Day 81
Morning thunder showers canceled our planned hike to 2 waterfalls. We departed Truro about mid-day and headed to our sixth and final new Province on this trip, Prince Edward Island. Rain let up but when we started going over the Confederation Bridge (the one and only bridge to PEI from New Brunswick with a length of 8 miles - built in 1997; it has only 2 lanes and no breakdown lane) it was quite foggy. The coach indicated that the first 4 miles was uphill. With the fog, I could see the white caps below but I could only see a few hundred feet of the bridge in front of us. As the white caps seemed to get farther and farther away down below, it appeared as though we were driving to heaven! When we reached the island, the fog seemed to clear but it was still overcast. We checked into the Marco Polo Land Campground in Cavendish, PEI.
Day 80
About an hour drive to Pictou, NS. Visited the Hector Heritage Quay. This is a museum about the first Scottish immigrants to arrive in Nova Scotia. The ship that brought them was the Hector. The museum was well done giving the history of the defeat of the Scottish Highlanders by England in 1745 and thereafter, the poverty and starvation of the Highlanders due to their treatment by the English. Thus, in 1773, the first of the Scots decided to leave and follow an advertised promise of cheap land and provisions. 189 men, women and children were supposed to depart on the ship the “Hector” in May but delays resulted in a July 8 departure. Bad weather caused the trip to take much longer than planned. Rations were short and diseases caused many to die at sea, mostly the children. The ship finally arrived September 15, too late to plant a crop before winter. The promised starting shelters and provisions were non-existent. The tears of joy of landing soon turned to tears of despair. The Highlanders managed to survive the winter and the rest is history! The museum also includes a full size replica of the Hector. We went below deck in the ship’s hold to see what the 189 people had to live in for 12 weeks. It was cramped to say the least. Nothing I want to endure for even a day (note rat above my shoulder in photo). Next we visited the Northumberland Fisheries Museum. A small museum but one that displays live rare lobsters. They had blue lobsters (about one in two million). They had yellow lobsters (one in 30 million), yellow polka-dot lobsters, and an albino lobster (about one in 100 million). They even had a lobster whose right claw was actually three working claws on one arm. Not sure the photos do them justice but fascinating. A trip to Mrs. MacGregor’s Shortbread where we purchase a package of maple shortbread and a package of single malt (Glenora) shortbread. Yum! One last stop at Uncle Leo’s Brewery. A small brewery that makes only 4 different beers. Unfortunately, only 2 beers available, a wheat and an IPA. I sampled them but really disappointed that their smokey porter was not available. An hour drive to Truro, NS, and joined 7 other rv’s at Walmart.
Monday, August 15, 2016, Antigonish, NS
Day 79
The weather was still iffy but we decide to go to Louisbourg anyway. We arrived at the Fortress of Louisbourg about 11:00, just in time for the cannon firing. The weather improved and we soon folded the umbrellas. The Fortress was built by the French to protect the harbor and enclosed the entire city. The British defeated the French in 1745 and took control. A treaty gave the Fortress back to the French in 1748. In 1758, the British again defeated the French and this time destroyed the Fortress to avoid any possible return to the French. Today it is a replica of 1/4 of the structures on 1/5 of the land area of the original. All of the buildings were rebuilt on their original sites using the original plans–quite an undertaking. There are some ruins that are visible and some have been lost to the sea. The recreated Fortress has period costumed people throughout the town going about their business as in the 1700's (think Williamsburg, Virginia). Our period lunch was a 1700's meal of pea soup, haddock and vegetables - carrots and turnips. This was a spoons only meal as forks and knives were too expensive at that time. The sun did come out and it was an enjoyable day. We then headed westward and spent the night in the Antigonish Walmart joining 8 other rv’s.
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