Baddeck and Alexander Graham Bell

Back in 1972 Mom and Dad took us around the Cabot Trail. I have three memories of that time. The first is the beautiful views of the ocean from the road (not to mention being a bit nervous about being so close to the edge of the cliffs at times), the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, and my youngest brother and the Chinese food breakfast.

When we traveled out east that year we did so in an old '68 Custom 500 and a soft top tent trailer. Dad, being the creative and organized person he is, had developed ways with custom made wooden boxes to have a place for everything and everything in its place. I am amazed to think that I packed all I would need for five weeks into one wooden box. Anyone seeing what all I take with me on trips now would never believe that. We got up early that particular morning and headed to Baddeck. I am not sure why we didn't eat breakfast before we headed out. We stopped in Baddeck at a Chinese food place. My youngest brother absolutely refused to go inside. Mom and Dad left him in the car. They were quite worried that they were raising a racist son. Anyone who knows my parents would know how much that would bother them. Finally Dad went out and talked to him. The reason he wouldn't come in was that he didn't want to eat Chinese food for breakfast. Once Dad convinced him he could eat "normal" food all was well and he came inside to eat.

The thing I remember about the museum was the models of flight things hanging from the ceiling. That was basically it for memories. I knew that Bell was credited with inventing the telephone and I had a vague memory of him having worked with the deaf. Those things were about all I knew before this trip. I quite enjoyed building on the knowledge during our visit to the museum.

I am finding in the Maritimes that cruise ships play a big role in things being open. About eighty cruise ships dock during a season. This affects Charlottetown, Sydney and the Cabot Trail, and Halifax. We lucked out with a cruise ship docking in Sydney and bussing people to Baddeck. This meant the Alexander Graham Bell Museum was opened for the day.

I was particularly interested in Bell's work with the deaf. As a teen-ager I hung around with a group of other teen-agers who were deaf. I knew the alphabet and some of the sign language. I had also read about Helen Keller who was deaf and blind. In the museum I read with interest that Bell's father, Melville Bell, had developed a phonetic alphabet. It was based on this that Bell tried to teach the deaf to speak.

As children, Bell and his brothers (who died early from TB) tried to teach their dog to speak based on the their father's studies on phonetics. Bell senior had developed something called "visible speech." It looked a little complicated to me. It has something to do with what part of the vocal organs are used to produce various sounds. A single sound will often use more than one portion of the vocal organs. Using this Bell and his brother manipulated their dog's mouth to produce almost human sounds. People would come to hear this dog say "ow-ah-oo-gamma." Taken with a bit of imagination this could be taken to mean "How are you, Grandmama?"


Bell developed a talking glove. He inked letters at certain positions on the glove to help one of his students learn to "speak."

This also worked well on the hand.

This fascinated me because I remembered that this was the way Helen Keller learned to communicate. Helen and her teacher, Ann Sullivan, did meet with Bell in his home just outside of Baddeck. Helen attributes much of her ability to communicate to that meeting with Bell.

Of course the thing we remember Bell for the most is the telephone. This grew out of his work with the deaf. Could there be such a thing as a "talking wire," a device that worked like the human ear? Bell set out to answer this question. He worked with a very capable assistant, Thomas Watson. One day Watson accidently (I love how so many important things in history happened by chance), jiggled a transmitter wire on the device. Bell, in an other room, heard the vibration on the device and wondered if the vibrations in speech could trigger the same result. He spoke and there was some muffled sound transmitted.

There appeared to be some issues as to a patent. It was during this period that Bell learned to keep meticulous notes on everything he did. He finally received the patent in February 1876. Then on March 10 he uttered the famous words, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you."

Bell had married one of his students, Mabel Hubbard. One day Mabel, before they were married, told Bell she was painting a picture of him. Finally the painting was done. It arrived at Bell's place and was unwrapped.

She had painted a white owl. This is because Bell had the habit of working late into the night, often into the early morning hours.

Bell experimented with a number of modes of transportation. One of the big ones was a Hydrofoil. This interested me because I had just seen a model of a Hydrofoil at the Maritime Museum. The Military had developed one in the sixties and worked on the idea for a few years. This grew out of Bell's work.

And last, but not least, is the plane I remember from 1972 (or something very similar to it). The Silver Dart.

The first successful powered flight in Canada took place on February 3, 1909. The pilot was J.A.D. McCurdy who flew 800 metres at a top speed of 65 km/hr and brought the Silver Dart to a smooth landing.

Love and Prayers,
Amie

Fortress of Louisbourg

There is one advantage to visiting places in the off season. They are often free. The man at the park gate was very helpful in directing where to go. He was right too. When the park is not in operation it really only takes about an hour to walk through it.

A bit of the history around Louisbourg. In 1713, with the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, Great Britain was given Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. About 150 French people from Newfoundland came to Cape Breton (or Isle Royale) and founded the village of Louisbourg. After visiting this location I really questioned why anyone would want to settle and, especially, build a fort here. It is beautiful but it didn't seem to warrant a fort in my mind. Gary, at the Ponderosa, explained that it was because of the fish. The cod stocks were plenteous then (The stocks are now depleted. The Europeans - mainly the Portuguese and Spanish - fish for cod just outside the 200 mile limit but there is no commercial fishing within the Canadian boundaries.) The French, being Roman Catholic, ate fish five days a week. This made anything to do with fish very important. So the remote tip where Louisbourg was established warranted a fortress to protect it.

In 1717 Louisbourg was made the seat of government for Isle Royale. Construction on the fortress started in 1719. In 1722 the troops arrived. These included Swiss and German mercenaries whose primary responsibility was to work on the fortifications.

In 1744 France and Britain were at war again. In 1745 Britain besieged and gained the fortress, In 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle, Cape Breton was given back to the French in exchange for some other territories. (In 1749 Halifax was founded to counter the Fortress of Louisbourg - interesting how various places tie together.)

In 1754 France and Britain were back at it again. These two just could not get along. In 1758 the British, with 13,000 men, defeated the French with 4,000 and the fortress was once again in British hands. The British destroyed the fortress in 1760. Two hundred years later Parks Canada decided to restore it.

I took many, many pictures but I could only find descriptions for a few when I got back to my computer.

There were three land gates into Louisbourg. The Dauphin Gate is the principal one. It was very carefully designed. The wooden walkway you see is actually a bridge over a moat type structure. There was a sluice gate for controlling water levels. Along the walls of the fortress were musket loopholes. There was also guerite, which I think is a little tower with slits for observation and muskets. The sentry box you see had a soldier in it when Owen visited in 1993. He questioned Owen and his family and seemed quite perturbed that they were English. He wasn't going to let them in. Owen had me practicing my high school French all the way so we could get in. Not much I know beyond Bonjour. Comment ca va? Back in 1987 I had visited Montreal and tried a bit of my university French. I got asked if I was Italian. I thought I might be able to tell the sentry I was Italian. Maybe I could get away with my horrendous accent and pronunciation. Of course we didn't have to worry as there are no guards in the off season.

Louisbourg does get used as a location for movies. In 1993 Disney was filming there - perhaps the Three Muskateers. Gary was telling us that a week before we got there it had been used for a film with Cuba Gooding Jr. Darn, we miss all the fun.

As we walked back to the Fortress and village Owen noticed the canons. Walking up to one we noticed it was pointed at another gate. This one would have been at the end of a wharf. I assume the canon was so pointed to protect it although Owen thought that wasn't a very bright idea.

This is the Frederic Gate. It is through here most of the people, news, and merchandise came. The ships would anchor offshore and boats full of cargo would be lunched from them. It is also through this gate that orders from the king arrived. There is a bit of a square behind it where the people could gather in front of the shops to see and hear what was happening. It is named after the royal minister who looked after France's colonies.

The Kings Bastion Barracks dominates the profile of the fortress.

This was locked. We were able to look through some windows. Most of them had curtains on them or were just empty. The one room we were able to see into was the chaple.

There was no parish church and little money for a religious community. The community worshiped in the military chapel.

As we walked further down behind the building we saw a building at right angles to it. The door was ajar. Owen went to peak in though the doorway. He quickly jumped back with a bit of a gasp. Staring at him was a racoon. I thought it rather appropriate as the building appeared to be some sort of jail and racoons do look like bandits. I very cautiously approached the doorway. A little head glimpsed up at me and then tried to hide itself on the steps.

We did manage to get pictures of the inside of one more building. One of the pieces of literature described it as the military chaplain's house. Looking inside I am not so sure.

Out behind the barracks was a line of cannons looking over the land. Owen and I wondered looking at the surrounding terrain just why anyone would want this place. Gary informed us that originally there were no cannons along this line of defense. The French just never thought there would be any danger from the land and focused on the sea approaches. This is how the British were able to take the fortress the first time. They then placed cannons along this back line.

Without any proper maps or guide books explaining the buildings to us there was really no point in lingering long. So we decided to head into Syndney and our Bed and Breakfast. We got the name of a place to eat that would cater to my diet. We spent a quiet evening with Owen dozing in his chair and me catching up on my computer games. We got to bed early so we could face the long day ahead. When we got home on Wednesday night we added up our mileage for the two days - 12 kilometres plus walking and touring times.

Love and Prayers,
Amie

Lessons We Have Learned While Travelling

We decided to rent a car and venture further than the area around Halifax. Owen had been to Louisbourg in 1993. He so enjoyed his experience he wanted to go back. I had been there in 1972 with my parents (who wanted to ensure we experienced Canada coast to coast before we left home) when the fortress was in its reconstruction stages so I was curious to see it now. I had been around the Cabot Trail in 1972 but Owen had not so he wanted to experience it. We decided to do these two things and spend the night around Sydney (where my grandfather was born). We found a wonderful bed and breakfast - The Ponderossa. Gary and Connie were awesome - friendly and full of information.

During this trip Owen and I have discovered a few things about travelling and exploring the sites. First, especially if you are in the Maritimes, go between May long weekend (end of May is better) and the end of October. I would love to come back to Cape Breton in October to experience the Celtic Colours International Festival. National sites are not open until the May long weekend and this means that a number of artisan shops and cafes/restaurants are not as well.

The other thing we have discovered is that you get a lot more information when you stay at Bed and Breakfast places. There are a large number of them on Cape Breton. We found our hosts, Gary and Connie of the Ponderossa, to be full of information. They had also prepared information for guests and printed off an itinerary for the Cabot Trail that included places to eat and shop as well as activities. They were also able to give us a bit of information on Louisbourg. They were certainly accomadating around food. They suggested the restaurant at the golf course which catered to my dietary restrictions. Connie prepared a wonderful breakfast for us even purchasing special foods for me.

We have really enjoyed talking to people like Gary and Connie. We would also stirke up conversations with our servers in the various cafes and restaurants. Stop in at local artisan shops. People love to talk about the places they live. Most of them appreciate the questions about what is in the area. They all have their favourites. Occassionally Owen and I have taken tours in our travels. These are just day tours though when we know they have information we won't get otherwise. Other than that we like to explore on our own taking the advice of the local people who know the ins and outs of their communities. The other thing is to stop and reads plaques. Who knows what tidbits of information you might pick up.

Our travel companion - and Owen says he would never drive a Ford.

Some scenery along the way.

Tidbits of information we learned from plaques.

I find it interesting that once again we were at the scene of a first murder of some type. This is Owen's picture because I was too lazy to get out of the car while waiting for the ferry. I usually take pictures of plaques in museums, on roadsides, in parks. They help me when I put together my pictures and to reconstruct my stories as I save them for later enjoyment.

Love and Prayers,
Amie

A Day of History

Halifax was founded in 1749 as a counter to the French owned Louisbourg. It is the second largest natural harbour in the world. These are just two of the facts Owen and I discovered as we toured along the waterfront and area.

Our first stop was St. Paul's Anglican Church. As mentioned in the previous post, this is the oldest existing Protestant place of worship in Canada. It is also the burial place of Charles Inglis, the first bishop of Nova Scotia. He is also the first bishop appointed to a British Colony. The church doors opened on September 2,1750 after being founded by royal proclamation in 1749.

The church was full of history. They kindly supplied a walking tour pamphlet to help us as we walked around the building. They have two baptismal fonts. The smaller one is actually from a century or more before St. Paul's was founded.

If you look at the bottom left of the second picture you will see a plaque in the floor. This marks the burial place of Charles Inglis. This has special meaning for me. Not only is he the first bishop but I had to present a seminar on him when I was in seminary. Charles Inglis was consecrated in 1787. He made St. Paul's his cathedral. It remained as the cathedral for the diocese until 1865.

The pews were box pews. At the back in the display cases you could see the receipt for the rental of a pew. The front pew on the left side of the centre aisle was the royal pew. I knew it was set apart as soon as I saw the arm rests. I walked around to the side of it and saw that it was roped off. The general public cannot sit in this pew. As a side note of interest, the gentleman who spoke to us told us that things were being prepared for the royal visit next week. So I assume the pew will be in use then.

Our visit here tied in with our later visit to the Maritime Museum. The tie in is the Halifax explosion on December 6, 1917. We were able to join in a tour about the explosion just as we started wandering around the museum. The tie-in with St. Paul's is that the vestry of St. Paul's was used as an emergency hospital. The church was also used to place numerous bodied which were laid in tiers around the walls.

While at the church I discovered some brochures on something called the Old Burying Grounds. I knew from a previous visit that this area of Halifax has a number of cemeteries. Using the map application on my phone we headed over to this particular cemetery. The first grave here was dug the day after the settlers arrived - June 21, 1749. Over 12,000 people were buried here until 1844. Of those around 1200 headstones remain today. The deeds to the cemetery were granted to St. Paul's vestry in 1793.

In 1860 the city's first public monument was erected. The Welsford-Parker Monument was dedicated to two soldiers who fought in the Crimean War. They died on September 8, 1855.

We didn't stay overly long in the cemetery as it had started to rain. We decided to tour someplace indoors. Off we headed to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Thank goodness for map applications on cell phones. Here we learned about the Halifax Explosion. The tour guide also told us of individuals and their fates due to the explosion. The displays told of us of others. Around 2000 people were killed and another 9000 wounded. Things were made worse by a horrendous snow storm the next day that hampered efforts and made things more difficult for those who lost their homes in the explosion.

We wandered through the small craft gallery which housed actual boats.

There were also displays and historical notes on things such as the History of the Canadian Navy and the Titanic. There were many models of various ships. The time and patience needed to craft these was evident in the models on display. Having raised the children with the TV show, Theodore Tugboat, another display caught my attention. I hadn't realized that the show used the Halifax waterfront as its model for Theodore's home.

We were getting quite hungry so we left the museum and headed out looking for a place to eat. We happened on a pub named The Split Crow. We liked the menu board outside so we headed in. We didn't realize that we were in a place rich with history until we read the menu. The Split Crow started out as the Spread Eagle in 1749. It quickly became known as the Split Crow. The menu told us it was "a second home for sailors, mariners, and travelers. They were given comfortable lodgings, food and generous mugs of grog. In the tradition of the day music was played, ladies entertained, politics were discussed and, inevitably, fights broke out. One of these fights resulted in the first ever murder charge in Nova Scotia."

Just a couple of more pictures. I was in seventh heaven when I discovered a real purple house. I had seen colours Owen tried to convince me were purple but this one was very definitely purple.

The last picture is the naval yards we passed on our way home.

We are renting a car tomorrow and heading out to Cape Breton and Louisbourg. We plan on staying in B and B. We will see what adventure lies our way.

Love and Prayers,
Amie

Mother's Day

We started the day right - getting everyone out of bed to go to church in downtown Halifax. I had thought that we could go to St. Paul's because of its history - the oldest Protestant church in Canada at 260 years old. The later service was Matins and I knew that wouldn't feed Owen's soul. So we decided to go to the Cathedral Church of All Saints. This is a newer building built in 1910 or so. They advertized that they were having a choral mass. We got there and discovered that it was Marbeke. I haven't sung a plainsong mass in years. I wasn't sure how Owen's family would respond to such an old service but they enjoyed it.

This was a very welcoming church. I really think the Maritimers have ministry of hospitality. We found the people at All Soul's chapel in Charlottetown very welcoming. I had put it down to the fact that with Rob we doubled the congregation that day. Even at All Saints - a cathedral - we were made to feel so welcome. At the beginning of the service one of the Sunday School teachers came and introduced himself and invited Owen's niece to join them (reminds me of a few Sundays back when the children of St. Thomas came to their teacher to tell her that there was a new kid in church and he was made to feel welcome in so many ways - including the children choosing him to be the one to extinguished a lenten candle). after the service Owen was approached and welcomed by a woman. When she found that we were visiting and interested in learning more about the church she called her husband over. Her husband is the son of a former dean and takes great pride in the cathedral.

In all honesty, the outside of the church is not very attractive. The inside could appear rather cold due to its size and ornateness. But the congregation has done a very good job of making it warm and welcoming. During Hurricane Juan windows were broken and water got into the cathedral warping the hardwood flooring. The congregation replaced the wood with tile - which had been the original idea for flooring when the cathedral had been built. Instead of pews they had padded chairs with kneelers on the back. There were book holders on the sides. This allowed for flexibility in the nave. We saw how this worked around their various services. The back rows were turned toward the baptismal font instead of the front altars. There was a third altar set up just in front of the font. The nine o'clock service used this space. The ten thirty service used the traditional space. These chairs also allowed for rearrangement for concerts and other functions. Even the pipe organ console could be moved out and placed where the lower altar sits.

There was a corner, visible in the second picture, for a commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic. A congregation member had done a number of pictures of the battle (and other pictures throughout the cathedral). There was some controversy around the pictures with some people feeling they were to real with bodies and such. Just in front of this commemoration is the columbarium. Our guide explained how the cathedral could support expansion of this when the present space became full.

The wood carvings were amazing. So much of the wood was carved with intricate detail. There were chairs for the various canons as well as the bishop's chair and the one for the chancellor. A few years ago the woman had a needle work project. They did seat and kneeling cushions for each chair. Each chair represents a different regions so each cushion has its own crest or symbols.

For the first time I was able to see an Easter garden. This was something I read about briefly when putting together my Easter Day services (I came across a blessing for an Easter garden in Times and Seasons out of the Church of England). I was quite interested in this as I had thought it would make a good project with the Sunday School children. I will research this a little more when I get home.

We left the church and headed out for Mother's Day brunch - us and everyone else in Halifax. We were able to get a table at a fancy cafe a short distance from the cathedral. The food was definitely not plain and was excellent. Owen leaned over to me and suggested a price for the buffet. The two men argued over who was to pay the bill. Owen won. He took one glance at the bill and told Bill that they could go fifty-fifty. The cost was double what he had expected.

Later in the afternoon we decided to head out to Peggy's Cove. I had been there back in '72 with my parents but Owen had missed it in his '93 trip. Off we headed through little coastal towns and down windy roads. We got to Peggy's Cove. The wind was not too bad but it was still enough to satisfy my soul.

The sea gull in the last picture was quite well behaved. We checked the roof of the car (not ours) and he had left no reminders of his presence. We just thought it was neat to see a sea gull on top of a car and took the picture.

The power of the sea is amazing. I feel an affinity with the sea. Marie means salty water or salty tears. Its origins are with the sea goddess - Mari. I love sitting on the rocks with the wind blowing through my hair (this does not do wonders for the hair do) and watch the waves crash on the rocks. I also love the challenge of climbing on the rocks to get from one point to the other. I am in my elements here on the rocky coast. Still the quiet sun on a prairie meadow also speaks to my soul calming it and lulling me into peace. The harsh wind and rocky shores of the coast speak to me in a different way - the awesome and untamed wonder of God's creation.

We took a few moments to stop off at one of the memorials for Swiss Air Flight 111 on September 2, 1998. I sat quietly here thinking of the people on the plane and of the rescuers and spectators helpless to bring life to such a death scene. I can only imagine how people felt as they stood on that spot looking out to the sea knowing there was little they could do other than bring in what ever the ocean chose to give up.

Today we are headed to the wharf in Halifax.

Love and Prayers,
Amie