07/03 Today we drove from Parkers Cove to Woodhaven (in the Halifax area). On the way we had a very ugly Flat tire. The tire was really shredded. I did not know that steel belted really meant steel lines in the tire. I found out today when the steel scratched my whole hand.
Luckily there was a woman in a car right behind us who stopped and helped us call Good Sam. We had some trouble telling the mechanic exactly where we were but in the end he said he would be with us in 45 minutes. Actually he arrived, replaced the tire with the spare and we were back on the road in 45 minutes. Pretty good service, I think. But the trip still took all day.
07/04 Today we bought a new spare tire to replace the one that Good Sam put on the fifth-wheel.
Then we drove to Halifax to take a walking tour of the city. This walking tour reminded me of Boston the first time we did the walking tour; us trying to figure out from the map and the description where to go next. Boston’s tour got a lot easier when they put down the bricks. Halifax is a very pretty city with a nice mix of old and new buildings. The walking tour is of the historic downtown and waterfront area. The waterfront area included a marine museum. The Museum was very interesting. During WW II there was a ship collision in the harbor between a ship containing explosives and another ship, that killed more people in Halifax than either the Chicago fire or the San Francisco earthquake in the states. It shouldn’t be a surprise that we never heard of it before but it was a surprise to both Rich and I. We did not finish the walking tour: we got tired and ran out of time. After we returned from the tour I drove to the local library to see about internet access. The Halifax library system offers visitors a temporary card you can use to access the internet for 1 hour a day as long as you are in town. I used this first hour today to get partially through our EMAIL backlog.
07/05 Today we drove to a small fishing village, Peggy’s Cove (population 60). It was a foggy day on the water. On our way to Peggy’s Cove, we passed the Memorial to Swiss Air 111 which went down with 229 people in this area in 1998. The Memorial was very beautiful but also stark and lonely.
Peggy’s Cove as small as it is, had thousands of visitors today. There were some individuals like Rich and I and about 5 bus loads of people during the time we were walking around. It has a beautiful coast area, a small harbor, and a very nice lighthouse which functions as the post office.
These photos to the left are of the town and the harbor.
And these to the right are of Rich at the coast and the lighthouse. After we returned, we went to the library to finish clearing our Email.
07/06 When Rich had the flat tire, he noticed that the other tire on that side of the fifth-wheel looked a bit bald on the inside of the tire. Today we had someone come out to the fifth wheel and place the new spare we bought on the fifth-wheel to replace that wheel. While Rich was taking care of that I went to a local fabric store listed in the Quilter's Companion. So far that book has provided me with lots of quilt stores throughout the US and Canada. This store did not have as much selection of the fabrics I love but did have a store pin. On my way home I stopped again at the library. We are now pretty much caught up with Email. This library system has been a big help since we decided not to use the phone in Canada (too expensive for the limited service).
07/07 Today we spent the day shopping at Costco and Wal-Mart looking for another tire to replace the spare again as well other items we need. We expect that this will be the last area with these stores for a while. Rich had hoped to visit a local brewery but we ran out of time and steam before we got there.
07/08 Today we drove from Halifax to Baddeck. Baddeck is on the Bras D’Or Lake near the middle of Cape Breton. This was another long driving day. Lake Bras D’Or is a huge lake with many fingers. It looks to me like it goes all the way from sea to sea but it is a fresh water lake so must not.
07/09 Today we drove to the Fortress of Louisbourg. Louisbourg was a French stronghold and naval base protecting a thriving fishing community in the 1700’s. Now it is a Canadian national historic site and is one of North America’s largest historic reconstructions. During the summer the Fortress comes to life as costumed interpreters portray the town residents of the mid 1700’s.
We met and spoke with soldiers, laborers, servants, musicians, and fishermen. I love being able to talk to people from a different time and space. The soldiers spoke of how they came to Louisbourg and their lives since they arrived. Most of the soldiers were people off the streets of Paris or petty criminals. They did not make much money so generally spent the rest of their lives as soldiers in the new land. I spoke with several soldiers who looked like women but were actually 'young boys'. The laborers spoke of their lives. The laborers also did not have much to look forward to. The servants spoke of lives and their futures. Depending on their masters some of them could look forward to returning home with him. I spoke with a cook who was looking forward to going home soon with her employer. The bar maid who served us our lunch gave us a large spoon saying that most people carried a knife. She did not know of Coke or Pepsi but assured us that the governor accepted credit. The fishermen and merchants were some of the wealthy people of town and so had wives and families. I spoke with a woman who was making a beautiful flame design embroidered piece for a chair. I spoke with girls who were knitting socks and mittens for winter.
The town itself was quite lovely. War came to this town several times as the British and the French fought for the town. During the time we were there they practiced shooting the canon twice, and several times we heard musket fire. In the end the British won the town, but sometime later abandoned it. To the right are some photos of the town .
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