Halifax and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

7/21/2019 - We left Lunnenberg at 9:30.  Got fuel and on to Halifax (only 52 miles). We camped at Woodhaven Campground - a beautiful campground with lots of trees.  We got settled, then Tom and I took off in the Jeep to Peggy's Cove, a quaint village on the coast.

Peggy's Cove harbor

IT  was a pretty drive from the campground, but when we got there, we found a small village with a mass of people (tourists)   They were all there to walk around on the rocks, look at a lighthouse, and maybe eat in one restaurant.  The rocks in the cove were all smoothed over from the water and solid granite.

Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove 

The shops weren't much.  I really didn't see why so many people would come here, other than the scenery.   This was outside one of the shops.  It is the symbol of the Maritimes.

Clawsy

We headed back to the campground and picked up Trish and Bev and made a trip to Costco in Halifax for supplies.  The store was very busy, but when is Costco never busy??    Never.  We had a hot dog dinner at Costco and went back to the RV.



07/23/2019 - Bus tour of Halifax.  The morning started off with rain.  We got picked up by the bus at 8:30.  We had Robert as our guide.  He is a professor of History at one of the Halifax Universities.  He has lived his whole life in Nova Scotia, mostly in Halifax, and was an excellent speaker on everything Halifax.  He also imported a little humor, which made the bus tour very enjoyable.

Our first stop was Fairview Lawn Cemetery, where 121 of the passengers of the Titanic were buried, more than any other cemetery in the world.  The Titanic hit an iceberg and went down on 4/15/1912,  There were 2208 souls on the ship (passengers and staff) and only 705 survived, 1508 went down with the ship.  Robert, our guide, called them heroes.  Many of the staff stayed on the ship knowing that they would perish, but stayed on to do their duty.  He pointed out the grave sites of notable people.

Luigi Catti ran the Italian restaurant on the ship.  He was taking his family to America.  He and his family all perished.

Luigi Catti, Restaurateur

Ernest Freeman was a staff member on the ship who gave up his seat for Mr. J. Bruce Ismay, the Chairman and Managing Director of the White Star Line.  Guess who paid for Mr. Freeman's headstone?

Ernest Freeman, gave his seat to Mr. Ismay

Alma Paulson, age 29, whose husband left Sweden to find work in America.  He got a good job at Niagara Falls on the American side, and sent for his wife and children.  Alma sailed on the Titanic with her 4 children in steerage.  All perished.

Alma Paulson, swedish mother of 4

John Law Hume, a musician, who stayed behind to play music on the deck of the Titanic.

John Hume, Musician

Lastly, a headstone for J. Dawson.  This headstone was the inspiration for James Cameron to name Jack Dawson as the main character of the movie "Titanic".  It was played by Leo DiCaprio.  The headstone actually belongs to Joseph Dawson, a fireman on the ship, but it is the most visited headstone in the cemetery now,  all as a result of the movie.

J. Dawson

The headstones are arranged in an arc shape, to represent the hull of the ship.  It was an inspiration, listening to Robert and bringing the tragedy to life.

Out next stop was the Atlantic Maritime Museum. located on the wharf at Halifax Harbor.   At the front entrance is a example of how pirates were executed.

A Pirate's end

We went up to the second floor, where they had artifacts from the Titanic and information.  I found this interesting:  The White Star line really had a bad safety record.  I hope you can read this display.

Info on White Star Line ships

Here is a picture of Tom at the bottom of the Grand Staircase.

Tom in front of the Grand Staircase

 We stayed in the area of the museum and wandered around on the wharf.  There were ships in the harbor.

Halifax harbor

We also wandered through a couple of shops.  The only thing I bought was a bag of taffy.  We then had lunch on the patio of a high rise on the street side (fish and chips, of course).  It was delicious.  Then back to the wharf for ice cream - great ice cream.  We actually had over 3 hours on our own, and really enjoyed the time.

Back on the bus.  We headed uphill to the Citadel, a fort built to protect the harbor.  It was built in a star shape, just like Fort Anne that we saw in Annapolis Royal.  It was built in 1749 by the English to protect the harbor at Halifax.  According to Wikipedia, Halifax owes its existence to the Citadel, a fortified structure built on a high hill overlooking the harbor.  Here is the changing of the guard.

Changing of the guard at the Citadel

I was unable to walk all over the fort as my body just would not cooperate.  Tom walked with the group and got  picture for me.

Training exercises

Back to the campground, had our driver meeting with root beer floats and instruction on our drive to the Cape Breton tomorrow.



07/24/2019 -  Drove 286 miles to Cape Breton, an island north of Nova Scotia, but connected by a causeway.  The drive was fairly easy because the road was in very good condition.  We did not make any stops until we arrived in front of the campground.  Then we stopped and fueled up.  We got parked and settled.  Tom had a nap, then we went to the meeting building for "walking tacos" and dessert.  After dinner we had instructions for the drive tomorrow to Newfoundland.  We will be driving about 3 miles to the ferry terminal, then waiting in line for about 2 hours to board the ferry.  The boat ride will be about 6 hours.  We were told that there may not be any cell service or wifi internet in Newfoundland.  Our Wagonmaster said that it will  be a 'step back in time'.  Things are not what we are used to.  So.......a heads up to all that read my blog - - I will be out of internet reach for the next 8 days.  I will try to catch up when we come off of the island.