Oct. 23, 2014
Looking forward to a 4 hour drive around PEI was my choice of tours as I headed out for the panoramic drive of Prince Edward Island. This is the island of " Anne of Green Gables" and where the author Lucy Maude Montgomery grew up. Lucy based her book on her cousin's house. She was raised by her maternal grandmother because her mother passed away when she was 21 months old. PEI is the smallest of the Canadian Provinces but also the greenest. Our drive took us to the Confederation Bridge which links PEI to New Brunswick. The bridge is 8.1 miles long and bridges ice covered waters in the winter. The bridge is owned by Straight Crossing of Calgary who collects the tolls for the first 35 years and then will pass it over to the Federal government. The expected life of the bridge is 100 years. Tolls are only paid when leaving the island and they run around 45 dollars which was comparable to the ferry fare when the bridge was built, but now there is no waiting in line.
Charlottetown, PEI was the first location chosen to meet and discuss the forming of a confederation: that was Sept. 1, 1864. July 1, 1867 Canada celebrated it's break from England, known as Independence Day. PEI joined the confederation as a province in 1873. Today Charlottetown has 35,000 population with about 146,000 on the island. PEI is about the size of Delaware. The north side of the island has sandstone and errosian is taking 2 to 3 feet per year. University of PEI is well known for it's veterinarian training. Agriculture is big business with the products of potatoes, soya, and dairy cattle. Tourism is the second biggest industry with flights from Boston and JFK airports as well as eastern Canada. Unemployment is about 12% as many people work in jobs that are seasonal. We drove along a dirt red soiled road which is excellent for the production of potatoes. The highest hill on the island is 498 feet. There are no fruit tree crops, but there is Irish Moss which is a seaweed used for drugs and ice cream thickener. PEI is the first province to have elected a Lebanese premier. PEI has a large diversity of ethnic people from Russians, Chinese, Sri Lankans who work in the mussel industry. There are 40 registered organic farms and a Buddhist monastery.
Interesting is that the government of PEI or better known as the provincial government regulates rents, gas prices, and land use controlled by the IRAC - I can not remember what it stands for. Cavendish Farms processes 1 million pounds of potatoes per day for Wendy's and other fast food outlets.
Where there is a lot of potatoes one is bound to think that vodka may be available. Yes, there is a vodka plant on the island.
I also viewed the largest tree on the island and took pictures of it.
On Oct. 24 we arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia. I had decided to stay close to the ship and enjoy my day onboard. At the end of the day I was informed about the life of a coal miner. Wishy Donnavon was the tour guide on "The Life of a Coal Miner". He had worked as a miner for 35 years. Being a coal miner was no fun from everything I learned: pit ponies which were bred in New Foundland and canaries that would die if there was too much methane gas. The miners would watch the canaries and if they started acting a certain way it meant that they had to vacate the mine. Young boys were hired to pump doors that sent air down to the miners. The day started with the miners having to go 7 miles down under the ocean before drilling started, and they were not paid travel time. Miners were only paid when the coal came to the surface with the proper identification on the cart.
BESCO was a British company that developed the mines promising housing, education and other benefits. There were numerous tactics used by the company to keep the men in line. If management heard that rumblings among their workers were taking hold they would shut the mine down but tell employees that they could continue to shop at the company store so employee debt to the store would climb. Listen to Tennessee Ernie Ford's song "16 Tons". If a worker tried to leave the company goons would bring him back. There was no pension. Rats nipped at the pit ponies and also attacked and bit the miners as the rats scoured the shafts and fed on the hay filled dung left by the pit ponies. Many of those mining families accrued massive debt to the company store so it was a way to have the eldest boy also work for the mine. Then there was black lung disease. The influence of the church permeated the lives of those people, at work, at school & as well as Sunday services. There was intimidation and coersion and the company did shut off water to the workers houses, shut off electricity to their living quarters and during one riot the company shut down the hospital. These tactics provoked riots and one union leader named Davis with 9 children was shot dead by the company goons. To this day Davis Day is observed around Sydney with stores closing.
Louisbourg Fort, the biggest in it's day, was built by the French to protect it's interest in the new world.
Glace Bay is famous as a mining area.
Sydney is becoming a popular port of call for cruise ships as there were 77 in the 2014 season.
The steel plant, built in 1900 was closed in 2000 and dismantled. In 2002 it was transported and rebuilt in India.
On Oct. 25, 2014 we docked in Halifax and I boarded a tour to Peggy's Cove. Like many other cities Halifax and Dartmouth are now one and called Halifax. Halifax has 400,000+ people while the province has about 1,000,000. Snowfall and rain amounts to over 60 inches a year average.
The history of the Atlantic Provinces is so overwhelming. A few items worth mentioning is the influence that the British had on Halifax. It was set up by Edward Cornwallis. Many cemetaries dot the landscape-Jewish, Military, and Irish/Catholic to name a few.
Victoria Gardens has very wide walking pathways to allow ladies in hooped skirts to walk beside one another or pass each other.
Halifax boasts of the largest Health Sciences Center east of Montreal as the hospital and the university have a partnership.
Halifax has had her share of historical occurances. The S.S. Atlantic, owned by White Star Line, went down near Halifax in 1873 and 562 perished. We all know about the Titanic in 1912. It also was one of the White Star Line, but as bodies were recovered the company refused to ship them home. As a result Halifax has a cemetary that these unidentfied bodies are buried in. The SOS sent by the Titanic was received by a young 17 year old in New York who was interested in radios. His name was David Sarnoff who went on to become president of RCA. Then we have the Halifax explosion in 1917. Two ships collided in the narrows entering the harbour. One of the ships had in it's hold tons of explosives and because the captain felt it unsafe to fly a flag letting other ships know only the men on his ship knew and as men scurried off the ship yelling in a foreign language no one knew what disaster was about to occur. Halifax harbour was used as a gathering point for ships going to Europe and they would go in a convoy. The disaster is well worth reading about. In 1998 there was the Swiss Air flight that went down off the coast. It had left New York and had engine trouble & headed to land at the Halifax airport. It didn't make it but nosedived into the Atlantic. Fishing vessels headed out to help. About 4 miles from Peggy's Cove is a memorial to those who perished. Another noteworthy bit is how the Halligonians dealt with 9-11. Over 50 jumbo jets landed in Halifax and those on the planes were processed, fed, housed and though terribly upset found friends in Halifax. Our tour guide was full of stories about the people of Halifax during that time and how they went out of their way to make strangers feel welcome.
The Irving Shipyard has a contract which will keep workers employed for 30 years or longer.
McDonalds serves a Mclobster, and Subway has a lobster sub. The record lobster caught was 44 lbs representing an age of about 200 years. Korea is a major purchaser of Nova Scotia seafood products. Lobster traps are baited with raunchy mackeral.
Since our tour took us to Peggy's Cove I should mention a bit about it. Thirty three people live there year around. The cove is very windy and there is a granite carving dedicated to the fishermen that have lost their lives. For me it had a quietness and serene feeling despite the bus loads of tourists. Peggy's Cove is a working lobster village. Now you may ask " How did it get it's name?" The story is a sad but true one and I am sure one might get more information from Wiki.
Foreign students make up as much as 25% of the student body at Dalhousie University and Germans are buying up shorefront property due to the strength of the Euro. Berlin is a 6 1/2 hour flight from Halifax.
We arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine on Oct. 26 and I had planned to take a tour of Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park. The night before I had a sea sick night and spent the day in bed. Besides I was somewhat leary of the tender as the ocean was choppy. I did manage to take a few pictures from the ship before heading back to bed. Since it was Sunday reports from other passengers led me to think that there was not much open in the town.
Wednesday Oct. 28 found us docked in the big apple, New York. Again I stayed on board but could not stay in my cabin as we sailed out of the harbor that evening. I had seen New York many years ago but not from the water. Queen Mary 2 was in port as we had followed her in at dawn. The sun setting as we left reflected off the tall, glass towers that line the shore. I leaned on the railing and searched for where the twin towers had been but the new buildings have taken hold. We passed the Statue of Liberty and went under a bridge. Not only did I reflect on the twin towers but also remembering the plane that was piloted down into the Hudson River. New York is a beautiful city as one looks from afar, a boat passing by, but it is much too big for me to feel safe in on my own.
Today is Oct. 30 and we disembark in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow where I hope to post this. Our trip out the St. Lawrence River and down the eastern seaboard has given me more education about eastern Canada anarea I Knew very little about. We will head out and explore a bit of Florida tomorrow and will head home Nov. 6.
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