Day 41
The Provincial Park check out is 1:00 pm so we take advantage and visit the Shelburne Loyalists Historic Houses in the morning. The town of Shelburne was established in 1783 by Loyalists to Britain who decided it may be best to leave the new USA. The Loyalists enjoyed the biggest houses along the water. Today, some of the houses are private residences and some are museums. We decided not to support the Loyalists and did not visit the museums. We did get a nice view of our coach across the water from the town. We checked out and continued southwestward arriving at Le Village Historique Acadien just in time for lunch. Le Café du Village features Acadien fare so I had a bowl of fish chowder and rappie pie. The rappie pie is no dessert but stick to your ribs hardiness. It begins with a machine squeezing all the liquid out of potatoes. The potato broth is used to boil a meat, in this case chicken. After the meat is cooked, it joins the remnants of the squeezed potatoes in a casserole, is layered with strips of salt pork on top and baked for 3 hours. Rosemary had a lobster sandwich which she said was the best so far. Good meal. To top it off, they had coconut cream pie of which I took a piece and it went right into our refrigerator for later as the chowder and rappie pie did a good job eliminating my appetite. Le Village is an early 1900's Acadien Village with various original buildings including a blacksmith shop, a dory building shop and a shanty where fishermen would repair their nets and lobster traps. Each building had Acadien descendants telling about the history of the village and the Acadien people. The Acadiens first came here in the 1600's but were deported in the years around 1755 when the French ceded the territory to the British after the war. The Acadiens later returned to the area. The guides in each building were very friendly and informative including the shanty guide who was a real lobster fisherman and did this as his summer job. Lobster season here is November 30 to May 31. He told many of his own stories including the loss of his friend and others at sea. His friend was below deck sleeping with others. It is believed he went on deck to relieve himself and got to close to the rail and a wave took him overboard. He was not noticed missing until the next morning. He was never found. If you go overboard without anyone seeing you, you are a goner as one can survive the water temperature for only a few minutes if that long. For that matter, he had another friend go overboard while everyone was working on deck. In the short time it took to turn the boat around and get to him, his legs had gone numb and was he very near succumbing. A most dangerous job so we can feast on lobster! We get permission to stay overnight in the parking lot of Le Village. We then drive the car to Cape Sable about 30 minutes away. We visit The Hawk, Nova Scotia’s southern most point. The Hawk is a coastal beach which provides a view of the Cape Sable Light, Nova Scotia’s tallest lighthouse. The weather was freezing so we did not mind forgetting to wear our bathing suits to this beach. After dinner in the coach, we take a 10 minute drive to Dennis Point Wharf, the areas largest. During lobster season, more than 150 boats utilize the wharf. We met Ben, the wharf nighttime security guard who invited us up to his tower for a better view and we must have spent 45 minutes listening to his stories. Canada sure has some friendly people, Quebec notwithstanding.
Day 40
Before departing our campground, we visited the Lunenburg’s Farmer’s Market. Nice size market for a small town. Bought a bottle of Rissers Breeze from Petite Riviere Winery located about 20 minutes away from Lunenburg. Also bought a sourdough baguette and an almond chocolate croissant. Stopped in Liverpool, NS, and visited the Fort Point Lighthouse, one of the oldest in NS dating from 1855. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse where one can pump the fog horn, and this one did so. Quite loud. Next we went to the Kemjimkujik National Park Seaside. The approach road was 6 km of rough road, the last 2 km of which was unpaved. During this leg of the trip we could see nothing but the road lined with vegetation and we wondered where the heck we were taking the coach. Finally a sign and a mostly empty parking lot with room for us. We prepared for a hike when we saw the beware of bears sign. Back to the coach for 2 umbrellas and a knife, just in case. The hike was about 5.5 km (roundtrip) to the ocean in a pretty remote point of land. An island just of the coast was full of seals. We did not see any bears but the umbrellas came in handy as it started to rain. Temps in the 50's with a good breeze made for a brisk walk indeed. When we departed the park, we turned west on highway 3 to pick up highway 103. We came from the east but our trip is now heading west. After a few miles, without any warning highway 3 came to an abrupt end. And just a few hundred yards short of 103. Of course, it was raining harder now. We had to detach the car and I had to do some manuevering to turn the coach around. The photos were taken after we turned around. No problem with traffic while standing in the middle of the road to nowhere. So we headed east to pick up 103 to head west. Not one sign when exiting the park warning of no exit or road closed. For that matter, the signage throughout Canada has been lacking. We stopped in Shelburne, NS, at the Islands Provincial Park which has a campground sans hookups. It’s after 6 pm and it is too cold to hookup anyway. Generator on, heaters on!
Day 39
We began the day with a free tour of the Knaut-Rhuland House Museum, a National Historic Site, built in 1793. We walked to the harbor and got our chance to go onto the deck of the Bluenose II which was between sailing trips. It is hard for me to described how big this sailboat is and how tall the masts are. I don’t think the pictures do it justice. It is huge. Later we saw the ship sailing near another sailboat and perhaps that photo will give some perspective. After lunch, we drive to Blue Rocks, only 10 minutes away. A small point at the end of the peninsula with supposedly blueish rocks, basically grey slate. Then another 10 minute drive along the coast to Mahone Bay where we spotted 2 deer. Some tastings at the Haskapa shop leads to another purchase. A nice tea shop results in a purchase as well. Dinner in Lunenburg at the Dockside Restaurant. After a shared bowl of chowder, I had grilled Nova Scotia scallops. Rosemary had the grilled Halibut. Good meal.
Day 38
After about an hour drive, we checked into the Lunenburg Board of Trade Campground. The town established in 1754 is very walkable although hilly. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as it represents “the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America.” We visit the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and learn much about the history of the town and Nova Scotia’s fishing past. The exhibit on the Bluenose was very interesting and there was a talk by a native of the town whose grandmother passed stories of the Bluenose down to her. The Bluenose was built in 1921 and was the undefeated champion of the North Atlantic fishing fleet having won 4 international schooner races from 1921 to 1931. The competition was among actual fishing ships, think America’s Cup but with fishing boats. The boat was lost off the coast of Haiti in 1946. In 1963, Oland Brewery funded the construction of an exact replica to tout its Schooner beer. In 1971, after tiring of the expensive upkeep, Oland sold the Bluenose II to the government of Nova Scotia for $1.00 and it is now harbored in Lunenburg. It sails twice a day. We were unable to get tickets as it is sold out for the rest of the summer. Dinner at The Salt Shaker Deli was a bowl of chowder followed by a pound of mussels and a pint of Boxing Rock Temptation Red Ale. Rosemary was also happy with another lobster roll. After dinner, we saw a show called “Glimpses” by The Summer Troupe. The show consisted of various songs written by the cast about historic events of Lunenburg and it was hilarious.
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