Maritimes - Day 14

Off to Newfoundland we go!

As our ferry wasn't until 11:15pm, we spent the day out at the Fortress of Louisbourg, which Sandra and I had visited almost 20 years ago, but when we were out here, it was May and all you could do was walk around part of the fortress.  During the busy season, the fortress is full of employees dressed up in period specific clothes and acting the part of people living and working in the fortress.

There isn't a ton to see in the fortress, but they do have a number of live action displays during the day.  Those occur at specific times and locations and we wanted to see some of them, so we kind of split up our route through the fortress.  We went through a number of rooms before heading to the governor's area where they fired off two cannons.  It was pretty exciting and loud.  Then it was some more exploring before deciding what to do for lunch, where we ended up heading back to our van for sandwiches.

We then finished off what was left in the fortress before watching a parade drill by all the actors dressed as soldiers.  It was interesting that most of the buildings in the fortress were storehouses, since they had to store all the cod they caught before it was sent back to France and store all the supplies the fortress needed for the winter.

After we left the fortress, we drove out to the location of the first lighthouse in Canada, which is in Louisbourg.  It was quite the tight and twisty road and when we arrived it started raining, so only Sandra and I got out to look around.  Then it was back to Sydney, where we tried to get supper but ended up at multiple fast food restaurants.  Finally we drove to the ferry to Newfoundland, where they only asked for my ID and no one else's.  I quickly told her we only had the health cards for the youngest two, but she said that was perfectly fine as they were 12 and under.  So, despite being worried about getting on the ship, it looks like it will be no problem.

I am currently typing this in the terminal as we wait to board the ship, so I won't add pictures until later.  The ferry runs overnight and we arrive in Newfoundland at 7:00am tomorrow morning (or whatever 1/2 hour time Newfoundland is on).