NY, NE, NB, PE, & NS Day 7
NY, NE, NB, PE, & NS
Day 07 - October 18, 2011 - Tuesday – Exploring Cape Breton Island: Louisbourg and Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Today was our day to explore Cape Breton Island. We left the hotel at 7:36 and looked for a place to take a panorama of the river in the bright sunlight. The temperature was 46°, the humidity was 75%, and the wind speed was 8 mph.
We got back on the ring road and then circled Sydney getting off on Route 22 going to south and east to Louisbourg. Our morning’s destination was the 1744 Fortress recommended by our history professor friend, Marvin.
There were several photo opportunities along the way as we had given ourselves plenty of stoppage time today. Our stop at the wharf in the small village of Louisbourg was most rewarding.
We parked the car and walked along the Promenade along the banks and found a fishing boat that was just unloading its hold. The catch was red fish, a large red perch like fish that was caught 200 miles into the North Atlantic.
The boat had been out a week and came back with 100 tons of fish. The men unloaded the fish into ½ ton containers icing as they filled each box.
The boxes were then loaded onto a waiting truck which would take them to Boston. The men were working hard and fast but several by-standers were willing to talk with us and answer our questions.
We left the dock and in just a short time we were at the Fortress of Louisbourg. This fort built by the French from the 1720 – 1740s and was at it peak in 1744.
We went to the admissions office and paid our fee. The guide told us that because it was after the “season” most buildings were not open.
However, there was a cruise ship in port so that several of the historical characters would be around today to talk to us about their life in the 1740’s. The clerk gave us a map of the open exhibits and we were on our way to discover this historical landmark.
We spent the morning talking to the guides, taking photos, and agreeing with Marvin that this was a stop not to be missed. We saw the reconstructed fort and the animals that were raised during that period of history. Gray Pilgrim geese, sheep, turkeys, and the Polish chickens were all from that era and raised to sustain the garrison.
Leaving the fortress, we drove back north and had lunch at Greco Pizza and Captain Subs, a chain we have seen often in our travels in Canada.
Right next door was a Nova Scotia Liquor Store; all stores are contracted by the province with controlled prices. I was amazed to find the cost double that of Colorado. Even though we love to travel, there is no place like home for good deals.
After lunch we drove north on NS125 to join the Cabot Trail, named for John Cabot, the Frenchman who originally explored this area in 1497. We began at St. Anne’s and traveled north along the coast to Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
We arrived at the Park entrance at 3:30 due to many delays because of road construction. Instead of going around the whole route which would have been another 5 hours at our speed, we back-tracked as it would be getting dark soon.
The fall foliage we have seen on our time exploring Cape Breton has been the best we have seen in Canada; the most contrasting and vibrant colors since we left Troy, NY. The trip to the National Park was breath-taking on the steep coast roads and spectacular lookoffs, (a local term for overlooks).
We made a brief stop at The Dancing Moose Gift Shop and Café to get a special baby gift for one of our neighbors. We made it back through the construction and then took a short cut on Route 312 to the Englishtown Ferry Terminal.
The cost to be ferried across the St. Patricks Channel was $5.25 per car. This short ride saved us about 25 minutes and was another transportation experience.
We arrived in Sydney at 5:30 and stopped at a super market to buy a few things for dinner. It had started raining on our way down the mountain so we were happy to stay in this evening.
Accommodations: Quality Inn, Sydney, Cape Breton, NS, CA
Comments
Post a Comment!Glad you enjoyed Louisbourg. When the British took the place during the Seven Years War, they destroyed it. Parks Canada rebuilt part of it in the 1970s. If you read Francis Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe, you can read about what the place was like in the 1850s; grass and humps
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