Thu Dec 19
Wrapped up work at noon and hurriedly packed / prepped the house for departure. Flew to Halifax, picked up a rental car, and drove to Bedford to stay one night at Lindsay’s mom’s.
Fri Dec 20 – Sun Dec 22
Woke up and drove to the farm ahead of the coming storm. We got there for the first of a few big turkey dinners at brother #2’s house. The next few days were about hunkering down through a snowstorm, playing crib & crokinole, seeing people off (niece #1) and welcoming arrivals (brother #2 et al), eating lots and lots, playing with dogs, and generally relaxing.
Mon Dec 23 – Thu Dec 26
Once again threading the needle on a snowstorm, we drove back to Bedford for a few days there. We loaded up on wine and then were greeted at Lindsay’s mom’s with her brothers and a pork supper. Over Christmas Eve + Christmas Day + Boxing Day we ate another turkey dinner (and attendant leftovers), played Balderdash and Taboo, watched Four Christmases and Die Hard, petted animals, drank eggnog, snacked endlessly. On Boxing day there were excursions; I hitched a ride with brother #1 to Truro for the traditional Dickinson family Boxing Day reunion.
Fri Dec 27
We drove the ~30 minutes to Halifax for a few days at The Muir. That night we had a mini-Trivandrum reunion, meeting Tess + Aravind & Tom + Kealin for dinner at Darya, right next door to the hotel. Our meal — bread, olives, hummus, labneh, halloumi fries, chicken shawarma, spanakopita pie, lemon-roasted cauliflower, lamb kebab, and a bottle of Ixsir Grande Réserve Rosé. The food was excellent, the service fast. Excellent meal all around. Afterward Tom + Keal joined us upstairs at BKS for a cocktail. I had the Ode to the Mont Blanc, which included a little jar of Pop Rocks to have with the cocktail. I guess 107 years can’t be considered too soon.
Sat Dec 28
After the enjoying the heck out of all the space in that King bed, I got up early and had breakfast downstairs at Drift while Lindsay slept in. We eventually organized ourselves enough to walk down the street to Au Liban (for some reason, our second Lebanese meal in 18 hours) where we met Tess & Aravind, as well as Patrick, and had a big old feast: entirely too much labneh, several shakshoukas, beef shawarma, tawok, and halloumi. Afterward we walked back to the Muir where I crashed on the couch and watched the Canadiens game before Lindsay and Patrick joined me for a bit of a hang. We drank the bottle of Lightfoot & Wolfville Lindsay’s mom had given me for Christmas.
Somehow, after a few hours of relaxing, we found room for another dinner out: we wanted to try Matadora, the new tapas place on the waterfront. It was…meh. The croquetas de jamón, fennel & orange salad, and gambas al ajillo were mediocre at best. Lindsay thought the yema de huevo was good; I liked the smoked mackerel. Our ribeye was fine, nothing special. Honestly, the best part of the meal was the 2017 Gran Reserva Rioja poured into some beautiful wine glasses. Other than that, nothing to write home about.
Sun Dec 29
Finally, a day of complete relaxation: we had a BIG lie-in, and ordered room service, and lazed about. We didn’t do anything of note until heading to brother #1’s house for coffee. We left there, got back to the hotel to get cleaned up, and then went to meet some of Lindsay’s family at Cafe Chianti for dinner. It’s existed seemingly forever, but recently moved down to the waterfront. It was as advertised: a solid, if unremarkable, Italian meal. Good to catch up with everyone. We walked home along the waterfront on a (relatively) warm and foggy Halifax evening.
A nice, food and family and friends-filled visit. But now? Time to head home. We miss Bianca!
Mon Dec 30
We got up, checked out, ate a late breakfast / early lunch at the venerable Bluenose II, drove back to Bedford to re-pack…and found out our flight had been delayed by 25 minutes. Then another 25 minutes. Then another 15 minutes. Then another 10 minutes. Then another hour. We were just about ready to give up and re-book, but the only flight out the next day was already full, so we drove to the airport (slowly; the weather was horrible) and hoped for the best. Luckily, we made it, landing about two hours later than expected, and got home to find our cuddly girl waiting.
Tue Dec 31
A lazy, lazy, lazy day. I did nothing but unpack and watch sports until we went out to dinner at Ricky + Olivia. We had cocktails, leeks + latkes, squash + ice cream, wontons, brisket + duck hearts, and a bottle of Trail 2021 Pinot Noir. From there we went to Chez Nous to ring in the new year. We were so exhausted we basically made it to 12:07 and then walked home. Bye, 2024.
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 