Holy Mackerel…We’re In a Fog!

June 30, 2015 Day 15

We went to bed last night hearing the pounding waves outside.  This morning, it was much calmer, but overcast.  The temperature was 14 (Celsius), but rose to 21 by the end of the day.  (I’ll let you translate to Fahrenheit)  It’s been hard to adjust to the different measuring scale.  By the way, It has also been hard to watch the scale in our bathroom which keeps rising every time I stand on it!

This campground has been here for 60 years and is run by a local family.  Kaye, the matriarch is 92 years old and served us coffee and gingerbread last night around a campfire!  The daughter and son-in-law treated us to their smoked mackerel along with great stories about living and fishing in the area.  Mackerel is a big fishing target here, and smoked mackerel is a traditional dish.  I didn’t try it, but everyone else thought it was great!

We visited the lighthouse again today and it was amazing how quickly the fog rolled in and shrouded the area.  It was heavy and thick and difficult to see…makes you appreciate why these lighthouses are necessary to keep the boats away from the rocky shores.  A bagpiper came out and played on the rocks…kind of neat .

The waves were really crashing on the shore—the waves would spray high above the rocks—quite a display of sea power!    We had lunch at the café by the lighthouse, and had a group picture taken.  Too bad the sun didn’t cooperate…

 

Then, later this afternoon, the fog lifted as quickly as it came in, and we were able to enjoy another beautiful sunset! 

We are almost 1/3 of the way through our trip, and in some ways its gone by quickly, but in other ways, the last campground seems long past.  I’m missing my daily newspaper and crossword puzzles, but not sure I’d have time to do them anyway.  We made a quick trip to the grocery today and found it weird that all of the products are different.  Couldn’t find plain ol’ English muffins (for Connie McMuffins), and no familiar brands except Cheerios. The deli had meats quoted in grams, so we ordered a pound of sliced turkey breast, not knowing it was $14.50 per pound!  Guess we’ll have to get better at those measurements if we do much more shopping!

Peggy’s Cove

June 29, 2015 Day 14

We arrived at King Neptune campground which is right on the ocean…what a beautiful spot.   We walked to Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse which was a little farther than we thought…about a 3 mile walk each way, but it was worth it to see the magnificent lighthouse sitting on a huge pile of granite surrounded by large granite rocks and boulders.  The waves come crashing in against the rocks—it’s a spectacular view.   The lighthouse has been there since 1915. 

 

A small fishing village is nestled in the area, and added to the wonderful scenery.

 

At the entry to the village is a granite rock that has been carved as a beautiful memorial to the fishermen of Peggy’s Cove.

About halfway between the campground and the lighthouse is another memorial—this one the Swissair Memorial Site dedicated to Flight 111 that went down in 1998 in these waters. 229 people died.  You can see Peggy’s Cove lighthouse from the memorial site…a beautiful view.   At the time a Coast Guard command post was set up in our campground to assist with the recovery efforts.  Our campground hosts related many stories about the tragedy which engaged the entire community.

And speaking of our campground, you won’t believe our waterfront view.  From our front window we can watch the waves lick the rocks.  We were able to get a picture from a dock across the way—that’s the Lundcruiser in the front on the left.

 

 

 

, Spot got into the action while we were watching the sunset, and we got to see quite a beauty this evening. 

PS.  My fitbit says 19,122 steps and 45 floors!  I’ll be feeling that walk to the lighthouse tomorrow!

Fun Day Sunday

July 28, 2015 Day 13
Today is the first “free day” with no scheduled activities.  It’s a great place to be, as we can walk almost everywhere from the campground. We went to mass at St. Norbert Church just a few blocks away.  The first mass was in 1840—175 years ago.  The church closed in 1889 for about 40 years, but reopened in the 1930’s when catholic fisherman moved into the area. I’ve never heard of St. Norbert, but his community is very friendly.  They had all of the visitors stand and introduce themselves before mass, and gave us each a pin of their church.  The church sits on the corner of a neighborhood, at the top of a steep street.  Walking through here certainly gives your leg muscles a workout, and boy do I need it!
The view of Lunenburg’s waterfront from across the bay is beautiful!  They say the houses and shops were painted in lively vibrant colors so the fishermen could spot their home as they were coming in to the wharf.
Another local feature is the “Lunenburg Bump”, which is a 5-sided dormer window on the second floor overhanging the first floor.  Every other house had a bump!



We ventured out to view the “Blue Rocks”, a scenic point along the shore with rocks showing a blue tint.

Mulhone Bay Churches

We also went to Mulhone Bay, a nearby town on the water.  There are three vintage churches along the shoreline that provide a pretty picture!

While there, we visited a local pewter shop, and we could watch them making things…pretty interesting.  They poured pewter out of a pot that was heated to 400 degrees!  The metal hardened as it hit the mold, and dissolved just as quickly when it was thrown back into the pot.  I was really good and left the shop without a bag in my hand, mostly because I couldn’t decide whether to buy pewter jewlery, a pewter lobster or a pewter nativity set! (But I did bring a catalog with me!)

We learned a new fish fact that is important enough to share: the silvery substance in the skin of fish is called pearl essence.  Around this area, herring is a big supplier of pearl essence, a substance used in the manufacture of lipstick, eyeshadow and nail polish and many other products.  The pearl essence creates a shimmering effect -–a whole new interpretation of “fish face”!


We closed out the evening with a delicious spaghetti dinner provided by our friends-- we call him the Whale.  (His name is William Hale…get it..W.Hale!  I laugh every time I say it.)

The Schooner the Better!

June 27, 2015 Day 12

Today we drove from the North Shore to the South Shore of Nova Scotia, and it only took 2 1/2
hours!  That gives you an idea of the size of the land.  We arrived at the Board of Trade Campground in Lunenburg, NS, which is right on the edge of the old town neighborhood.  Lunenburg is home to Bluenose, the undefeated champion of the North Atlantic fishing fleet and the winner of the international schooner races from 1921-1931.  The boat’s likeness is on the Canadian dime.  Bluenose hit a rock and sank, but they created an exact replica, Bluenose II, which was in at the wharf and we got to go aboard.

We visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic which used to be a fish packing house, and learned all kinds of things about the history of fishing in the area, the types of fish, how they fish, etc.  They also had quite a collection of artifacts and displays related to the ships, and shipbuilding.  One ship model was built by a guy in jail, but wasn’t finished before he was released.  They wouldn’t let him stay in jail to finish it, so the day he was released, he picked up a rock and broke a window so he would go back to jail for two weeks to finish!  We also saw live scallops (quite a change from eating them…)   The scallop opens and closes to move water through which creates movement.  As we watched, it spit at us!

We’ve been lucky that there have not been any major problems with our caravan group, but there have been several with “stories to tell”.  The couple that blew a tire on Friday right in front of us were able to nurse it into the campground, and then get help replacing the spare.  Today, after a lot of calling around, they were able to get a replacement spare, not too far from our route here, and were the first ones to the campground!  (they are Canadian, so had plenty of phone minutes to use on locating tire stores in the area.)  They were fortunate, since we’ve only been in small towns along the way.

 One couple made a wrong turn (yes, there are others besides me that have trouble following directions), and in trying to turn around in a short drive-thru, found out that there was a big drop off and the drive was muddy; they ended up almost stuck in the mud on the side of the road.  They had the entire road blocked, had to stop traffic, unhook their tow, and were lucky to get out with only scratches on the vehicle and on their pride.  Today on the trip, the tow-bar broke on one couple’s rv, just as they drove into the campground.  Our group pitched in and between several tool boxes, they came up with a bolt, a tap and other pieces needed to get the tow-bar back in working condition.  Another couple with a 5th wheel had trouble getting their jacks up so that they could get the trailer hooked to the truck.  Three guys got in the back of the truck and jumped up and down to lower the bed enough to get it under the trailer hitch.  They were able to get to our stop, but will not be able to unhook until they find a replacement part. 

I found a tick on my leg today, but was able to get it off before it burrowed in, thank goodness!  Also lucky that Spot got his flea and tick medicine before we left. I think good luck is traveling with us!

Internet is somewhat limited, but hopefully will be good enough to get a post completed.

The Order of good Cheer!

June 26, Day 11

We spent the day touring various sites around Annapolis Royal and enjoying the taste of food, food and more food!

Our first stop was Port Royal, a national Historic Site—a reconstruction of a small French compound begun in 1605.  In these early settlements, there were only men who worked in the compound getting things established.  To keep from getting bored, they formed the “Order of Good Cheer”, where one would host the dinner, and take great care in putting on a feast and an evening of merriment.  This is believed to be the first social club.  The Order of Good Cheer..what a great idea…Cheers! 

Our next stop was Fort Anne which is the oldest national historic site in Canada. In the 1630’s, the French built Ft. Anne, but Great Britain took control in 1710.  It was interesting to stand on top of the mounds and look out at the sea and understand why this would be a prime area for attack because of the accessibility by water.   There are old earthworks with a date of 1708—that’s pretty old!

In the museum was an original copy of the Nova Scotia Charter dated 1621!  Also on display was a huge needlepoint tapestry 8ft x 18 ft with 4 panels illustrating four centuries of area history.  The tapestry with more than 3 million stitches was completed by local volunteers, who spent more than 20,000 hours completing it.  Even Queen Elizabeth put a few gold stitches in the piece.

We then checked out the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens, where I bought some Lupine seeds to plant at home.  This city is very conscious of preserving history, and you can see it throughout the city.

Lunch was at a German Café and Bakery right downtown where the owner Heidi, her husband and daughter put on a wonderful lunch complete with apple rhubarb streudel for dessert! Yummy!  It felt like the Order of Good Cheer!   Heidi’s husband is the baker, and we visited the bakery and came home with a bag full of goodies--coconut puffs, strawberry rhubarb turnover and an apple streudel hot out of the oven. (These are necessities for the Order of Good Cheer.)  
There is a dock very close to the campground and it was so strange to see the boats sitting on the ground at low tide.  We went back this evening and the tide had come in, so the boats were in water—The Bay of Fundy tides at work again….From the dock you could see the motorhomes in the campground—it looks pretty neat.

We visited the seafood market and bought scallops to bring home.  Then we went out to dinner and ate scallops that somebody else cooked for us…yummy again!
We watched the beautiful sunset, with a full tummy from all of the food today, and knew what it felt like to be part of the “Order of Good Cheer”!

Down By the Bay

June 25, 2015  Day 10

The skies were beautiful for our drive today.  We arrived at Cove Oceanfront Campground, Annapolis Royal, NS, overlooking the Bay of Fundy.  We’ve been so lucky to stay in these beautiful campgrounds with awesome views of the water!

We stopped on the way for a tour of Grand Pre, a historic farming settlement created in the 1680’s by the Acadians.  It is also a place of remembrance of the Acadian deportation.  I never really knew the details, but a movie at the museum brought the whole story together.

  I even found our family name “Broussard” listed on the list of people deported from this site!   I can’t wait to get more information from my Mom and Uncle on how far back the roots have been traced.  Just think, I could have been a Canadian, Eh! 

The area is an actual Acadian farm that has been restored and preserved.  The Acadians used a series of dykes, wooden sluices and a drainage network to take advantage of the tides, and farm the marshlands.  This system is still in use today. The local church that was burnt down at the time of deportation has been rebuilt on the site.  What an amazing story.

The poem, Evangelina, written by Longfellow immortalizes the plight of the Acadians and there is a statue of Evangelina in the gardens.  Now I am going to have to read the poem, as well as learn about family history!
This afternoon we went to Digby, the home of the largest scallop fleet in the world.  Of course we had to try the scallops.  We had a wonderful meal at the Fundy Restaurant right on the water with a beautiful view of the fishing wharf. 

Then we went down to the wharf and watched the fishing boats come in.  There is a truck on the dock that lifts the crates from the boat to the truck using a wench.  The ship captain (young guy, dark cap) is present for the weigh-in as the crates are unloaded.  He smiled when they showed us a big old lobster from one of the crates.  One fisherman along the wharf was alone in his boat and asked for a hand in getting a rope to the dock.  Jim gladly caught the rope to help him get docked!  We watched them unload a lobster boat that came in with quite a haul!  It was interesting to see how they unload.  The crew pulled the crates of lobsters (about 100lbs per crate) from the hold in the boat. 

Tonight we went on a tour of the graveyard.  It was a clever way to share the history of the area, with the tourguide (on the graveyard shift)  leading the tour with candle-lit lanterns, as he described people from the area, and wove in stories about life at that time.  It was very different, and quite a unique way to share history.  The tombstone markings are barely visible, but have been preserved by someone who traced the markings on each stone in the graveyard over 70 years ago!  It’s impressive that this small town has done so much to preserve history.


We were up way too late, and I didn’t have time to post my blog.  We are starting to experience poor internet service, and there is not a McDonalds or Tim Hortons close by, so hoping to be able to continue to post daily!

Peaceful Land

Day 9

The campground was quiet this morning as everyone prepared to leave.  We travelled today to Elm River Campground in Glenholme, Nova Scotia.  It is right on the Bay of Fundy…directly across the Bay from our spot yesterday!  (Remember how we could see Nova Scotia from New Brunswick?  Well, now we’re here!)

We entered a new province—Nova Scotia!  The French settlers originally claimed the region, naming it Acadia (“peaceful land”) but it didn’t stay peaceful due to a conflict between Britain and France for control of the territory.  A Scottish king then named the territory Nova Scotia, Latin for “new Scotland.”

Evidence of the conflict between the French and British is Fort Beausejour, a National Historic Site.

  It is one of Canada’s oldest forts, constructed by the French in 1751 to hold the British back.  It didn’t work.  Later it was used as a stronghold in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. It is in the shape of a star—with the many angles and corners, it was believed to be harder to hit.   The Fort fell to the British in 1755, and was used as the initial headquarters and prison for the deportation of Acadians.  Some of the Acadians were sent to New Orleans and were dubbed “Cajuns”.  Mom’s relatives have some connection to these Acadians!  Now we can say that we saw where it all began! 

On the way, we stopped to replenish supplies.  Here, the liquor stores are run by the government, so you have to go to a special store.  And, the prices are unbelievably high!  It may be cheaper to pay the duty and bring it in.   We had a cookout at the campground tonight followed by campground bingo--the squares were names of the individuals in the caravan, so it was a great way to learn names as we are all continuing to get to know each other.

There was a neat story from today.  One of the caravan couples from Michigan met up with a young lady that lives in this area and has been a pen-pal of their daughter for the past several years.  The daughter and the pen pal have never met, but the parents were able to meet the pen pal and have lunch today.  What are the chances of making that connection?   

We saw sunshine today—Hooray!