DLTK's Maritime Road Trip
Day 22: Sydney to Louisbourg
Daddy was very excited this morning so we enjoyed an early breakfast in our room and then set off for the Fortress of Louisbourg. Mom kept calling it a fort and dad kept correcting her. He was right (of course) – we learned at the fortress that a fort is a military encampment whereas a fortress is a civilian settlement protected by a military force. We arrived at Louisbourg and we were lucky enough to be able to check into our cottage by the sea even though it was still morning. We freshened up and headed for the fortress.
King's Bastion at the
Fortress of Louisbourg.
We had fun imagining we were going back in time to the 1700’s as we approached. Kaitlyn was excited to get a scavenger hunt to complete in the fortress (daddy was excited to help). Completing the hunt introduced us to fish flakes (no they are not breakfast cereal), iron collars, wooden torture horses, and potties where you go right through a hole in to the ocean.
We were all impressed by how many 'citizens' of the fortress there were - all in costume and, more impressive, in character the entire time. We had lunch at the inn where soldiers and fisherman would eat. Everyone was shocked when we were told that we would only be getting a spoon (a big one at that). No knives or forks for our chicken, pasta or salad.
At lunch we met a lovely couple from Montreal who highly recommended the guided tour – so we dashed off to try to make the 2:00 one. We got there just in time – dad listened raptly to the entire tour. The girls and I popped in and out of it - we couldn’t help but follow the soldiers dragging a man in chains or the two men shepherding a flock of geese down the road. And of course we had to take a bathroom break and an ice cream break *grin*.
Firing the cannon.
After the tour we popped over to watch them fire the cannon and then watched the blacksmith make a hook. It was all very neat!
By this time, it was almost closing time so we answered our few last scavenger questions, checked out the gift shop and caught the bus back to our car.
Everyone had tired feet and full brains so we rested in our room awhile before heading down for a supper of lobster and half chickens for the girls. Half of chicken is a lot of chicken so we saved the leftovers for lunch the next day and then turned in for the night.