Port-la-Joye was captured in 1745 by New Englanders from the American colonies to the south, who built a new fortification called Fort Amherst. British rule ultimately led to renaming the island… CONTINUE READING >>
Lighthouse on Port-la-Joye, Prince Edward Island. Port-la-Joye was the capital of the island when it was under French control and called Île Saint-Jean.The fort is grown over.
Port-la-Joye was captured in 1745 by New Englanders from the American colonies to the south, who built a new fortification called Fort Amherst.
British rule ultimately led to renaming the island in honor of Prince Edward.
Red cliffed Port-la-Joye / Fort Amherst (Charlottetown is seen in the background)
Fourteen years later this was the site of a second Expulsion of the Acadians, the French settlers in the Maritimes, when three thousand were sent away during The Seven Years’ War.
Perhaps even more tragic than the first expulsion, only half about half made it to France due to shipwrecks and disease.
The deportations took place over several years and from a number of locations, including Grand-Pré. Thousands of Acadians had their possessions confiscated, their homes and farms burned, and were shipped south to the American colonies.
But they were not welcomed there, so they were sent off and scattered across the globe winding up in Europe, Haiti, The Faulklands, Saint Pierre and Mequelon, and Guyana.
After years of exile in foreign lands, some managed to assimilate into their new surroundings, some found their way back to Canada, and many ended up migrating to Southern Louisiana where they kept much of their heritage alive.
Once again we are preparing for a journey with the remarkable outfit Road Scholar. As a not-for-profit organization, their mission is continuing education through travel for those of us who have reached a certain age.
AND starting on Sunday we will be live-blogging the entire adventure!
As we found last year on our trip to The Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu with Road Scholar, this philosophy brings together like-minded travelers who…CONTINUE READING >>
As we found last year on our trip to The Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu with Road Scholar, this philosophy brings together like-minded travelers who are interested in experiencing and learning about destinations in depth.
Local experts and guides provide insights way beyond anything the typical tourist would ever see.
This time Road Scholar has been kind enough to provide an excursion for us through Canada’s Maritime Provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
We won’t need as much preparation as we did for South America — we won’t be snorkeling in the ocean or climbing a mountain — but we have been happily studying the background of the regions we will be visiting.
And a rich history it is, involving sailors and fishermen, pirates and generals, battles and treaties, shipwrecks and rum running, and the birth pangs of two great nations.
Our journey sets out where Canada began, on Prince Edward Island. In 1864 the Charlottetown Conference led to forming the British North American Union, now the Canadian Confederation, so P.E.I. is known as The Birthplace of Confederation.
The island has also been called the Garden of the Gulf, for its lush, green lands surrounded by the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Perhaps this inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to set Anne of Green Gables on the island, guess we’ll find out when we visit Green Gables Heritage Site in Cavendish. We just finished re-reading the classic novel in preparation.
Next, we travel to areas in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that were once settled by the Acadians. We are excited to learn more because it involves the history of the people who became known as Cajuns, after they were driven out of Canada.
We have been enamored with Cajun culture for years and are really looking forward to discovering their roots.
As a part of our investigation into this history we will be stopping off in Grand-Pré, made famous by Longfellow’s poem about the expulsion, Evangeline.
After our adventures with the Acadians we will be heading over to Halifax, the capital and biggest city of Nova Scotia, and the unofficial capital of The Maritimes. Halifax was also the entry port for millions of immigrants into Canada.
We will be visiting the former ocean liner terminal Pier 21, sometimes called the Ellis Island of Canada to learn more about the history of the country’s population.
We will also be examining Halifax’s role in two of the early twentieth century’s biggest disasters, the sinking of The Titanic, and The Halifax Explosion.
When The Titanic sunk in April 1912 the survivors were taken to New York, but for those that perished, at least those that could be found, the bodies were brought to Halifax.
We will be stopping by the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to see their permanent exhibit on the role Halifax played in the disaster.
Lesser known, but every bit as tragic, we will also examine the Halifax Explosion.
We had no idea, but on December 6, 1917 a French ship filled with explosives bound for the war in Europe, collided in the harbor with Norwegian ship resulting in the largest blast in history until the invention of the atomic bomb.
Of course no visit is complete without sampling local delicacies, and in our experience Road Scholar does a great job of making sure we will get to partake in authentic fare. Atlantic Canada is world renowned for seafood.
There is no better place on the planet to get lobster, mussels, or cod, and we will have the opportunity to learn about how these are caught.
More important, we will get to enjoy the catch. In fact, after a ferry ride from Nova Scotia back to Prince Edward Island, we cap off our expedition with a traditional P.E.I. lobster dinner.
A boat ride AND lobster? Okay, now we are really getting excited!
One of the most beautiful spots in Newfoundland is Bay of Islands and Cox’s Cove.
We met Darren Park, who runs Four Seasons Tours, for a spin around the bay in his traditional dory.
Darren knows his home cove like the back of his hand and immediately took us to a nesting sight with two baby eagles. Two adult birds were standing guard and watching the water.
Then Darren gave us a show. He tossed a fish out for the birds, but before they could swoop down a seagull snatched it. The chase was on!
Mama eagle was not about to allow some gull to steal her baby’s food, so she honed in on the gull like a fighter jet.
After a brief attempt to escape, the gull made the smart choice of dropping the fish. Mama picked it up and flew right over us to the nest.
From there we made our way to a few of Darren’s favorite fishing spots to try our hand at jigging a cod.
He made it look simple, just drop the line all the way to the bottom, (nearly three hundred feet!) then reel it up a couple turns and give it a few good tugs. Next thing we knew he had a big ole cod on the line.
WATCH: Eagles, cod jigging, wild land-and-seascapes and a visit to Darren’s fish cabin – all in a traditional Newfoundland dory!
Needless to say, it took us a bit longer to hook one, but we did get the hang of it and before long everyone had caught a good sized fish.
Well, this way we were ready for it when the time came.
After our lip smacking with the fish we were surprised by the salty taste left behind. We had to keep reminding ourselves that this was the ocean, because the bay looked for all the world like a freshwater lake up in the North Woods.
Our first glimpse of Newfoundland! Entering the harbor at Port aux Basques.
We didn’t really know what to expect of Newfoundland even as we were approaching the island on the ferry from Nova Scotia.
We knew about the crazy half-hour-later time zone, and had heard tell of whales, icebergs, and Vikings, but had no solid idea what day-to-day life or the landscape might be like.
Most everyone we talked to on the ship was heading straight from the dock to Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland’s best known attraction.
The fine folks at the province’s Go Western Newfoundland had other plans for us though, and boy are we glad they did. They had several stops before the famous park on the itinerary they set up for us.
Had we blazed up the highway we would have missed some things that ended up being among the highlights of our visit, beginning with the town of Port aux Basques where we came ashore.
Once again that good ole GypsyNester dumb-luck played in our favor, as Canada Day celebrations had been postponed for a night due to weather, and were just kicking off as we entered the town.
A crowd was gathering as a band set up in Scott’s Cove Park by the harbor, and vendors had booths with crafts and treats.
We ambled about for a few minutes, getting introduced to Newfoundland, then walked up the hill for dinner at the St. Christopher’s Hotel. We were greeted like old friends by Lloyd Whitehorn at the front desk. Lloyd also gives tours of the area, so he was the perfect guy to give us a few pointers.
We had heard about fish and brewis before arriving on the island, and understood that this was a must-have meal if we were to get the full Newfoundland experience.
Salt cod and hardtack are soaked, then boiled, chopped up, and combined for a plate of stick-to-your-ribs seafaring rations. The menu listed Fisherman’s Brewis, but we figured it must be the same thing.
But first we had to try the true delicacy of the North Atlantic, cod tongues. Fried tidbits straight from the fish’s mouth, served with scrunchions, deep fried pork fat bits. The tongues just tasted like cod, with a very slight gelled consistency.
And everything’s good with a little pig fat on it. Scrunchions were also used to dress up the fisherman’s brewis.
Might not sound like gourmet dining, but it sure hit the spot after our crossing. Later in our trip we discovered that St. Christopher’s kept the fish and bread in bigger pieces than the more traditional versions.
It seems that can be the difference between calling it fish and brewis, or fisherman’s brewis. After dinner we watched the Canada Day fireworks over the bay, then drifted off dreaming of what awaited us on this intriguing island at the edge of North America.
Sunrise found us learning much more about the island over breakfast of cod cakes and eggs with Stella Pittman, manager of St. Christopher’s.
She explained how so many folks miss the incredible beauty of the southwest portion of Newfoundland by driving through without stopping.
Stella, and several others, told us about visitors who thought the island was small enough to see the whole thing in three or four days.
Considering it is over six hundred miles from top-to-bottom, and end-to-end, that would mean non-stop driving. We sure are glad we booked the extra time to explore a little more in depth.
A Pirate’s Life for Me
On our way north we stopped off at Pirate’s Haven, in the tiny west coast town of Robinsons, where Paul and Ruth Gale took us on the ATV ride of our lives.
They have set up a park with a campground, chalets, and a restaurant on a huge plot of land perched atop the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
We rode the bikes, as they called the four-wheelers, to the edge for a view beyond compare.
The view from the hilltop chalets at Pirate’s Haven.
Their park is an amazing project that they have taken on singled-handedly over the past ten years, and it rivals any public lands we’ve seen for natural beauty.
Riding back for a bite at their restaurant we crossed the Robinsons River on a trestle from the old Newfoundland Railway that went out of service in 1988.
The Gales helped save the crumbling bridge and now it has new life for hikers, bikers, skiers, and snowmobilers as part of T’Railway Provincial Park multi use trail that spans the entire island.
WATCH: A rip-roarin’ ATV ride in beautiful Newfoundland!
Our next stop was Bay of Islands and Cox’s Cove. We met Darren Park, who runs Four Seasons Tours, for a spin around the bay in his traditional dory.
Darren knows his home cove like the back of his hand and immediately took us to a nesting sight with two baby eagles. Two adult birds were standing guard and watching the water.
Then Darren gave us a show. He tossed a fish out for the birds, but before they could swoop down a seagull snatched it. The chase was on!
Mama eagle was not about to allow some gull to steal her baby’s food, so she honed in on the gull like a fighter jet. After a brief attempt to escape, the gull made the smart choice of dropping the fish. Mama picked it up and flew right over us to the nest.
From there we made our way to a few of Darren’s favorite fishing spots to try our hand at jigging a cod.
He made it look simple, just drop the line all the way to the bottom, (nearly three hundred feet!) then reel it up a couple turns and give it a few good tugs. Next thing we knew he had a big ole cod on the line.
WATCH: Eagles, cod jigging, wild land-and-seascapes and a visit to Darren’s fish cabin – all in a traditional Newfoundland dory!
Needless to say, it took us a bit longer to hook one, but we did get the hang of it and before long everyone had caught a good sized fish. We had heard about kissing the cod, and for some reason Veronica thought it was a great idea, so we puckered up and smooched our catches right on the lips.
After our lip smacking with the fish we were surprised by the salty taste left behind. We had to keep reminding ourselves that this was the ocean, because the bay looked for all the world like a freshwater lake up in the North Woods. At least until we started seeing jellyfish.
Once we were all successful cod fishermen it was time for a little sustenance, shellfish boiled in sea water.
We beached the boat right in front of Darren’s fishing cabin and he grabbed a bucket of mussels and scooped some water from the bay into it.
The mussels came from right there. At low tide he just walks along the shore and picks them up. With some fresh snow crab tossed in, and a few minutes on the stove, we were ready for a feast.
In Cox’s Cove we learned about the real Newfoundland. From people like Darren, who has lived there all of his life, and Joan Oxford of True North Tours, who invited us over to her house where we discussed all things Newfoundland…
Music, history, food, and traditions all went round the table. It seemed like no one we met was a stranger. Easy conversations were struck up with almost everybody. We found a great example of what to expect on the rest of our journey across Newfoundland.
Beautiful scenery, unbelievable fresh seafood, gorgeous water, and most of all, fantastic people.
On our way north from Port aux Basques, we stopped off at Pirate’s Haven, in the tiny west coast town of Robinsons, where Paul and Ruth Gale took us on the ATV ride of our lives… CONTINUE READING >>
On our way north from Port aux Basques, we stopped off at Pirate’s Haven, in the tiny west coast town of Robinsons, where Paul and Ruth Gale took us on the ATV ride of our lives.
They have set up a park with a campground, chalets, and a restaurant on a huge plot of land perched atop the cliffs overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
We rode the bikes, as they called the four-wheelers, to the edge for a view beyond compare.
WATCH: A rip-roarin’ ATV ride in beautiful Newfoundland!
Looking over the cliffs to the beach far, far below.
The view from the hilltop chalets at Pirate’s Haven.
Their park is an amazing project that they have taken on singled-handedly over the past ten years, and it rivals any public lands we’ve seen for natural beauty.
Riding back for a bite at their restaurant we crossed the Robinsons River on a trestle from the old Newfoundland Railway that went out of service in1988.
The Gales helped save the crumbling bridge and now it has new life for hikers, bikers, skiers, and snowmobilers as part of T’Railway Provincial Park multi use trail that spans the entire island.
Come along with us as we explore the beautiful sea cliffs of St. George’s Bay!… Enlarge Video >>
Come along with us as we explore the beautiful sea cliffs of St. George’s Bay! Thanks to Paul and Ruth at Pirate’s Haven for putting up with our shenanigans and trusting us with your ATVs!
I know, I know, I risk sounding like a get-off-my-lawn old guy, but seriously, the network news just ain’t what it used to be. In fact, a good bit of it isn’t even what I would call news.
I’m not talking about the feel good human interest pieces, those have always been a part of journalism, but when did viral videos become news? It seems that anytime I have a chance to tune into the news, I get treated to the latest YouTube sensation. Since when did cute cats, talking babies and folks getting hit in the nuts become fare that rivals the important events of the day?
I know, I know, I risk sounding like a get-off-my-lawn old guy, but seriously, the network news just ain’t what it used to be. In fact, a good bit of it isn’t even what I would call news.
I’m not talking about the feel good human interest pieces, those have always been a part of journalism, but when did viral videos become news?
It seems that anytime I have a chance to tune into the news, I get treated to the latest YouTube sensation. Since when did cute cats, talking babies and folks getting hit in the nuts become fare that rivals the important events of the day?
Add that to the celebrity gossip and not so subtle plugs for upcoming shows that have crept into the half hour time slot and sadly, our once venerated evening news has become a condensed version of a morning show. What’s next, “Here’s Tom Brokaw with a cooking segment?”
The other night, between ads for various prescriptions that all had a decent chance of killing me as a side effect, I learned that Pat and Vanna were “hammered” (yes, Brian Williams said hammered) while they taped some Wheel of Fortune episodes decades ago.
Earth shattering scoop, especially since it had already been all over the Internet that day. Try real hard to imagine Walter Cronkite reporting on tipsy game show hosts… go ahead, try.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Wink Smiley was found to be somewhat inebriated at the Desilu Studios last evening while filming What’s My Deal. And that’s the way it is…” Personally, I just can’t see him squeezing that in between the moon landing and Vietnam War news.
I understand that the networks are in a bind these days, Cronkite only had two televised competitors, unlike the dozens of cable news outlets and websites streaming into our homes today.
This has undoubtedly changed the business by forcing extreme competition, unfortunately not for quality of content but for advertising dollars.
Until the 1990s the networks didn’t expect their news divisions to show a profit. To avoid influence from sponsors news was treated as “off the books.”
It was considered part of the public service requirements to the FCC and a way to build public trust. Not anymore, now the news is seen as a revenue generator and is treated just like any other entertainment programming. It’s all about ratings.
A couple of years ago our oldest daughter left her job at a major network to go to work for a company on the internet side of the news. Her old dad was a tad set back by this move until she explained how everybody has already seen every story by the time it reaches the evening news. She decided, correctly I think, that the future of real broadcast journalism, as opposed to “infotainment,” is online.
What is the best way to for network news to compete with the Internet? Trying to become more like the Internet? It seems to me that the networks would have a much better shot at attracting, and keeping, an audience if they took the opposite tack and tried to be less like the Internet.
Use the airtime to go in depth and do some real analysis of the stories we already heard earlier in the day, with live interviews featuring real newsmakers, footage from around the globe, things websites would have a hard time duplicating. The networks do some of this now, but it is generally over within the first ten minutes of the broadcast. Then the fluff begins.
Is it just me, or does everybody lose interest when the video for the guy on the bike getting tackled by a wildebeest shows up on the screen? Once again, close your eyes and imagine Walter Cronkite reporting on that.
Not that they want my advice, but it seems to me that the network news should strive to be above all of this nonsense. We already have YouTube for those talking dog diversions. Stick to the news!
Your Turn: Do you think the evening news has changed for the better or worse? What is your primary news source? Internet? TV? Newspaper? Have I turned into a get-off-my-lawn old guy?Leave us a comment!
