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!