Some mornings the foghorn beats your alarm and the whole peninsula smells like the Atlantic. From the boardwalk down on the waterfront to the ferry slipping across to Dartmouth, Halifax runs at its own tide — and we're building the map to all of it.

We mean the lobster rolls and a dozen oysters on the half shell, pints of Keith's and whatever's fresh at Garrison and Propeller, brunch lineups on Quinpool, and the great Haligonian birthright: a proper donair with the sweet sauce, eaten standing up at 1 a.m. on Pizza Corner. The North End's Agricola Street is where the new spots land first — we'll get you there before the table's gone.

Climb Citadel Hill for the noon gun, lose an afternoon under the trees in Point Pleasant Park or the Public Gardens, and let Nocturne, the Jazz Festival and the Buskers take over downtown when the weather turns kind. When you need to leave the peninsula, Peggy's Cove and the South Shore are an easy drive — lighthouse, surf and chowder included.

The HFX is your insider's guide to every bit of it: the openings, the patios, the shows and the day trips, from the harbour up. Drop anchor — we're almost live.