August 9, 2008

August 9, 2008

We spend our last day in Massachusetts driving south to the coast and visiting the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Site. In the mid 19th century New Bedford with its deep-water port became the center of the whaling industry. Whales were hunted for their oil, which was used to light the pre-petroleum world. It made New Bedford the richest city in the world for a while. At the Visitor Center we watch a film and then take a walking tour of the historic district.

Whaling was a tough industry with round-the-world voyages lasting 3-5 years! Aimee and I get tired of traveling after only a month! Herman Melville shipped out of New Bedford on a whaler looking for adventure. He jumped shipped halfway, returned stateside, and wrote the definitive whaling novel, Moby Dick. We see several of the buildings that inspired him. His church has a prow-shaped pulpit. We walk down to the port where dozens of modern fishing boats are moored. New Bedford is still New England’s fishing capital; the new money-fish are now sole, flounder, and scallops. New Bedford was also a hot spot on the Underground Railroad. Besides Abolitionists who aided runaway slaves, four-year whaling cruises were a great way for runaways to “escape” for several years.

Before returning back to the RV Park, we make a brief detour into Providence, RI to stop at the Roger Williams National Memorial. Roger Williams was a Massachusetts Puritan who was jailed for promoting the separation of church and state. He escaped to the present Rhode Island area where he established a British colony founded on freedom of religion. Prior to Williams, it was natural for government to mandate religious practices. If it weren’t for Rhode Island refusing to ratify the constitution, we might not have the Bill of Rights and freedom of religion. The Memorial is a small park where Williams had his first house. At the Visitor Center we peruse the exhibits. There are only two other people with us and they turn out to also be from the western suburbs of Chicago. One of them just happens to be married to a descendent of Roger Williams.

Back at the RV Park, the campers are entertained with a local “pro” wrestling tournament. We watch the first couple bouts. It is pretty hokey, nevertheless I end up having to pull Aimee away so she can make me dinner.

August 8, 2008

August 8, 2008

Today is our last trip back into Boston. We are visiting the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The museum is very well done, with lots of video clips, reminding us not only of Kennedy but the whole 60’s era as well. The museum works well for both Aimee and I. There is enough history to keep me interested, and lots of human interest for Aimee to read about. The museum follows the Kennedy family, JFK’s presidential campaign, and his Camelot administration. Kennedy gave some good speeches and had the right attitude, e.g. “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” He even lowered taxes in order to increase revenue. Kennedy must have been a closet Republican. I was also surprised to learn how good a writer JFK was. He penned his first successful book right out of college. It really was a shame his life was cut short so early.

From the library, we take the subway downtown for a late lunch at Faneuil Hall of my favorite New England Clam Chowder. Before heading back to the RV Park we walk around admiring the many colonial buildings tucked between modern office skyscrapers.

August 7, 2008

August 7, 2008

We took public transportation to Salem, MA. We should have driven. The commuter rail system is meant for travel downtown not across town. It ended up taking all morning to get to Salem, most of it waiting for the next legs of the trip to arrive. Once at Salem we walked to the port to visit the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. Colonial Salem merchants were obscenely rich from trading with the world. When the British imposed trading restrictions, Salem merchants yelled the loudest for independence. Ironically these same merchants profited enormously from the Revolutionary War acting as privateers (gov’t sanctioned pirates) preying on British trade ships. Success didn’t last long though. Salem soon lost out to harbor towns with deeper ports and better transportation links. We give ourselves a tour of the historic area. One of the restored buildings is the original Customs House. It was a major revenue source for our early country. Before the implementation of the Income Tax in 1913, import duties provided 90% of US revenue. Unfortunately the historic site turns out to be pretty much of a bore making me surprised it has been a national park site since 1938.

Salem, MA is most famous (or infamous) for the witch trials of 1692. During that turbulent 10-month period nineteen innocent souls were hanged for witchcraft. We visited the Witch Trials Memorial to the victims, (appropriately next door to the graveyard), but there is little physical history remaining. That hasn’t stopped the local merchants. There are a dozen different commercial witch museums in Salem. We pass on all of them. New Englanders are big on their connections with their colonial past. Apparently this causes problems in Salem as descendants of the victims and of the oppressors both still live in the town.

August 6, 2008

August 6, 2008

We took the “T” to Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA and walked to the Longfellow National Historic Site. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the foremost poet of the country in the 19th century. During our travels we have run across his poems several times, especially “Evangeline”, the epic poem about the Acadians. More recently we learned he also wrote “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”. We arrive at the site and catch up with a tour of Longfellow’s mansion. It is a very nice house with expensive appointments. Although he earned well as Harvard professor and best-selling poet, he made most of his money the old fashioned way…. by marrying it. It turns out Longfellow’s mansion is equally famous for being George Washington’s headquarters in 1775 when he takes command of the Continental Army and supervises the siege of British-held Boston after the battle of Bunker Hill.

From the Longfellow house, we walk back to Harvard Square where we meet up with a couple of Aimee’s old workmates for lunch at Uno’s Pizzeria. I enjoy the pizza while listening to the three of them tell lots of tales from life at Power Trends.

After lunch I give Aimee the grand tour of Harvard. Even though it was my stomping ground for eighteen months, the memory fog of 24 years has taken its toll. Some things look familiar but yet different. It also doesn’t help that I have to give the tour in pouring rain. We are beginning to loathe New England maritime weather.

August 5, 2008

August 5, 2008

It is back to Boston again for another round of history. This time we start with a guided ranger walk of the Boston African American National Historic Site. It starts at the Shaw Memorial on the Boston Commons. Aimee and I recognize this sculpture. We saw a copy of this Augustus Saint-Gaudens masterpiece last week at the artist’s summer studio in Cornish, NH. (If you see enough historic sites, eventually they start to interact!) The Boston African American National Historic Site is about the free black community that lived on Beacon Hill here and their “social revolution” movement. Appropriately the Shaw Memorial is devoted to the Massachusetts 54th, the first black regiment of the Civil War. Their exploits were the basis of the movie “Glory” with Denzel Washinton and Matthew Broderick. From the Memorial we walk up through now trendy Beacon Hill (passing John Kerry’s house). From the efforts of the free blacks that used to live here, Massachusetts became the first state to prohibit slavery in 1789 (peacefully via the courts). They also were instrumental in pioneering the abolitionist movement and school desegregation.

In the afternoon we take the subway to the south suburb of Quincy to visit the Adams National Historic Park. At the minimal Visitor Center we sign up for a trolley tour of the local birthplaces of John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, the 2nd and 6th presidents of the US. We also tour John Adams’ adult home. All three are yawners except for the stand-alone one-room library of John Quincy Adams. Besides being beautiful, it was the first-ever Presidential Library. The best part of the tour, unfortunately, was the PBS movie “John Adams” that we watched in the Visitor Center while waiting for our tour to start. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had a long-standing feud that ended only when they both reached old age. Amazingly, both of these early Patriots died on the same day, July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after they both signed the Declaration of Independence.

August 4, 2008

August 4, 2008

We are ready now to hit the historic sights in central Boston. Boston is no place to drive a car let alone an RV. There is not a straight road in the town plus Boston has more complicated intersections than the rest of the country combined. Driving in Boston would drive my navigator nuts. Fortunately Boston has a great mass transit system and there is a local RV park that will limo us to the train station. So this morning we take the Commuter Rail to the Subway station and then make the short trip downtown.

Our first stop is the Visitor Center for the Boston National Historic Park. There are tons of historical sites in central Boston and they are all within walking distance of each other. Boston has a red line in the sidewalk (the Freedom Trail) connecting them all making it very visitor-friendly. We visit the “Old North” church where “one if by land, two if by sea” was signaled, Paul Revere’s house, the site of the Boston Massacre, and the graveyard where Sam Adams, John Hancock, and Revere are buried.

The trail then crosses the Charles River to the Charlestown Navy Yard where the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) is moored. This undefeated warship built in 1797 was instrumental in the Barbary War and the War of 1812. Uphill from the yard is the Bunker Hill Monument. A tall obelisk commemorates this first major battle of the Revolutionary War. We walk up to the top for a view of Boston but the 294 steps are a killer.

In the afternoon we take the subway west to the boyhood home of John F. Kennedy. Unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. Nevertheless we can see it is a very modest house. I guess Joe Sr. had not yet made his millions. Our feet are tired so we return downtown, take a relaxing stroll thru the Boston Commons (city park) and sit for a beer in the “Cheers” bar. I take Norm’s spot and Aimee sits on Cliff’s stool.

August 3, 2008

August 3, 2008

The Boston area has a dozen national park sites reflecting the huge amount of history that occurred here. The last few days we covered the Industrial Revolution; today we are moving to the American Revolution. We start at Lexington and Concord with the Minuteman National Historic Park. In 1775, Boston was the hotbed of dissent (e.g. Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party) causing the British to station an army in the city and close the port. In retaliation the colonists started stockpiling guns and ammunition. On April 19, 1775, the British marched from Boston intent on capturing this cache of arms in Concord. Spies discovered the plan and Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride to alert the militia. The “minutemen” militia confronted the redcoats, shots broke out, and the Revolution was on.

The park mostly consists of the old road that connected Lexington and Concord. We stop at the Visitor Center for the movie, then follow the route stopping at wayside exhibits along the way. It was anticlimactic: I guess because I had too high expectations for the park. One unexpected highlight was a tour of The Wayside, a house that once was the childhood home of Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) and later Nathaniel Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter). It turns out Concord in the mid 1800’s was the hub of American literary power. Other local authors were Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Walden Pond is just a mile away. Now I have some motivation to read some of those early American classics.

August 2, 2008

August 2, 2008

Northeast of Boston is the Saugus Ironworks National Historic Site. On this site in 1620 was the first iron production in North America. Intended to make the Puritans self-sufficient from England they built a complete mill with blast furnace, stamping mill and rod mill. An amazing operation for this area in that time period. Unfortunately it was too much, too soon for the frontier. It went bankrupt after twenty years. We learn a little about iron making in the museum and then take a tour of the restored site. Pretty impressive and not terribly different from modern mills of today.

Our next stop is the Lowell National Historic Site. Lowell, MA was the site of the nation’s first large-scale textile factory. After pilfering the secrets of automated weaving from England, wealthy Boston investors built a water-powered factory here in the 1820’s. It was an instant success and many more mills were built, thriving on cheap cotton grown in the South. But all good things come to an end. In the early twentieth century, the mills could not compete with inexpensive southern labor and all the factories were shuttered killing the city. Not knowing what to do with the area they had the National Park Service turn it into a museum. A costumed ranger gives us a brief walking tour, past the water canals that supplied the power wheels, to the Boott Factory, now a textile museum. There they have a large room full of weaving machines in action. They are noisy! What lousy conditions for these first assembly line workers toiling thirteen hours a day, six days a week for peanuts. We have it so much better today.

August 1, 2008

August 1, 2008

Continuing south along the Vermont/New Hampshire border we follow the Connecticut River into Massachusetts stopping at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. The US government had its own gun factory on this site for 174 years. All the buildings still exist but most have been redeveloped for other uses. The main building now holds a museum to this enterprise. After watching the obligatory movie (pretty good). We look at the exhibits. One half is devoted to the technological development of the rifle from flintlock to percussion cap to breechloader to semiautomatic. Every type was made here over the years. The most famous were the 1903 Springfield (WWI) and the M-1 (WWII). The other half of the museum is devoted to arms manufacturing technology. Gunsmithing was one of the leading technologies of the 19th century and spurred the industrial revolution in the Connecticut River valley. On display is an original lathe invented here in the 1820’s that automatically duplicated wooden gunstocks.

From Springfield we head east towards Boston stopping in Brimfield, MA for the night.

July 31, 2008

July 31, 2008

We had another terrific lightning and rainstorm last night. We got a late start waiting for the rain to finally quit. When it does, we head south following the border of Vermont and New Hampshire through rolling hillsides and quite a few covered bridges.

We made a brief stop at Quechee State Park to peer down Vermont's deepest gorge and then continued on to two National Park sites. The first, in Woodstock, VT is Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. The farm located on a hill overlooking a picturesque river was once the home of three different men. The common bond between the owners was their passion for environmental activism. The pastoral landscape here must have inspired them to action. In addition to preserving this estate, the park is a memorial to the conservation movement and the preservation of our natural and cultural heritage. We watch the movie but pass on the mansion tour.

Across the border in Cornish, NH is the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Augustus Saint-Gaudens was America’s leading sculptor in the late 19th century. Coming into his own after the Civil War he sculpted many of the finer memorials to that war gracing city parks including the “Standing Lincoln” in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. He also worked with the US Mint carving the design of our early gold coins. The site was Saint-Gaudens summer home and studio and contains some of his famous works. A “sculptor-in-residence” gives us a half-hour tour and art lesson. Since I like sculpture I wish we had had more time to look around but the late hour and more rain caused us to leave prematurely.

We spend the evening at a private park in nearby Ascutney, VT.

July 30,2008

July 30, 2008

By sheer coincidence, the Freeport campground we stayed at last night was associated with an oddball attraction called the Desert of Maine. The owner lets campers walk the site. We do so after dinner. It turns out to be a real sand desert in the middle of a Maine pine forest. One of the placards explains that the sand appeared because of soil erosion from poor farming practices. I guess that explains why we see few farms in Maine. The topsoil is thin and just barely covers the ground.

In the morning we head west leaving Maine and crossing into New Hampshire. Once over the border we run into the picturesque White Mountains. (They look more like green mountains to me.) Soon we arrive in Bretton Woods where in 1944 a famous international economic summit was held.

Bretton Woods is also where we catch the cog railway up to Mt. Washington State Park. This cog rail is the oldest in the world having been built in 1869. Ancient coal burning locomotives haul a single passenger car up incredibly steep rail lines. Over 37 degrees at one point! I have a ball on the ride. Aimee wasn’t so thrilled with it. She didn’t like the clanky noise, the bumpy ride, or the coal soot raining past the windows. She thought it was the just the opposite of the relaxing kayak paddle we took yesterday.

Mt Washington is the highest peak in the Northeast and it has the reputation for having the world’s worst weather. Gale force winds pummel the peak most winter days. Today, however the weather is quite nice at the summit. Down from the mountain, we spend the night at a private campground in Littleton, NH.

July 29, 2008

July 29, 2008

We wake up early this morning and drive back to LL Bean in Freeport, ME. Bean has a variety of adventure classes every day. I sign up for a morning Clay Shooting and we both choose a noon Kayaking class.

I have shot clay targets a number of times but I have never had any lessons. I thought this class might be instructive plus it gives me a chance to keep my skills from getting rusty. The class was very good but short. Aimee liked it more since it gave her a chance to visit all those outlet stores without me there begging to leave.

After an early lunch, it is time for our kayak class. The 2.5-hour paddle takes us around the little bay that Freeport sits on. Aimee and I both decided we like kayaking better than canoeing. The kayak has better seats with back support making it more comfortable to paddle for a long time. That may be why we see kayaks atop many of the cars around here.

By the time we are done it is late so we decide to spend the night again here in Freeport, ME.

July 28, 2008

July 28, 2008

We want some more reliable sunshine so we are continuing our journey west from Acadia. Our next stop is Freeport, ME, home of LL Bean. Bean is Aimee’s favorite retailer and she has been anxious to get here. Much to my dad’s dismay (he collects our mail), Aimee gets almost every catalog they put out. Leon Leonwood Bean’s famous rubber duck boot, which gave the retailer his start, was one of the first gifts Aimee ever got me. Aimee bought her first pair in college 28 years ago!

LL Bean’s store in Freeport is huge and seems to sell everything under the sun and thankfully for me, lots of sporting goods. We spend a couple hours browsing the store. The store is a big tourist draw and not to let opportunity pass, every other retailer in the world also seems to have built an “outlet” store around Bean. Apparently the shoppers here don’t realize the country is having economic problems.

We spend the night in a campground just outside Freeport, ME.

July 27, 2008

July 27, 2008

For breakfast Aimee made us blueberry pancakes with the wild berries we picked yesterday. They were delicious topped with pure maple syrup from Quebec. The pancakes must have made us lazy for we spent the rest of the day around the RV. After reading the Sunday paper, Aimee did laundry and I tried fixing the electric step with a voltmeter I borrowed from our neighbor. Fortunately the neighbor is also a retired engineer and between the two of us we found the problem to be a poor ground connection. He said that is a common problem with 12-volt battery systems. I will have to remember that.

After spending most of the afternoon talking to him we took a ride into Acadia to walk along the shoreline. It is finally sunny and fog-free. We can see the blue ocean and the offshore islands. The park is beautiful after all! Unfortunately it doesn’t last. After about twenty minutes, the fog starts rolling in again. We stop in Bar Harbor again on the way back.

July 26, 2008

July 26, 2008

Bar Harbor, ME at one time was a summer haven for the very rich. Hoping to protect their playground from loggers, they donated the surrounding acreage to the government for Acadia National Park. A devastating fire in 1947 burned down all the Bar Harbor mansions; they were replaced with hotels, leaving the park now a getaway for the less wealthy public. John Rockefeller had built a large network of crushed stone roads throughout the park for his horse-drawn buggy rides. Those carriage roads are now bike paths for us to enjoy the beauty of the park.

So Aimee and I unhitch our bikes, load them on the park shuttle, and start our pedal exploration of the carriage roads from the Visitor Center. Our route takes us thru a birch tree forest full of lily pad laden ponds. The forest floor is thick with wild blueberries. We stop and pick a bag full. Wild blueberries taste the same but are tiny compared to the domestic variety.

Eventually the ponds give way to long narrow lakes bounded by steep half barren granite mountains. These lakes are glacier-carved fjords that never made it to the sea. Along the way we stop for a hike to one of the granite peaks, South Bubble Mountain. By accident we choose the hard route up. It is almost straight up thru a boulder field. Aimee reminds me on the way that she does not like rock scrambling. At the top we are rewarded with a great view of the terrain. By the time we are back at the RV our legs are dying. Biking and hiking in the same day is too much for us.

July 25, 2008

July 25, 2008

It rained all night and continues to rain all morning here in Acadia National Park. We hang out in the RV watching TV and catching up on some admin chores. We could use a break anyway. The weatherman said it would clear up in the afternoon. He lied. We don our raincoats anyway and take the park shuttle to the Nature Center. After a quick run through we are back on the bus to check out the coast walk. When we get there it is raining harder and still foggy. Soaked by now, we get back on the main loop shuttle bus. It is back to the RV for hot chocolate and hopes for a drier tomorrow.

July 24, 2008

July 24, 2008

We spent almost three weeks in the Canadian Maritimes. Longer than I expected for touring the smallest of the Canadian provinces. But Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world. I can attest to that. We drove some 2600 miles following the coastline of a region that is not that big. The fact that gas was averaging $5.60 and the roads were rough made me very sensitive to the distance.

We thought we left the Canadian Maritime weather behind but we had a terrific thunderstorm last night. This morning the rain has let up but the fog is thick making our journey south along the coastline of Maine slow. Around noon we arrive at Acadia National Park, the first park founded east of the Mississippi. Acadia was named in honor of the New France settlements of Nova Scotia. After the initial colony at St Croix Island, Samuel Champlain also explored this region of Maine. It turns out we are still in Acadia after all! I should have known from the weather that we really hadn’t left the Canadian Maritimes yet.

Acadia National Park is one of the most popular and therefore crowded. We have no luck getting a spot at the main park campground so we settle for a private one just outside. From there we take a park shuttle to the Visitor Center to get the lay of the land. We are not ready for heavy duty hiking so we take the Main loop shuttle down the coastline and get off at Thunder Hole. From there we walk along the shore to the southern tip of the park. The coast of Acadia is one of chiseled pink granite cliffs battered by the relentless crashing of waves. Beautiful except the fog limits our visibility tremendously. From the Point we shuttle into the adjoining town of Bar Harbor to stroll the shops. It is touristy but not over the top.

July 23, 2008

July 23, 2008

Low tide at Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick today is at 10:30. We are following the same trail as yesterday so we can take identical photos to compare the difference. Wow, we screwed up. The sea recedes way farther out than we imagined. I concentrated my photos on the shoreline when I should have panned farther out. What was once water is now a vast empty mudflat. Farther along we get to the famous rocks of Hopewell where we descend a stairs so we can walk out amongst the now dry rocks. The rocks were a red herring for my photos. They are just a fraction of the water drop. The shoreline is now a good hundred yards farther out and at least another twenty feet down. Amazing!

From Hopewell Rocks we continue our journey west stopping for a few photos in the fishing village of Alma, NB. The large commercial fishing boats here have been left low and dry, sitting on the sea floor way below us. Pretty cool!

From Alma we drive the two hours west thru Fundy National Park to the border and cross into the US with only fumes in the gas tank. We are happy to be back in the good ole US of A. We are tired of high gas prices ($5.60/gal), high beer prices ($12 for a six pack), lousy weather and unfriendly Franco-phones. As expected US Customs searches our RV and confiscates the two oranges in the fridge so we don’t contaminate the Maine citrus crop. Oh how I have missed our wonderful bureaucracy!

Just across the border we stop at the St Croix Island Historical Site. This ultra small site on the international border is dedicated to Samuel Champlain and the French who made their first settlement in the new world here in 1604. It didn’t last. They soon relocated to Acadia (Nova Scotia). Tired of driving we spend the night at a private park just down the road.

July 22, 2008

July 22, 2008

Despite the gloomy outlook we are getting very little rain today. Yeah! From Nova Scotia we are making our way around the very long Bay of Fundy to its north shore in New Brunswick for our last leg back into the US. It is lunchtime and we are hungry. Lobster is cheap and plentiful in the Maritimes. So much so even the fast food joints serve it. McLobster, believe it or not. Opting for a slightly healthier fare we stop at Subway for their version of the Lobster sandwich.

After lunch we make a detour to Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. This is a popular spot to observe the highest tides in the world. We arrive in time to see the high water mark and walk a path following the cliffside. Scattered along the shore below are pillar-like rock formations sticking out of the water. They would be more impressive if the Bay of Fundy wasn’t so chocked full of mud it looks like chocolate milk. The tide goes in and out every six hours with about a 40-foot difference here. That translates to the sea level rising and falling over 6 feet an hour. Pretty fast but still like watching paint dry. The tides are higher than normal in Fundy because of the long narrowing channel of the Bay. The length amplifies the tidal wave like water sloshing in a bathtub. We spend the night at a private RV park next door so we can come back in the morning and see low tide.

July 21, 2008

July 21, 2008

Our plan was to take a mid-morning cruise with a lobster boat to see how lobster fishing is done. Unfortunately it is pouring so we punt. Instead we head north from Lunenberg, NS across Nova Scotia to the Bay of Fundy and stop at the Grand Pre National Historic Site. It is also a World Heritage Site. Grand Pre is the museum and memorial to the Acadian Diaspora that started on this spot in 1755. After England took Nova Scotia away from France, the French-speaking inhabitants adopted a position of neutrality refusing to swear allegiance to England. On the brink of another war with France in 1755, the British couldn’t trust the Acadians not to secretly aid the enemy, so they rounded them up, burnt the villages, loaded them on ships and dispersed them amongst the American colonies. In time, most of the Acadians wound up remigrating to Lousiana, Quebec, and the Maritimes.

After going thru the small history museum, we take a quick rainy walk thru the memorial garden. The centerpiece is a statue of Evangeline, the star character in a fictional story Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about the tragedy. The poetic narrative galvanized Acadian national identity when it was published in 1847.

From Grand Pre we work our way around the Bay of Fundy to Amherst, NS on the border with New Brunswick where we stay at a private campground. We are not happy campers. It rained most of the day again and the forecast is just as gloomy.

July 20, 2008

July 20, 2008

Since I am an aspiring photographer, we head back to Peggy’s Cove, NS for another round of pictures. The best photographs occur when one finds a great location and then patiently waits for the right season, the right light and the right weather. With our travel schedule I have to rely on luck. It has been hard in the Maritimes for photography. If it isn’t raining, it is foggy.

From Peggy’s Cove we follow the seashore southwest past many cute coves to Lunenberg, a UNESCO world heritage site. This fishing village was once a major shipbuilding port. We start our day at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. It is all about fish and fishing of all kinds and the men, boats and equipment used to commercially harvest this resource. It is interesting. The resource is the Grand Banks fishery off Newfoundland. The waters there used to boil with cod. Since America was discovered the Grand Banks has been fished in a big way. Dried and salted cod was a vital source of protein for the poor of Europe. Unfortunately in this century the Canadians got too good at fishing the Banks and destroyed it. What wasn’t mentioned in the museum is that for the last sixteen years there has been a moratorium on fishing… and still the codfish have not returned.

After the museum we stroll thru the shops in town and spend the night at the municipal park here.

July 19, 2008

July 19, 2008

It is another cloudy rainy day in Nova Scotia. We drive most of the day southwest to the capital, Halifax. We park near the star-shaped Citadel National Historic Site but decide not to go in. I can’t say I am too interested in touring a fort built in 1856 to defend against American aggression. Instead we walk downhill and stroll the busy waterfront. Except for the citadel all the buildings in Halifax are from post-1917 because during WWI a freighter full of explosives blew up in the harbor leveling the city. It was so massive that Robert Oppenheimer studied the blast for the Manhattan Project.

From Halifax we drive along the shoreline to the tiny fishing hamlet of Peggy’s Cove. Oh my gosh! Peggy’s Cove is a photographers’ nirvana. Everywhere you look is a postcard opportunity. The town is built on a slab of barren granite sticking out into the ocean with waves crashing on the rocks. A lonely lighthouse sits at land’s end.

Next-door, fish houses on stilts line a narrow cove containing gaily-painted boats, colorful fishing gear and loads of lobster traps. Hollywood could not have built a more perfect seaside fishing village. Aimee is very patient while I snap dozens of photographs.

On our way to a campground just north of Peggy’s Cove we pass a memorial built for the crash of Swissair 111, which went down just offshore in 1998. It sounds familiar but Aimee and I don’t remember the details. But I guess that is why people build memorials. Finally at the RV park, we have a late dinner of snow crab legs that we bought earlier in the day.

July 18, 2008

July 18, 2008

Our campsite is less than a mile from the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. That is our first stop. At the Visitor Center we purchase our tickets, peruse the exhibits and then catch the first shuttle out to the fortress two miles away on a peninsula.

Louisbourg is a reconstruction of the original citadel and town that stood here until 1758. It was rebuilt in the 1960’s as part of a government employment project after Cape Breton’s coal mines shut down. In 1710 after the British defeated the French in Newfoundland and the mainland of Nova Scotia, French fisherman set up operations on Cape Breton Island. Cod fishing on the Grand Banks was a vital industry for France, even more than the inland fur trade. It supplied vital food for use during meatless Lenten days of fast. To protect that commerce, France built a fortress here to protect this vital port. Despite the size of the fortifications it was sieged successfully twice. Once in 1745 by New England, and the last in 1758 by the British. Both times the port was blockaded and then attacked from the lightly guarded rear. Cut off from resupply and starving, the fort surrendered.

The fog is thick over the port today and we can barely make out the fortress as we walk toward it from the bus stop. Because you can’t see the modern town across the bay, it seems like we are traveling back to pre-Revolutionary times. The dozens of French-speaking staff in period costume add to the illusion. Aimee and I give ourselves a walking tour of the complex starting with the Kings Bastion and then thru the town buildings. The whole complex was reconstructed beautifully. What I find amusing is that the reconstruction project got underway after a group of New Englanders built a memorial to their victory on the site. That irritated a few Canadians.

After spending most of the day at Louisbourg we start our long return journey west back to Tucson. We make it as far as Antigonish, NS where we spend the night at a private park. I spend an enjoyable ten minutes taking photos of their colorful flower beds. I especially like the Black-Eyed Susans and Daylilies.

July 17, 2008

July 17, 2008

We wake to another day of beautiful weather to finish our drive around the Cabot Trail of Nova Scotia. The east side of Cape Breton Highlands National Park is not as dramatic as the west but the landscape is beautiful nonetheless with a rocky coastline. We make numerous stops to enjoy the view.

With the Cabot Trail complete, we head towards the city of Sydney. Along the way we stop in the town of Sydney Mines to visit the Cape Breton Fossil Center. The Sydney vicinity was once a major coal mining area. Along the shoreline near the coal seams, lots of plant fossils have been found from the Carboniferous Period. I take a quick dash thru the museum to see the artifacts while Aimee reads in the RV.

Continuing east to Glace Bay we stop next at the Marconi National Historic Site. Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian born in 1876, invented a way to use the newly discovered radio waves to transmit Morse code. At the age of 23 he formed a company to exploit the new technology. In 1901 he successfully transmitted the letter “S” between Newfoundland and England. Sued by the monopoly that had recently laid a telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean, Canada helped him move his transmitter and antenna to this rocky outcropping on Cape Breton Island. In 1902 he sent the first official message transatlantic wirelessly to Cornwall, England. The site is very small with a short film and a few exhibits but it is manned by an aging Morse Code fanatic who gives us the grand tour. He comes in every day to use the radio to communicate with the rest of the world via Morse Code! He is a dying breed. I shake my head as he laments how the new generation is addicted to the Internet instead of wanting to learn Morse.

From Glace Bay we follow the Marconi trail to Louisbourg where we spend the night at a private RV park.