Noel to Annapolis Royal, NSJul 27, 2006
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Noel to Annapolis Royal, NS - July 27, 2006
It was a great weather day for travel. After some 30 miles of rough road we reached Highway 215 and smooth road. Everyone stopped at Grand Pre National Historc Park - basically a cultural village constructed to depict the life of the early European settlers who settled the area and became known as Acadians. The tour started with a short film giving the history of the area that led to this settlement and the political events that led to the banishing of the Acadian people from the area.
The grounds had a church that was supposed to be a replica of the one constructed by the Acadians. The photo of the historic John Deere Gator by the church, I couldn't resist. Legend has it that the original church housed 300 Acadian men who had been tricked into coming there for a conference, and the 200 British soldiers that held them, for a period of two weeks. Would have been hard to get 500 people in that church, even 500 small people which the Acadians were.
An archeological dig was going on beside the church and at several other places on the grounds. The dig by the church had uncovered part of a foundation, but hadn't progressed far enough to determine it's extent and whether it could have been part of the original church. None of the state of the art technology that could have helped in locating foundation areas was evident.
When the Acadians were banished they were put on ships and dropped off all down the Atlantic coast and on down into the Carribean. Some became the Cajuns of Louisiana.
After a gas stop and lunch we continued on to the Dunromin Campground just east of Annapolis Royal. Thence followed the normal setup activities and the traditional Happy Hour. The CG had many flavors of great ice cream from two different vendors. So many choices. Footprints or Hoofprints flavor; how do you choose?
At 9 pm we departed in convoy for the Garrison Graveyard Tour of the Annapolis Royal Cemetary. The President of the AR Historical Society, and a French-Acadian - Mr Alan J. Melanson conducted the tour by candle light as the fog rolled in from the bay. Absolutely a perfect setting for a cemetary tour which included the history of the folks buried under the old stones. Coincidence or significant we don't know, but three of those related died at age 37. Mr Melanson was dressed in the "Mourning dress" of the day which added to spooky aura. Just needed a hoot owl or two to top it off.
