Tag: Museums

This Halifax Nova Scotia museum is dark.  Not literally, but historically.  It covers the history of Canadian immigration – one million immigrants landed in Canada from 1928 to 1971. At Pier 21, take the guided tour.  It will be a sobering wake up call to the trials people went through simply to come to Canada. The problem is that Canada needed immigrants to build the economy but the government was pretty damn racist about it.  White, Christian, no health problems were the minimum requirements.  This racist rubbish sent a boat of Jews back to Europe in 1939 to be subject […]

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This is another restoration that Parks Canada is maintaining.  Close to Annapolis Royal, Port Royal houses the restoration of Samuel de Champlain’s Habitation, where he lived in 1605. It’s much smaller than Fortress Louisbourg but, consider the age difference.  The habitation is 1605, about 140 years older than Fortress Lousibourg. There are people in period costume who can explain a great deal about how the place was reconstructed (1939 – 1941) and what each of the rooms was used for. For me the vital importance of these historical sites is to keep the past from fading away.  There was so […]

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Parks Canada operates a number of historic sites in Nova Scotia including, but not limited to, Port Royal, Fortress Louisbourg and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.  In my experience, the parks are things like Banff and Yoho National Parks.  No history, all space. Well, in Baddeck, Mr. Bell is a town hero.  Scotland via Boston and Washington, he was looking for a place that was more like Scotland without all the tuberculosis.  He and his wife landed in Baddeck, based on a travel book.  I suspect the huge Scottish influences in the area helped. However, forget the telephone.  I had […]

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You’re going to need a day for this one. This Parks Canada historic recreation covers the years 1740s.  The fortress had a long history of French and English fighting.  When you read this stuff in books, it does not come alive, but it literally comes alive in Louisbourg. When you drive to the site, you stop at the visitor centre to buy tickets and you then take a bus to the walkway to the front gate of the fortress.  (Wear good shoes.) There are people in costume who work the various stations and buildings who are fonts of knowledge.  They […]

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This Annapolis Royal Museum is more the normal point-in-time display.  In this case, O’Dell House Museum is the former home of Nova Scotia Pony Express rider Corey O’Dell and his family. There is a guide who’ll describe the rooms’ various functions and what’s displayed from the Annapolis Heritage Society’s collection of artifacts. For me these museums help have a glimpse into the past as to how people lived. More information:  annapolisheritagesociety.com/odell-house-museum Where to Stay in Annapolis Royal

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Because of Annapolis Royal’s long history (from the European perspective) dating back to 1605, it’s not surprising that you’ll find some old buildings. The Sinclair Inn is the 2nd oldest wooden structure still standing in Canada.  It’s now a museum, but it’s a museum of the building itself.  When the town was re-invigorating itself in the 1980s, they were trying to figure out what to do with the Sinclair Inn.  As they started looking behind the walls, they found that it was far older than they thought. There was a construction style used by the Acadians called wattle and daub, […]

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North Sydney is a small town located about twenty minutes from the city of Sydney.  The town is known mostly for being The Gateway to Newfoundland because the ferry terminal that houses the ferries that go back and forth between the two provinces is located in the town.  It is also known for being in a scenic area overlooking Sydney Harbour and for having plenty of things for visitors to do. The downtown area of North Sydney is full of restaurants, fast food joints and boutique shops.  The scenic waterfront area makes for a great place to take a break […]

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The small village of Orangedale may have gained much fame with Celtic music lovers who are familiar with the song The Orangedale Whistle by the Rankin Family but not many people know where it is located or that it is even located in Nova Scotia.  Well, it is in fact located in Nova Scotia almost right in the center of Cape Breton Island. The roads leading to Orangedale are distinctly rural; mostly gravel roads through thick forest with the odd stream or field thrown in the mix.  In “Downtown” Orangedale, old buildings line the main street and this is where […]

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Louisbourg is probably the most visited town on Cape Breton Island because that is where a famous, reconstructed French fortress lies at the end of town.  The reconstructed version of The Fortress of Louisbourg is only a very small fraction of the original fortress that stood in the 18th century but it is still big enough to require at least an entire day to see the whole thing!  There are guides in period costume and you can choose to avail of one of these guides for a guided tour or you can explore the fortress on your own.  The grounds […]

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Port Hood is a small village located on the western coast of Cape Breton Island on the Ceilidh Trail.  The most popular attraction in the area is the long, sandy beach and scenic boardwalk.  The beach is perfect for swimming because the waters are calm and warm. Other popular activities that can be enjoyed in Port Hood include hiking, kayaking and boat tours that allow visitors to view whales and other marine life.  Port Hood Island is only accessible by boat and there is a boat that ferries visitors back and forth to the island where there is an uncrowded […]

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