We boarded a bus this morning and saw some amazing sights. I will only be able to touch on a few. I started the day out discovering that the battery in my camera had only enough power for 10 pix, but the tailgunner of our group loaned me her camera. I did not really know how to work her camera so did not get some shots I know I would have gotten with my own camera. But she was a life saver so I could get what I got and I have the battery for my camera in the charger the minute I got in the door.
We headed down the road to Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia.
Peggy's Cove
The village of Peggy's Cove was formally founded in 1811 when the Province of Nova Scotia issued a land grant of more than 800 acres to six families of German descent. The settlers relied on fishing as the mainstay of their economy but also farmed where the soil was fertile. They used surrounding lands to pasture cattle. In the early 1900s the population peaked at about 300. The community supported a schoolhouse, church, general store, lobster cannery and boats of all sizes that were nestled in the Cove. The population today is 34 in the winter, but many more in the summer when peeps like me come and look around. It is mainly an artist village now.
This is the entrance to Peggy's Cove very small. Well the whole cove is tiny tiny,
This is a type of seaweed the locals use around their plants to fertilize them because it is so high in goodies for them.
There has been much folklore created to explain the name. One story suggests the village may have been named after the wife of an early settler. The popular legend claims that the name came from the sole survivor of a shipwreck at Halibut Rock near the cove. Artist and resident William deGarthe said she was a young woman while others claim she was a little girl too young to remember her name and the family who adopted her called her Peggy. The young shipwreck survivor married a resident of the cove in 1800 and became known as "Peggy of the Cove" attracting visitors from around the bay who eventually named the village, Peggy's Cove, after her nickname.
William deGarthe This is the picture on the cover of his book Peggy of the Cove,
William deGarthe home once upon a time when he lived at Peggy's Cove. He painted and also learn how to create art with a chisel.
He created this piece of art on a piece of granite in his front yard. This pix really does not do it justice.
This is the lighthouse in Peggy's Cove. This is the most photographed lighthouse ever. This pic was taken from a sight seeing boat we boarded here at the lighthouse. We also saw sea life when a underwater camera was lowered below, lobster and flounder. On our way back we saw a sunfish on the surface of the water. I tried to get a pic, but not knowing the camera and the waves in the boat I could not get one in focus. It was a huge fish and they say they only see them about once a week and they go out a lot.
They have had some very traumatic things happen in the part of the country. A plane wreck right off the coast at Peggy's Cove with no survivors and the local fishermen were the first to respond. The wreck of the Titanic close enough so they were the site the victims were brought to for identification and burial. When 9-11 happened and all planes were grounded many many had to land in Halifax and Newfoundland for days and the locals took them into their homes. And last year a hurricane hit and leveled trees for miles and miles and shut down the place for days.
We then headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia to see the sights there. One of our stops was the gardens. How beautiful. Here are a few pix,
Titanic
On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage. After stops at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, she steamed for New York, USA carrying over 2,200 passengers and crew.
Four days later, on Sunday, April 14 at 11:40 pm, Titanic struck a giant iceberg and by 2:20 am on April 15, the “unsinkable ship” was gone. In less than three hours, the pride of the White Star Line had become one of the greatest marine disasters in recorded history.
Within days of the sinking, the White Star Line dispatched the first of four Canadian vessels to search for bodies. The first two vessels to carry out this grim task were the Halifax-based Cable Ships Mackay-Bennett and Minia, which recovered 306 and 17 victims respectively. In all, 150 unclaimed victims were laid to rest in Halifax, forever linking the city to the vessel’s tragic tale.
Today, the city of Halifax and the Province of Nova Scotia retain many reminders of the way in which the tragedy of the Titanic touched the lives of those who lived here. From the gravestones of victims, to memorial monuments; preserved fragments of the vessel, to original photographs and documents; stories passed down through generations, to new insights and discoveries; Nova Scotians have remained respectful keepers of the vessel’s memory.
These are graves from the Titanic, the group of shorter ones in this pic.
As the bodies were recovered they were identified by tying a strip of canvas with a number and placing personal items in a bag with the same number. This number was then used to identify the graves. This was an unknown number 223. The 223rd body to be identified. Sad.
We are getting up in the morning to have breakfast served to us by the staff and then off to Halifax again to see some more interesting stuff. Stay tuned.
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