Yarmouth is the farthest west on NS that we can go and it is on the 10 best cities to visit in Nova Scotia. The town itself is an old typical fishing town, dependent on the tourist not so much; as it appears the town is just happy to be a fishing village. In the hey day of the town fishing was a very lucrative business as evidenced by the numerous big Victorian homes.
3 museums on our list of things to do in Yarmouth:
Sweeney Museum a collection of artifacts from companies owned by the late W. Laurence Sweeney but not just a collection, the whole museum is a building housing exact replicas of the various buildings used by Sweeney for his fishing empire, just in 1/3rd scaled. A little dock harbor. Well done
Firefighters Museum of Yarmouth has a great collection of very old fire-fighting equipment, photos, and other memorabilia. But they would not let brother Will take one of the trucks out for a spin or slide down the brass fire-pole.
Yarmouth County Museum was a bust – heck 2 out of 3 not bad.
Cape Forchu is one of the more scenic lighthouses we have seen; offered some spectacular views of the harbor entrance. No one wanted to climb the 97 steps to climb to the top.
Buoys everywhere – some people make “art” out of those that have broken free and float aimlessly until they wash up on shore.
Bakeries – there are 2 in town. First one we went to had nothing but crumbs left, much to the bitter disappointment of brother Willy. However, the next day after a lunch in the park/graveyard (there was actually gravestones in the park) we sat out in front and enjoyed afternoon scones and ice coffee.
Ended our stay in Yarmouth thus (this is a quote from brother Wills blog)
The Gateway RV Park Massacre: On the way back, had to stop at a local lobster factory where the girls snagged 2 one-and-a-half pounders for dinner. An hour later, these crustatians were merrily boiling away on their way to lobster heaven. Now eating lobsters is a messy business. Lots of snapping, cracking, and bone-breaking involved as butter and claws fly around the campground. Ty and I opted to avoid this sad sight by eating leftovers in Kittie.
Lunenburg – one of the most photographed cities of Nova Scotia. When you see pics of NS, you are seeing Lunenburg. Famous for its picturesque vibrant painted houses hugging the craggy shore, fishing docks lining the harbor, the Bluenose Schooner, and scallops.
On a mission to see all that we could since the weather is nice and we only have 1 day; we went to another Museum of Fisheries that focus was on ship building and the Bluenose. A famous ship that was built sleek and fast and had a crusty captain. The Bluenose I and II is famous for winning a races against other American fishing boats. The International Fisherman’s Cup was awarded to the fastest fishing schooner that worked in the North Atlantic deep-sea fishing industry and It won the American Cup – emblematic of the sailing championship of the fishing fleets of the northwest Atlantic – in 1921, 1922 and 1923.
Then off to a real ship building facility that was building a dory, and a sloop of some kind. The building is still the original building of the many fleets build in the 1800’s. They had a project to build a boat of your own so I tried.
Before we leave town on Sunday, we go to church at St. Norbert in Lunenberg. Established in 1840, closed for 40 years due to lack of Catholics in the area then reopened in 1890’s. The building is plain, the worship was good – as visitors they handed us a pin as remembrance.
Peggy’s Cove – legend has it that a ship wrecked in St Margaret’s Bay and she was the only survivor. She could not remember her name, so they called her Peggy. The most photographed lighthouse in NS is here.
HALIFAX
This is a metropolis right on the harbor, which is the second largest harbor in North America, Boston being the largest.
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic – Halifax was the central point for the Titanic. Many ships were dispatched from Halifax to aid in the search and rescue. This museum had a good depiction of the rescue efforts made and some artifacts that were saved. When you think of the Titanic, you do not think of the tremendous rescue efforts and how it affects a city.
1917 Explosion! The most powerful explosion before the first atomic bomb. Two ships, Mont-Blanc and Imo, were in the “neck” of the harbor when they collided, setting fire to the Mont-Blanc which was carrying 2,500 pounds of explosives, then abandoned by crew. Because it was now a big fire it drew a large crowd to the piers and many people went to their windows to watch unaware of the explosive onboard the Mont-Blanc. Then the whole ship blew up obliterating the entire waterfront and much of the downtown. Sixteen thousands of people died, 9,00 were injured, 199 of the injured went blind from glass blowing into their eyes. The blast was heard as far away as Maine. Parts of the ship and dock were found up to 5 miles away. This exhibit was sobering.
Ride the Tidal Bore Ty talked for months before this epic trip that he had heard you could ride the Tidal Bore wave in zodiacs. He got his wish. The rains held off for four hours while me, Pam, and Ty (Will begged off) donned rain gear (not that it did any good at keeping us dry) and loaded into a zodiac in search of the “big one.” It was different than we expected; we were taken out to a large sandbar a little way from the mouth of the river. There we waited for the tide. When it starts to come in the wave was not as large as in Moncton due to the wideness of the neck of river where we were at. However, as the river rises the swiftness of it causes lots of big waves that our zodiac driver managed to hit everyone of them. We all had fun and can now say we “rode the wave.” Note the pic of all the orphaned shoes that people have abandoned.
Canadian Immigration Museum: Another rainy day another museum. My take away: if you are British, it is a slam dunk to get in. Otherwise, there was (and is) a “point system.” If you get a lot of points, you are in, if not, you are not. For example: do you have a job that you are going to? Do you have money? Are you healthy? Are you educated? And, as all countries, not without prejudices. In the women’s bathrooms was reading material on the stall door. It stated a request by the Immigration head officer to have additional bathrooms installed for all immigrants other than the British. These consisted of metal grating on the floors, and holes in the floor for waste. It was reasoned in the request that British immigrants should not have to use the same facilities as other immigrants.
Last museum in Halifax was the Citadel – a fortress built on the only “knoll” in the harbor which made it impenetrable. Four versions of the Citadel have been established on this site, starting with the Seven Years War and the last “addition” in 1856. It remained active during both the World Wars. Impressive stone structure. On site were period representation from the docents with many active displays from shooting off the canon at noon (has been done every day since 1856) to room displays. A very comprehensive military display of the World Wars and Canada’s involvement.
Canada is governed by the King of England and its own parliament; at the time of WWII King George IV, did not want Canada to be involved with the war. It was the English parliament that persuaded the King to allow Canada to send troops to aid Britain, which it did in the early months of the beginning of the war in 1940.
Not often we are in sites next to each other that we can get good pics. Brother Will’s is the top rig, Kitty, and ours is the bottom, Wanda.
Last night in Nova Scotia mainland and it was nice enough to have a fire. Had not had a fire in over 12 days!
July 1 we travel to Cape Breton for the last leg of trip with brother Will and Pam.
Only Canadian Mounty we have seen so far
The only pirates we have seen
Sounds like lots of entertaining spots but my friend’s advice to go in July because June is very wet was sound. My question is: if it is so wet in Nova Scotia, how did all those awful smoky wildfires start and grow so fast?
most of the fires are in Ontario. Nova Scotia had one big blaze that lasted just about a week, then the rains came.
Great pictures loved you went on the Tidal
Bore !!! Wonderful adventures .