Sabbath / Movies // Easternmost Point of the Trip

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I needed a rest from always being on the move for 7 days, and today was just what the doctor ordered. If you happened to read my post from yesterday, you'll remember the movie theater evacuation due to a power outage. They gave me 2 movie vouchers, and since I don't know how widespread this particular movie chain is, I decided to spend my afternoon at the cinema. What a welcomed relief.

Since the theater didn't open until 11, I decided to take a morning and relax. Halifax doesn't have a lot of "touristy" things to do, anyway, so I didn't feel bad about that. I had also planned on having a little down time here - I just expected that it would be tomorrow morning. But when the opportunity came, my body and mind told me that I needed to take it. So I wrote a postcard, did all my stretches, got a shower, had some breakfast, and then made my way out into the world.

I was concerned that the movie pass - which said it wasn't good for anything but a standard 2D film - wouldn't be accepted for the same film I had wanted to watch (and paid for) in IMAX 3D. But the guy said it was good for any movie they were showing. Score one for me! So I got a ticket to the first showing of Star Trek: Beyond in IMAX 3D. Unfortunately, that wasn't until 1:50. So I decided to drive to the port area of Halifax to look around. That was a mistake. I had wanted to see an art deco building and maybe walk around the boardwalk area. Nope. Most of the road was under construction, which made parking impossible. Unless I wanted to pay $3/hour. So I drove past the building just to take a look and headed up to the north side of town. On my way, I stopped by St. George's Round Church, but they were having a service, so I could only get photos from outside the building. After that, I was getting hungry, so I headed back to my dorm for some food and to enjoy a little more relaxation while I could get it.

At this point, I can tell you that Star Trek: Beyond was very good - and I'm even glad I got to see the first 45 minutes twice. My seat was better than last night, too. No storms or power outages got in the way this time. When I was done with that, I went over to a different theater in a sort of hipster part of town. The theater only has one screen, and they apparently only ever show one movie per week. This week, it just happened to be Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. I watched that show as a kid on Comedy Central and loved it. So when I heard they were making a movie, I knew I had to see it. I was concerned that, since it's got a pretty specific audience, it might not be shown in America in many theaters. It turns out that the same company owns both of these movie theaters and my 2nd free pass from last night's debacle was acceptable to them. So, two movies that I wanted to see for the price of one. Thank you, Canada and Mother Nature. This film didn't have nearly the audience as the first, and it was odd to glance around the room and see primarily elderly people. I guess the show did run 20-25 years ago. Still, it was funny and even better than I expected (though I admittedly hadn't expected much).

When I was done with my cinematic experiences, I walked around this hipster part of Halifax for a while. The sun was still out and the temperature was good. I found out that McDonald's in Canada has a slightly different logo from in America - check out the picture. I also found out that fire hydrants here are orange, not red. And the banks around here have really thrown their support behind the gay community - I mean, really. They have rainbow flags with their names on them, and heart-shaped designs with those colors in their windows. Then again, it's not just the banks. Most of the town seems to be very supportive of gay people. Maybe Canada understands what it means to be marginalized?

Lastly, I stopped by the grocery store on the way back to the dorm. The rest of my loaf of bread from Georgia had started to mold, so I needed a new loaf if I wanted to have quick and cheap options for meals while on the road. I've still got plenty of peanut butter, trust me. I also picked up a couple of other dry snack items for the car trips. It was fun to go in and see the prices of things, compared to in America. And the names for things. Also the fact that most things are written in English and French on the packaging. And finally, since Canada did away with the penny a couple years ago, they round everything to the nearest 5 cents. Not only do they round up, but they also round down. So you might actually pay LESS than what you owe!

Tomorrow, I head back to New Brunswick, to the north and west. Halifax is as far east as I'll be going on this trip. One week down, and now it's primarily westward for me. In the morning, I hope to hit up a neat little breakfast place before checking out the citadel in the center of town. If time allows, there are also a couple of parks I want to wander through. I'd like to get some views of the Atlantic to put in this journal thing. So, stay tuned for all that tomorrow!

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