Showing posts with label Lighthouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lighthouse. Show all posts

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Canadian Maritimes: Nova Scotia (the southern part) (Part 4)

This day we were going to take the ride north and cross over to Prince Edward Island--until we learned the bridge toll would be $45 Canadian. The ferry is even more, around $75, and requires advance reservations.

So, instead, we drove along the shores of the St. Lawrence toward Antigonish and Pictou. We had missed the Highland's Games at the former by one week but the helpful personnel at the visitors' center were able to find the ever illusive Dunn Clan on their computer. Dunn was my mother's maiden name and, while she always said it was a Scot's name, we were never able to find anything about it. The folks in Antigonish printed out a copy of the clan tartan and told us that the Dunns were affiliated with the Erskines and, somehow connected to Prince Charlie. Interesting.

We continued on to Pictou which was a major landing area for Scottish immigrants in the late 1700s. early 1800s. Thrown off their lands by English landlords who were interested in converting farms to sheep pastures and raising rents, thousands came to Canada and the colonies to the south (think Carolinas).

Stone commemorating the Scottish landing iin 1773.

Replica of the ship they sailed on.

Tight quarters below decks.

A little further up the coast, we visited Cape George and it's lighthouse.



Cape George Lighthouse

View from the lighthouse to the east across the St. George's Bay and the Northumberland Strait.

We again returned to our campground in Truro and began our preparations for departure. Our destination was to be the town of Baddeck along the Bras d' Or on the northern portion of Nova Scotia which is also called Cape Breton.

Friday, September 09, 2016

Canadian Maritimes: Nova Scotia (the southern part) (Part 3)

Time to head south again along the west coast of Nova Scotia (the part along the Bay of Fundy). This time we went down to the port of Digby--a place known for its scallops. And as a haven fro the British Loyalists escaping the colonies after all that nastiness of 1776-1781.

Plaque at Loyalist Park
Fishing boats in the harbor

 A short distance out of Digby it the Prim Lighthouse. A beautiful spot to sit and watch the bay, see the fishing boats and ferries enter and leave the Digby harbor or to enjoy the wildflowers.

Prim Point Lighthouse


Entrance to Digby Harbor
Some of the shelving rocks the lighthouse was built to warn about.


Wind-blown trees along the coast.

Not far up the coast from Digby is Fort Anne, Canada's first national historic site. It was a French fort built quite a bit before The Citadel. Not a lot of stone used here. It's basically an earthen works fort.

 

The headquarters was undergoing some renovation.

Storage building made of stone and mortar. It's sunk into the ground to protect it from cannon balls. Looks like they might roll right over it.

Again with the steep sides. Any attacker would be out of breath when/if he reached the top.
Cannon placed on the walls could fire out to the river or sown along the ste\ep slopes of the embankment.


  After Fort Anne we again made our way back to our campground.