Roaming Rivet: August 2011

Amoeba Sailing Tours - Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Amoeba Sailing Tours is a small family business operating from the village of Baddeck, on Cape Breton Island. Captain John Bryson, Owner/ Operator of the Amoeba Sailing Tours offers passengers a unique opportunity to sail the Bras d’Or Lakes near Baddeck from the deck of a 67ft Schooner. The Amoeba has five sails, and is Staysail Schooner with a Wishbone Rig. She has a main sail. 2 staysails, a jib and a Wishbone. During our narrated tour of the harbor, our guide explained the Lake and the estate of Alexander Graham Bell and his heirs.

Alexander Graham Bell Museum – Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Located in the Village of Baddeck, a 25 acre park overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes, a saltwater inland sea. This complex, with its three exhibit halls, contains the largest collection of Bell's artifacts and inventions, including replicas of the first telephones and a full scale model of the HD-4 hydrofoil craft. Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, is where Alexander Graham Bell, mostly famed as the inventor of the telephone chose to build his Canadian residence. Bell's estate, Beinn Breagh (Gaelic for 'beautiful mountain') can be viewed from the rooftop gardens of the complex. He was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first US patent for the telephone in 1876.

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

The Cabot Trail loops around the Northern tip of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 185 miles long. The trail passes through many charming communities, each with some fantastic scenery. The Cape Breton Highlands National Park lies along the Cabot Trail. We took the time to go whale watching and visited several commercial fishermans coves along the way. It wasn't until 1936 that the Cape Breton Highlands National Park was created. It consists of 366 square miles and protects the highlands and coastal wilderness stretching across the northern tip of Cape Breton Island between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean.

Keltic Lodge Resort – Cape Breton – Nova Scotia

High on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Keltic Lodge commands a view like no other. A view of Cape Smokey rising out of the sea greets your arrival. We stopped for their breakfast buffet. Our group somewhat overwhelmed them when we arrived only about 30 minutes before they were to end the buffet. They rose to the challenge however and everyone had a great breakfast before beginning the major portion of our Cabot Trail drive.

Meat Cove – Cape Breton – Nova Scotia

One of the highlights of our drive was Meat Cove which is the most northern tip of Cape Breton island. It is surrounded by jagged cliffs and valleys of connected mountains . The village is known for the spectacular views it provides for visitors and also for The Meat Cove Campground and Ocean Side Chowder Hut. The Meat Cove Campground opened in 1986 and is hosted by the MacLellan family. The campground provides people with spacious room for their tents, thirty unserviced campsites, newly built camp cabins, running water, hot showers, beautiful hiking trails mainly all with ocean view.

Many other pictures that I don't have room for here.

We catch the ferry in the morning for out last stop on the caravan.

Prince Edward Island

Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

When we arrived and got settled in, it was time to set up for the cookout. We were able to secure 90 pounds of King Crab, which were cooked and flash frozen, from a packing house within walking distance from the camp. We steamed just enough to thaw and warm. No one went away hungry. Here is a few shots of everyone enjoying the meal.

Following the meal, every one got ready to go to Louisbourg Playhouse which is a theater next to the campgrounds.

One Night in a Cape Breton Kitchen

Playing at the Louisbourg Playhouse “One Night in a Cape Breton Kitchen” cast, from left, Lyndon MacKenzie, Erin Martell, Troy Young, Jason Kempt and Beverly MacLean. They feature songs and skits and The show is fast-paced and features a great mix of music and comedy. There’s a good dose of the fiddle stuff and dancing but there’s also some more contemporary music. This was the first time most of us saw a cajon played. Yep, it is a real instrument.

Louisbourg Playhouse

Cape Breton Kitchen Players

Fortress of Louisbourg

When we arrived at the visitors center, a bus shuttled us to the French Fortress of Louisbourg. Many of us made the mistake of wearing red (British colors). We were challenged at the entrance and finally convinced the guard we were not spies and were able to make it to the King’s Bakery for fresh baked oven bread. We took a guided tour and viewed demonstrations of music, dancing, cooking and military drills.

The Fortress of Louisbourg is the largest reconstruction project in North America. The original settlement was founded in 1713 by the French and developed over several decades into a thriving center for fishing and trade. Fortified against the threat of British invasion during the turbulent time of empire-building, Louisbourg was besieged twice before finally being destroyed in the 1760s. The site lay untouched until well into modern times, when archaeologists began to reconstruct the fortress as it was in the 18th century. We experienced life in Louisbourg during its heyday. There are more than a dozen buildings open to the public including three authentic working 18th century restaurants. During the summer months hundreds of re-enactors or “animators” of all ages, from wealthy merchants, poor soldiers and examples of public punishment populate the streets of the restored fortress working, playing, and living life as they would have in 1744.

Bus ride to the Fort

Fort Gates

Challenged by the guard

Greeting and Orientation

Bakery

Blacksmith

Main gate for bay side entry

Children day camp

Chapel

Dorma and Peggy with guard

Punishment for Stealing a bottle of wine

Fortress from across the bay

Sheumas and MacNeil on Piano and Fiddle

The Barra MacNeils are a Canadian musical group from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. The founding members of the group are siblings Sheumas, Kyle, Stewart, and Lucy MacNeil. In 2005 two additional brothers, Ryan and Boyd, joined the band. The Scottish island of Barra is the ancestral home of Clan MacNeil.

The MacNeil siblings are from Cape Breton Island and began performing together in 1980 while still teenagers (Lucy MacNeil being only 10 years old). They are classically trained musicians and alumni of Mount Allison University.

Sheumas on guitar

Nephew of Sheumas special appearance

Drive to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

On our drive to Glace Bay we took some pictures of different coves and fishing villages that we are not used to seeing in our area. Here's a few pictures.

Miners Museum – Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

Situated the coast of Cape Breton Island, on a 15-acre site, the Miners Museum pays tribute to the region's long and rich history of coal mining. It is home to stories of miners and their families. The Museum is also home to the famous choir of miners - The Men of the Deeps. The exhibit area focuses on the geological development of Cape Breton's coal field and mining techniques. We saw a display of equipment and watched a video about miners, the companies they worked for, their unions and their families. Retired coal miners were our guides on a 20-minute expedition into a 1932 'room and pillar' mine. We learned all about trapper boys, boys as young as eight and nine whose job it was to open and close the underground doors when the boxes passed, controlling the air current plus the working conditions the miners had to endure.

Miners Museum Entrance

Dressed and ready for the tour

Tour Orientation

Entrance to the Mine

Drilling holes for the dynamite


Would you believe an underground garden

We were advised that 400' of the mine was only four and one-half feet tall. Seems like not one of us realized how hard it was to walk the 400' bent over. We know now why they issued walking sticks!!

Marconi National Historic Site of Canada

From this site in 1902, Marconi sent the first message across the Atlantic using electro-magnetic waves instead of wires. Late in October 1902, the Royal Italian Navy warship, Carlo Alberto, arrived in Sydney Harbour, arousing intense interest. Just a year before, on 12 December 1901, on the top of Signal Hill in St. John's, Newfoundland, Marconi had received a Morse code signal from his transmitter in England. The Anglo-American Telegraph Company forced Marconi to end his experiments in Newfoundland because it claimed he had violated its communications monopoly. Days later, he was in Ottawa dining with Prime Minister of finance and the most powerful Nova Scotian politician in Ottawa. In two more days, he came away with promises of $80,000. to finance a station to be located in Cape Breton near the mining town of Glace Bay.

Museum

Show all

Marconi

Men of the Deeps

Men of the Deeps Choir of Cape Breton coal miners was formed in 1966. It was founded at the instigation of Nina Cohen, whose enthusiasm for the preservation of mining culture had also led to the founding of the Miners' Museum in Glace Bay, NS. The Cape Breton Development Corporation, which employed most of the men, took an interest in the choir and hired a permanent director. They have toured mining communities, in the Maritime Provinces, Ontario, the Canadian North, the US, and have also performed in other countries.