look at.

The highlight of our visit (for me) was when we saw some ducks near a pond. They were coming up close, so in my infinite wisdom I stuck out my finger. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you come across a wild animal? Getting bitten by a duck is a very odd sensation. It seems like it should hurt, but it doesn’t. After he bit me, I showed my determination to outsmart the duck by putting the same finger in his face which he promptly bit a second time. I decided that was enough and left him alone. I think I used Susan’s whole bottle of hand sanitizer on the way out. Don’t tell her.

I really had a lot of fun at the Public Gardens and will definitely go back. I’m looking forward to grabbing a coffee at the nearby coffee shop and enjoying nature right in the middle of Halifax. Also, every Sunday throughout the summer they have free concerts so we’ll have to check out at least one next summer. If you have a minute, take a look at some of the pictures we took as we walked through the garden. What is your town’s “thing”? Is there something you pass by every day that you’ve never taken the time to experience? Take a walk through the place you live and look at it through the eyes of a tourist. It’s a great way to spend some time with another person, plus you might discover there are some fun things to do that you hadn’t taken the time to try.