We were up early. Real early. A cab picked us up at 6:00 to take us to Quebec International Airport. After we arrived, we checked in, had a breakfast snack and boarded our 8:00 Air Canada flight to Ottawa International Airport. It seemed strange that we were flying southwest to get to Halifax. But that's how we were routed. We had plenty of time to make our next flight, so we decided to have an early lunch. ​

Our flight to Halifax left at noon and we arrived at Stanfield International Airport at 14:55, Atlantic Daylight Time. This was confusing to me. I didn't realize that we would be an hour ahead of Eastern time. In any case, we picked up our bags, caught a taxi and arrived at the Atlantica Hotel. ​

Our corner room was on one of the upper stories. It was reasonably large, quiet and comfortable. It had a good view of the city. ​

We met Anne Matheson, our Road Scholar tour guide, and some of the participants on our Best of the Canadian Maritimes tour in the hotel lobby where we picked up our packets and selected meals for various dinners and lunches. ​

ur buffet dinner was in one of the conference rooms on the second floor. We sat at several round tables and made awkward conversations that are typical with people that are meeting for the first time. ​

When the meal was finished, Anne presented all of the administrative things about the tour. She passed out our "ears", our listening devices that we would use for the rest of the tour. Then we introduced ourselves. It was a remarkable diverse group. ​

We were in bed at a reasonable hour.