On Saturday August 19th we departed Baddeck and headed to Halifax. We were fortunate that our friend Glenn has offered up his driveway for our trailer. Glenn lives in Lower Sackville and we have known him for almost 30 years. Glenn has been a widower for 8 years and was looking forward to our visit. He is from the Halifax area and has a wealth of knowledge of the area’s history. Once we arrived, we got ourselves all sorted out and now it was time to get caught up on our life’s activities.
On Sunday August 20th, the three of us headed to the Halifax waterfront to visit Pier 21. If you haven’t heard about Pier 21, it is the spot where immigrants entering Canada by ship would be processed. One reason for going to Pier 21 was to try and find some information on our daughter-in-law Paulette’s ancestors who had immigrated from Austria in 1898 and arrived at Pier 21. At the Records Room, with assistance of a staff member, we were able to get copies of the manifest when they boarded the ship in Hamburg, the manifest of their arrival in Canada and the history of the ship that they had sailed on. It was absolutely fantastic that this was accomplished within minutes of entering in a few key words. We then went through the museum which was a very interesting and informative experience. If you want to know more about Pier 21, just Google “Pier 21” or use the full name, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Then we were off to the Citadel to do more sightseeing. The views from the Citadel are quite spectacular.
Monday August 21st saw the three of us head to Peggy’s Cove. One cannot go to Halifax area in Nova Scotia without taking in the sights of Peggy’s Cove…just saying….lol… About 5 kilometers before Peggys Cove, we stopped at the memorial for Swiss Air Flight 111. Swiss Air Flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on September 2nd 1998 with a loss of 229 men, women and children. It was a very sombre visit.
Glenn has a house that backs onto First Lake and as Tuesday Aug 22nd was hot and humid, it became a day to catch up on laundry, lazing about and swimming in the lake and naturally, happy hour(s) came earlier than usual……lol…. It was soooooo relaxing…..
On Wednesday August 23rd, I took Betty to the Halifax airport so that she could fly to Victoria BC to attend our grandson’s wedding which happened on Saturday August 26th.
Thursday August 24th was spent firstly taking care of the truck as it needed an oil change, then getting the propane tanks filled at Costco and pick-up a few things at Costco…….honestly it was just a few things …. back at the house it was to reconnect the propane tanks on the trailer and have lunch. Then off we go to Uniacke Estate Museum Park. Richard John Uniacke was a prosperous Irish-born politician and was the Attorney General for Nova Scotia from 1797 until his death, had this mansion built with the construction starting in 1813, completed two years later in 1815 and full occupancy occurring in 1816. This mansion was occupied by 7 generations and in 1949, the entire estate was sold to the province to be used as a museum. A very fortunate aspect is that all of the contents are original to the house. Go to Uniacke.novascotia.ca to learn more.
Friday August 25th saw Glenn and I headed to the waterfront and had a very nice leisurely stroll. There was an arch that signified the last steps of military personnel as they boarded ships headed for Europe for both World Wars and footsteps have been burnt into the wooden boardwalk, very impressive. We went aboard HMCS Sackville, the last known corvette from WW II and is still an operational ship that is used to perform burial-at-sea ceremonies. It is also a museum.
On Saturday Aug 26th, Glenn and I headed north to Grand Pre, the principal scene of the Acadian expulsion in 1755. The Interpretative Centre has some extremely fantastic artifacts. Grand Pre which means “great meadow” refers to the extensive dikes lands in the area. Settlers from Port-Royal moved to Grand Pre in the late 17th century and, copying the successful dike and floodgates system used in Port-Royal, reclaimed the rich marine sediment from the Mines Basin. Soon Grand Pre became the largest and most important community in Acadia. The Acadian expulsion was immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Evangeline.” Naturally if you want to learn more about the expulsion or the poem, well you know the drill……..just Google……….lol
I picked up Betty at the airport on Monday August 28th. The wedding was wonderful, the bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome and the wedding party were stunning. Though it was a short visit, she had a good time and was able to get caught up with the grandsons and with the daughters, Carmen and Jennifer.
Tuesday was a maintenance day for laundry and travel preparation. Glenn was leaving on Wednesday to visit his sister and brother-in-law in South River Ontario. South River is 60 km south of North Bay. On Wednesday we moved to the Halifax West KOA which is located at Upper Sackville. It took us 20 minutes to travel from Glenn’s place to the KOA …….lol… After setting up, Betty and I headed up to visit Uniacke Estate and then proceeded to Grand Pre. Though I had seen these sites, I knew that Betty would really enjoy them as well. It became a pretty full day.
On Thursday August 31st, we went into Halifax to visit the waterfront. We went through The Maritime Museum and the artifacts and displays were simply amazing. The exhibit on the 1917 Halifax Explosion was extensive and extremely interesting. Google it to get the full story of the collision and the results of the collision. The Titanic exhibit was a little disappointing as some of the artifacts weren’t on display due to their condition and were being restored. The museum is definitely a place that a person wants to visit. As we walked along the waterfront, we were able to see Theodore the Tugboat cruising along. After our waterfront sightseeing was done, we drove up to Fairview Lawn Cemetery where some of the Titanic victims are buried. In another part of the cemetary, there is a mass grave of some of the unidentified victims from the 1917 Halifax Explosion. After paying our respects, we headed to the place where the shaft of one of the Mont Blanc’s anchors landed. This spot was well over 3.5 km from the explosion site.
As Friday September 1st was a cool, windy day we decided that it would be a leisurely day with a trip to Wal-Mart and the liquour store. After having a late lunch in Lower Sackville, we noticed that the Hitman’s Bodyguard was playing so we went to the 4 o’clock show. It was entertaining.
Listening to the radio on Saturday morning we find out that the price of gas has risen by 13 cents a litre since Thursday, damn it!!!!!
On Saturday September 2nd, we headed to Lunenburg, home of the Bluenose. While travelling to Lunenburg, we stopped in the quaint village of Mahone Bay. Mahone Bay is noted for having three churches visible from across the bay and is a great photo op.
While having lunch in Lunenburg, we were able to take pictures of Bluenose II departing. Later we saw her with the wind in her sails, it was quite the sight. Lunenburg is a very pretty town, especially with the colourful houses. We were lucky to catch one of the tall ships, Europa at dock and sailors in the rigging. Then it was a trip to beautiful Blue Rocks. Blue rocks? Yes, lots of beautiful blue slate (well, bluish!!!!!). The stryations in the rocks were amazing.
Just east of Mahone Bay is Oak Island and is a must-see. Anyone that has watched The Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel will know what I mean. We had hoped to be able to go on a tour but tours are only available twice a month and needed to be booked on-line. They are sold-out within hours. We were able to drive on the short causeway and see the “War room”. At least we can now say “We were there!!!!!!”… Now it was time to head back to the campsite…..
Our sightseeing trip has basically come to an end. Sunday will be spent organizing and prepping for our journey home. On Monday September 4th, we’ll hook up and start heading back. The only sightseeing destination on our way back is Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg as it rained (poured) on the day that we wanted to see it.
The next post that you’ll see will be at the end of the month when we’ll do a wrap-up. And then we’ll be into WHL hockey……..Go Tigers Go!!!!!!!!!
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