Ships, Persians, and my Dad

Yesterday, my Dad came to visit me. Usually, his trips to Halifax are very direct. He drives straight to the city, does his errands (max of one hour). Then, he picks me up from wherever I’m living, and we drive straight home. Dad is almost always the one who picks me up to bring me home for vacations, so there’s not much deviation from this plan. Mom, on the other hand, will occasionally drive down to just visit. We’ll go out to dinner, catch a movie, and go shopping, that sort of thing. Dad doesn’t come to visit just for the sake of visiting. Until now!

Dad stopped by just to let me know that he misses me. Not really. He doesn’t talk about feelings much. He came by, and picked me up from work, because I had to work extra early, and we went and ran his errands. That part was boring for me, but fantastic for him. We went to Home Depot, Princess Auto, and the liquor store. The Home Depot where he lives is pretty dreadful, and they don’t have an automotive store, and the liquor stores here are much better stocked than those at home, so he really liked that. After that, we had a quick fast-food fuelled lunch. Then we went downtown to see the Tall Ships Festival!

When I was 15 I went sailing for a week on one of the Tall Ships that was exhibited and it was definitely the highlight of my whole year. I love sailing, and I think that it’s a really unique experience. So we went downtown, and walked around on the boardwalk and on the ships for a little bit. My favorite ones were the USCGC Eagle, HMCS Sackville, and the Bounty (a replica of the one with the mutiny!). I’ve been reading the Mutiny on the Bounty as this week’s book, so that was really cool. Dad had a great time. I had a great time with Dad. I have some pictures that will be up tomorrow, along with more tales of the sea.

After the ships, we had supper at a little place on Quinpool called Garden of Eat’n, because it said it had Persian food, and neither of us had ever had Persian. The service was a little sketchy. By a little sketchy, I mean a lot sketchy. But the food was really great. I had the Ginger Curry Chicken, and it came with spiced rice and a Mediterranean salad. It was really delicious and the serving sizes were generous. Dad had the Combination Plate, with beef and lamb kafta, and just about every other salad you could imagine. It was a little bit of everything. Prices were average too, which was nice.

As we were driving back to my apartment, Dad made a sudden detour to the grocery store. Dad takes me grocery shopping every time he takes me home. I didn’t even need groceries, but he insisted. It’s his way of making sure that I’m okay now that I’m not home. Since I mostly live on canned or dried foods, we picked up some more fresh foods, mainly to ensure that I don’t get scurvy. After a long hot day, he dropped me back off at my apartment, and headed home.

Sometimes I miss my dad a whole lot, and it was really nice to see him. We had a really great afternoon, talking, walking, and getting the worst sunburn I’ve had in years. All in all, a fantastic day. If you’re in Halifax, maybe with your dad, be sure to check out Garden of Eat’n, and the Tall Ships are here for just another couple of days!