30. Louisbourg, NS Rs

July 29, 2011. We started our day in L’Anse Aux Clair, NL. After a buffet breakfast at the motel we gathered our things and boarded the bus for the ferry. It was a short ride across the Strait of Belle Isle to St. Barbe and a couple hours later we were in our motor home driving towards Deer Lake, a distance of about 183 miles.

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July 30. 2011 was another travel day where we went 143 miles to Grand Conroy. That night we had a pot luck supper.

July 31, 2001. After a short 26 mile drive, we were at Port Aux Basque and the ferry terminal. Here we are in line at the Plant Quarantine Inspection Station. The provinces try to keep products out that may be diseased or carrying bugs, etc. The inspectors asked a few questions and then let us through. The ferry was new, put into service last year. We were talking to a local and he told us that this ship and the sister ship had to be shortened by 45 feet to fit into the docks here

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After about two hour the boarding began. Once again there was very little room between vehicles. The ferry ride to Nova Scotia took between five and six hours.

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After arriving and disembarking we had a 36 mile drive to the campground in Louisbourg. We stayed in Louisbourg two nights but we packed a lot into the time we had.

Aug 1, 2011. Fortress of Louisbourg. This fortress was important during the years 1713 to 1768 when the French and English were struggling to see who would control the land that is now Canada. The fortress was under control of both countries ay various times. The British captured the fort for the final time in 1758 during the Seven Years War after which it was destroyed by British engineers. In the 1960’s there was high unemployment in the coal industry. The fortress and approximately one fifth of the community was rebuilt to provide employment for the miners. The fortress is now operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum.  Many of the actors that play the parts of the soldiers and farmers are college students hired for the season.

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Close to noon there was a demonstration of marching, firing of the muskets and the canon.

During the performance we heard a turkey gobbling. We looked into an adjacent barnyard, as we watch the turkey peeked around the corner of a building as if to ask “Is Thanksgiving over?”

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At the fort’s bakery we bough a loaf of rye bread. The loaf was quite heavy for it’s size and still warm. Later that day there was a peanut butter & jelly party with bread from the fort courtesy of our Wagon Master.

As we looked across the bay we could see a light house and waves crashing on the rocks. After a stop for lunch we were on our way. Once again the scenery was spectacular.

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The last stop was a railroad museum where artifacts for a bygone time were on display.

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That evening we went to the Louisbourg Playhouse to watch a local group perform. It is always impressive to see all the talent that people have. It seems to me that being a “star” vs a local entertainer is so dependent on being lucky.

                                    

More pictures at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/3300