So we spent the night looking at the guide and circling which shops and historic sites we would like to visit, and we are off at the crack of 11 am. Ya, crack of our day! So Grand Pre National Historic Site is our first stop … get our education first thing! Many of you will not have heard of this significant place so I’ve chosen to give you the ‘official’ line, which is the Parks Canada brochure. Always a great little overview! Grand Pre is the commemorative site of the deportation of the Acadians. At the beginning of the XVIIIth century, there was already a large settlement of Acadians in ‘Les Mines’ the area where Grand Pre was located. Alternately under the rule of Britain or France, Acadie grew to the point of developing its own identity. Acadians, anxious to preserve their peaceable lifestyle, remained neutral between the two nations. Ceded by France to Great Britain in 1713, Acadie henceforth became Nova Scotia. Then came the Deportation (1755-1763). The British authorities in Nova Scotia ordered that the Acadians be deported in 1755 to Anglo-American colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. Approximately 6,500 Acadians were victims of this first wave of deportations. Thus began the ‘Grand Derangement’, a tragedy that was destined to change forever the course of Acadian history. Now back to my own words! This year is the 400th anniversary of the Acadians. Now what does that mean? I think 1604 would be the year the 50 families arrived in this area of North America with the intention of making it their home. A very fascinating chunk of our history that I must have been sleeping through in grade school. Either that or our BC curriculum didn’t think it important enough to cover? In any case I do feel like I know lots more about Canadian history, not as much as Lawrie knows, but getting there!
We stop next at the Tangled Garden. They have some wonderful artwork but an even more fantastic garden. They also produce a wide variety of vinegars and jellies. Of course all the ingredients come from their gardens.
Just down the road is a couple who make wooden lawn chairs and then paint huge pictures of flowers on them. I am having a hard time describing them as there are no pictures because I am across the street giving the dogs some exercise when right about this time Oreo takes it into her head to go and find Lynn. She tears off across the field, over the highway, into the shopkeepers yard. Unfortunately, Lynn is not even at the shop anymore. She has quietly re-crossed the highway to take a picture of the Acadian flag but hears my desperate attempts at curbing Oreos’s headlong search and turns just in time to see Oreo cross the highway. She too sees Oreo’s mad dash and adds her voice to the commotion. Of course, Oreo hears Lynn and proceeds to dash down the highway in the direction of Lynn’s voice. Can you believe that during all this, not one single car comes down the highway, much to our relief. So no pictures, just this one of the flag all done in flowers for the big celebration just down the road at Grand Pre.
Lastly, we visit a husband and wife bird carving team. What a wonderful couple. They both took up the hobby upon retiring. Earl carves and Sheila paints them up. They have won numerous times at the world and regional championships and their carvings are very, very impressive. One of these days we will own one.
So the rest of the afternoon is spent in the lovely town of Wolfville. You only get one picture though, cause you don’t tend to take many pictures sitting in an Irish pub!
