Louisbourg

Today was all Louisbourg, all day. Weather was overcast, cool, and windy again, with a forecast high of 15. It stayed overcast all day until we got a couple of short sunny breaks in late afternoon, but, at the same time we were surrounded by fog that had rolled in.




Here is a view of the town and the main harbour gate from a bastion near the entrance. The British blew up the fort after capturing it a second time in a second war and apparently coming to the conclusion that they didn't want to have to capture it again. The site was unused for about 200 years when the federal and provincial governments decided to rebuild it as a historical site and, admittedly, as a make work project for steel workers and coal miners losing their jobs in the nearby mill and mines. They have reconstructed about one quarter of the site. In addition to furnishing many of the buildings to demonstrate their use, there are also many exhibits explaining the history of the fort, the archaeological research into its past, and its restoration.




Many locals play the parts of soldiers and citizens, explaining the function of the building they represent and their duties and daily life experiences. Like, many of the other places we have seen, many are students and some work for a little over four months and go on employment insurance for the rest of the year.




They try to remain authentic in every way possible, including their restaurant meals. Selection was pretty limited. We had soup and a turkey pie with cooked carrots as turnips, as root vegetables were their primary crops. The meal was served on a pewter plate with only a pewter spoon to eat it with, and a giant bib to tuck in at the neck to recreate how meals were eaten during this time period.

Fishing for export was the main, and almost only, business of the town.

We were there on Corpus Christi Sunday, which is apparently one of the biggest feasts of the Acadians. They had a special Mass in the chapel in the Governor's residence followed by a procession through the town down to the harbour.


We were there shortly after the 9:30 opening and closed the place up at 5. It was about a half hour drive back to Sydney. We got a bite to eat, then cruised around exploring and returned to the hotel just before 7.