Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A Visit to Fort Anne

The week after we got back from our Newfoundland holiday, when I was still on a ‘get Iain in the car at least once a week’ kick (that quickly fell by the wayside immediately following…), I decided to take Iain on a day trip to Annapolis Royal and the Fort Anne National historic site. We are blessed by living in this area for many reasons but one reason is the variety of beautiful historic sites within an hour drive of us. Annapolis Royal and Fort Anne are no exception.

Perhaps I should say right up front that I did not significantly increase my knowledge about the history of Annapolis Royal and Fort Anne on this trip. It was such a gorgeous day and Iain and I were both in such a good mood that we spent the afternoon enjoying each other’s company and being generally silly. Therefore, my increase in educational information will have to wait for another trip. I did learn that Fort Anne was called ‘Acadie’ (Acadia) by the French and Nova Scotia by the British. I should have known that before but it seems that this fact escaped me. Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal - I think I've got that right) was the seat of government for Acadie/Nova Scotia for some time. It was also the Fort Anne commander who saw the expulsion of the Acadians from the Annapolis area in 1755 – something I had learned during my many visits to Grand Pré but it was interesting to visit the site itself as it was a prime trading location for the Acadians.

One thing I did wrong on this day trip was forget Iain’s hat and his sunglasses. He’s wearing my hat in this shot, as well as his ‘just got out of jail’ outfit.

“Look, Mommy! A cannon!”


Part of the fort wall at Fort Anne:
The view from the walls above (if you turn around) if, you know, you were a soldier with enough time on your hands to enjoy that sort of thing:
This shot is very typical of the dyke-land beauty built by the Acadians.

Ready to walk through the wall at Fort Anne. Note the hat is no longer on his head. It was a fight keeping it on the whole day:

I neglected to take pictures of Annapolis Royal itself which is a pity as it is such a picturesque little town. I guess we will just have to go back.

Am I knitting? Why, yes! I’m knitting swatches for the Yogini Bolero. Thanks so much for your opinions regarding using my yarn with the Yogini pattern. Ah, I love other knitters!

1 comment:

Elizabeth said...

1. Iain's smile always makes me smile. What a charmer!

2. Hat battle - I hear you loud and clear! Mine, his sister's, his own - my little guy won't wear ANY hat. After a while it's almost comical watching the contortions kids'll go through to escape something on their head.

3. Such beautiful pictures Patty. I know I've said this before, but I SO want to visit Nova Scotia one day (hmmm, I've only been saying that for about 10 years now...one day it will happen).

4. I'm deep in to-do list mode today and seem to be numbering everything. Did you notice?

Keep up the day tripping. Good for baby, good for mom, good for blog fodder. :)