Eddie and George Wake Up at Spry Bay Nova Scotia

Fortress of Louisbourg - A Moment in Time

Hi Blog!

Monday, July 23, 2018, was our last full day on the shores of Bras d'Or Lake in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We were just a hop, skip and jump away from one of Canada's most famous National Historic Sites - Fortress of Louisbourg. We knew it was going to be a good day when as soon as we arrived at the Visitor's Center, we were greeted with not one, but TWO pairs of Red Chairs! If one is good, two is better!

Fortress of Louisbourg is not just a fort, but an entire fortified town. To date, one-quarter of the original town has been reconstructed. This site stands as the largest reconstruction project in North America. Even the reconstruction done in Williamsburg, Virginia, cannot compete with the size and scale of this reconstruction. That being said, Williamsburg's site is substantially larger than Fortress Louisbourg because Williamsburg consists mainly of original buildings.  

As we approached the Dauphin Gate, the King's Bastion loomed to the right shrouded in mist.

French settlement on Cape Breton Island started back in the early 17th century. The Fortress of Louisbourg was the capital for the French colony of Ile-Royale (Cape Breton Island). The fortifications were built to protect and provide a base for France's North American fishery.

Kathy gets ready to step back in time through the Dauphin Gate. The year is 1744, a year before the first British invasion, and business in Louisbourg is booming.

Folks in period dress go about their daily activities. Unlike Williamsburg, they are not "locked in time" reenacting the events of a particular day. They are more like ambassadors of the time period. They explain their costumes, their crafts and talk about what life was like back in the day; they can also give directions if we're turned around. As we walked up the main street, we looked back down toward the Frederic Gate standing ready to receive the next shipload of merchandise from France.

Walking through the streets and alleys and touring all the buildings, it's hard to believe that the only thing left after the second British invasion were the building foundations. They didn't want the French to come back, so they totally leveled the town.

In order to reconstruct Louisbourg, Parks Canada had to collect as much information as they could. It involved specialists and volunteers from every disciple - history, architecture, metalurgy, agriculture, military and construction. The amount of information available was incredible. In the reconstructed colonial engineer's office, there are copies of plans for the actual buildings originally built by the French in Louisbourg. The engineers had to submit plans to Montreal, Montreal had to send them to France, France had to approve them, send them back to Montreal, and then Montreal would send them back to Louisbourg. By that time, the building would most likely have been built and occupied for a year!

The ladies that work in the demonstration kitchens have the hottest job. Everyday they practice different recipes from the time period. Unfortunately, the public doesn't get to "sample" any of the goodies. However, there is a bakery building that makes whole wheat, half and half, and white bread which tourists can purchase. We took home one of each!

Before our afternoon adventures, we ducked in to the Hotel de la Marine for some lunch. The menu was determined by what was fresh and local. We could choose from trout, salmon and beef. It was served according to the traditions of the time. Including the tradition of filling every place at a table whether you knew the person or not. We had a very lively lunch conversation with a couple from Ontario and a researcher from Indianapolis. 

After lunch, we were due over at the Guardhouse outside the King's Bastion.

The King's Bastion Barracks could house over 500 men. They were quartered in rooms of 12 to 16 men, two per bunk. There were no mess halls and no workrooms. Men cooked, ate, drank, smoked, gambled and lived in their rooms.

The historical importance of Louisbourg was first protected back in 1928, when the area was designated a National Historic Site. However, it wasn't until the 1970's that the idea of reconstruction was first thought possible. With the closing of the coal and steel mills, the area was in desperate need of jobs that could teach the mine and mill workers new trades.

Educational programs at Louisbourg run throughout the day. We would have loved to attend them all, but some of them run concurrently. We had to skip the Rum tasting in favor of the Guided Tour. Had it been a beer tasting, we may have decided differently! However, our hands down favorite program was called "Have a Ball." We got to dress up like the French militia and fire a musket! 

Here Kathy carefully studies the procedure.

The muskets used at the fortress are reproductions of the original Charlesville musket used by the French. They are approximately 60 inches long and weight over 10lbs. There is a slight delay from the time you pull the trigger to the time the black powder goes boom. Kathy gets a helping hand to keep the musket steady as the charge goes off.

Unfortunately for Dave, when it was his turn, the wind had shifted!

While we enjoyed our basic training, we didn't sign up to enlist. It was 90 degrees and the full-length wool winter coats weighed about 40lbs!

The guided tour takes you all around the town. Many of the houses have their own French gardens. The produce is used in the local restaurants.

After touring Fortress Louisboug, we were excited to visit the location of the oldest lighthouse in Canada.  Construction began on the lighthouse in 1730 to assist navigation to Fortress of Louisbourg. It was completed in 1734. Over the years, four different styles of lighthouse graced the head.

The current lighthouse, built in 1923, is an octagonal concrete building decorated with neoclassical architectural features. The fog gave the lighthouse an aura of mystery.

We almost forgot to mention the Red Chairs!

History in Glace Bay

PROLOGUE TO THE BLOG

We just want you to know that, at the fiddlers performance at the Big Pond Festival last night --



-- Kathy won the 50/50 (called the "split ticket" locally) worth $130!  However, you need to understand that the only reason she won, was that, as she purchased her tickets, she committed that, if she won, she would donate her winnings back to the Big Pond Fire House, which is the beneficiary of the festival proceeds.  Sure enough, that commitment was what it took.

This is not the first time.  Since winning a boat tour lottery on Moosehead Lake in Main in 2012, Kathy has won these lotteries SIX TIMES (out of perhaps 10 tries).  We're sure it is because of her charitable plans for the proceeds.  Pay it forward!

Now, on to our main story.

INTRODUCTION

Out here in the Canadian Maritimes, weather is always a factor.  Today was forecast to be questionable, so we picked some activities we had listed that could be undertaken rain or shine.  Consequently, we toured two museums in Glace Bay that reveal some interesting aspects of Cape Breton history.

MINERS MUSEUM

Our first stop was the Cape Breton Miners Museum, in Glace Bay, an old coal mining town perched on the North Atlantic Coast near Sydney, Nova Scotia.  The museum presents the Ocean Deeps Colliery at a now-closed coal mine that descends TWO MILES under the Atlantic Ocean, following a coal seam that that been mined since the French extracted coal for nearby Fort Louisbourg in the early 1700's.  In 1826, England had taken over Nova Scotia and the Duke of York granted rights to mine the area to a British syndicate that sunk shafts in this area.  The first large mine here opened in 1861.  In 1894, the government gave exclusive mining rights in this area to Dominion Coal Company, which consolidated 12 prior mining operations and eventually operated 16 collieries in the area, accounting for 40% of all of Canada's coal output.

(You might recall that Dominion operated a steel company in North Sydney, where our ferry departed from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, and also operated the limestone/gypsum mine in Port au Port, near Stephenville, Newfoundland, where we recently hiked the Gravels Walking Trail.)

The last mine closed around 2010, and this mine was redeveloped as a tourist historic attraction known as "Ocean Deeps Colliery":

The museum offers a unique tour of the coal mine, with a narrative stressing the personal history of the miners, led by a retired coal miner who worked here.  Our tour guide, Eric Spencer, gave us an introduction before leading us down into the mine:

Everyone had to don a hard hat (low ceilings) and a poncho for the drippy mine shaft ceilings:

Eric demonstrated the used of coal mining equipment in the early part of the 20th Century:

He told many stories of individual miners he had known, and of miners who had an impact on the miners' lives.  One unique story is of a miner who started a garden underground in recent years, using a fluorescent light.  The garden has been maintained still:

Much of the history related to coal miner strikes and mine disasters from the late 1800's through 1979.  By the time we finished the tour, we felt we had gained some understanding of the hard life and risks the miners took.

MARCONI NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

Another interesting historic venue in Glace Bay is the Marconi National Historic Site, which preserves the first site in Nova Scotia where, on December 17, 1902, Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted wirelessly to a station in England, after having succeed in receiving a signal from the same English station on Signal Hill at St. John's, Newfoundland in December 1901.

Marconi's station in Nova Scotia was located on Table Head in Glace Bay:

The site has been given national historic status in Canada and is administered by Parks Canada.  The visitor center exhibits the history of Marconi's efforts and displays a model of his original wireless station, which Kathy admires in the photo below:

The site itself only retains the foundations of Marconi's antenna bases and station:

One bonus of visiting the Marconi site is that it has Canada National Parks Red Chairs!  Kathy was so excited by this, that she immediately plopped down into one of the Red Chairs, with an unobstructed view (if one could see) eastward to England:

Once Kathy calmed down, we took a proper "Red Chair Photo," with Marconi and a description of his feat behind us and reflected in the visitor center window:

While we also wanted to visit the Cape Breton Heritage Center, also in Glace Bay, it was closed, and we had to return to our campground without the third museum.  By the time we got home, a storm system had started dumping rain on the area, so we retired inside our motorhome to enjoy some food and drink and prepare this blog entry.

Here's hoping that tomorrow's weather will grace our journey down to the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, which has lots of history and more Red Chairs!

Paddling Bras d'Or Lake

Hi Blog!

Now that we are further south, the weather has become warmer. Friday, July 20, 2018, promised to be a great day to kayak. As we took our coffee walk this morning, we were treated to clear blue skies. The wind was so calm it was practically non-existent. The waters of MacDougall Pond had a mirror-like quality.

However, by the time we finished breakfast and got the kayaks ready, a slight breeze came up to ripple the water.

Kayaking around the pond was a good warm up for the open lake. By the time we got all the way around it was almost two miles. Along the way, we spotted our summer cottage. It needs a little work, but it's right next to the shore making it easy to launch the kayaks!

As we glide along, we keep our eye out for wildlife. Small schools of fish dart out of our way. The terns take turn diving in after them.

As we approached the far end of MacDougall Pond, we heard a chattering sound that we always equate to squirrels tell us to leave their territory. To our surprise, the sound was actually several belted kingfishers. We managed to catch on perched on a fallen tree.

We finished our circuit of MacDougall Pond and paddled under the causeway out into Bras d'Or Lake. While Bras d'Or is called a lake, it is actually an inland sea.

Bras d'Or Lake is a basin ringed by hills. The lake is connected to the North Atlantic by natural channels and a lock and canal system. The restricted tidal exchange in its three points of contact with the Atlantic ocean, coupled with significant freshwater drainage from the many rivers and streams in the lake watershed, cause the lake water to have less salinity than the surrounding ocean. Although salinity varies throughout the lake system, it approximates a one third fresh, two-thirds sea water mixture, and hence may be termed brackish water. 

It's been so long since we've seen one of these, we almost didn't recognize it - a diving platform. Most campgrounds and public pools long ago removed their dives because it costs too much to insure them. However, we are not in Kansas anymore, so the sign use at your own risk is all the campground needs.

With 621 miles of shoreline, there was no way to paddle the whole lake in one day. We decided to paddle into the wind, so our return trip would be with the wind. Each rig has it's own little section of rocky beach.

We soon leave the campground behind us. Further south, small houses and cottages line the bluff overlooking the lake. The local residents have built staircases down to the beach. This fisherman was responsible for setting up the family picnic site. Now, all he needs is the rest of his family to make a day of it.

This family has also staked out their part of the beach.

You never know what you'll find around the next point. Is this a work area, a place to dry fish or just an artistic expression. Inquiring minds want to know.

Further along, we came upon Marble Point. We could see a small rock garden ahead.

It was too tempting for Kathy. She had to jump out of her boat and add her own monument to garden.

We decided that this would be our turnaround point. It is hard to see in the picture, but our lone tree is just off that far point. With the wind at our backs, we begin the return journey. Paddling in big open water is like hiking in the desert. You can see your car at the trailhead, but it's still two miles away!

As we round the final point, our campground comes into view. Home sweet home!

We still have a few more days here in Ben Eoin and more adventure awaits us. Stay tuned.

Getting to know Sydney, Nova Scotia

Our ferry crossing from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia was uneventful, but it made for a long day yesterday.  We slept long and hard last night.  This morning we woke up early, took a walk around our campground to acquaint ourselves with Ben Eoin Beach on beautiful Bras D'Or Lake, then planned our day.

The weather was iffy, so we decided to play tourists in downtown Sydney and then do some necessary grocery shopping.  Sydney's waterfront has been improved for pleasant recreation and strolling, and the tourist information center is located down there, so we made that our first goal:

The tourist information center is located at the cruise terminal, where Sydney accepts very large cruises.  The wharf boasts the world's largest fiddle, a sculpture in steel titled, "The Big Cheilidh Fiddle," or "Fidheall Mhor A Cheilidh" in Gaelic.  A "cheilidh," in Irish or Scottish Gaelic, means a social visit.  The custom of fiddling grew up in Gaelic households -- both in Nova Scotia and in the Old Country -- in connection with these social visits, which are also often referred to as "kitchen parties."  Someone would always have a fiddle to pull out, and whoever was around would join in the step dancing to the sound of one or more fiddles.  The sentiments that a fiddle produces in the Nova Scotia Gaelic community can be summed up in this passage from "Headin' for Halifax," by Alastair D. Macdonald:

"One thing I know, wherever I go,
My heart's in Cape Breton:  it will always be so.
Whenever the fiddler rosins the bow,
My first and last thoughts are for home."

So how could we not join in the fiddlin' and take a selfy with that beloved big fiddle:

We wandered into the cruise terminal, only to find a giant model of a lighthouse, inside of which was a small theater that plays a video telling the history of fiddling in Nova Scotia:

We stopped at the info center, picked up a walking map, and started our own walking tour through the center of town.  Truthfully, it was not a long walk, because the historic and interesting part of Sydney amounts to a 1-mile stretch, two blocks wide, along Charlotte Street and the waterfront.  In this neighborhood, the streets are lovely and tree-lined, with maybe a dozen historic buildings sprinkled among well-kept clapboard frame houses and more modern 2- or 3-story office buildings.

The one historic building that took David's fancy was the Anglican Church of St. George:

David likes unique architecture, and both lighthouses and churches embody this, so he is always eager to include photos of those structures in his blogs.  One of sayings is, "A lighthouse and a church a day keep the architectural blahs away."

We wandered further along Charlotte Street until we found our lunch spot, The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse:

It seemed to us that a traditional pub like this, with an Irish theme, couldn't be bad, and we were right.  The mural on the wall says it all:

Kathy celebrated the occasion with a pint of that good old Guinness -- on nitro!

David had a pint of a local beer, but particularly savored the seafood chowder and Irish soda bread.  No more details or you may get jealous.

Thus re-energized, we found the far end of the waterfront boardwalk and strolled along it the mile back to the visitor center where we were parked:

Along the way, we stopped to contemplate the memorial to merchant seamen.

The historical marker with the sculpture revealed that 276 merchant marine boats were sunk by the Germans as they attempted to deliver supplies to the Allies during World War II.  Many seaman survived multiple sinkings, only to ship out again on another boat to run the same risks again.

Earlier in the day, at breakast in an unpretentous diner across the road from our campground, we learned that the local Heritage Arts Theatre in Sydney was performing a musical comedy called, "Kitchen Party" tonight, and it looked like fun.  It is stated by the Heritage Arts Theatre, which is housed in a local historic church building:

We really enjoyed the performance.  It was based on original compositions and traditional music expressing the culture and spirit of Nova Scotia.  The play also explored the modern dilemma of somany Nova Scotian Cape Bretons about whether to stay on the islands, where there are no jobs but many family and cultural ties, or whether to leave the Island for jobs in Toronto or Alberta.  We were touched by the performance, and we're only disappointed that others outside Nova Scotia will not see this jewel of a musical.