Day 3: Sydney, Nova Scotia

We have arrived to our first port!  Hello Sydney, Nova Scotia.  This is what the cruise compass told us about our day . . .
In this enclave on Cape Breton Island, metropolitan charm meets down home hospitality.  It’s replete with golf courses, a hearty music scene and the famous Cabot Trail.  Step back into the 18^th century with the towns classically inspired buildings.  Stroll the boardwalk, indulge your love of learning at Cape Breton Centre for Heritage and Science, and end your day toe-tapping to Celtic beats.  

Uummm, I didn’t really see much of that, but I did have a great day on my excursion to the Fortress of Louisbourg.  Louisbourg was a fortified town that was a strategic base for protection of the lucrative French fishery and off-shore trade as well as guarding approaches to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the main shipping route to Quebec and the North American interior.  Louisbourg was originally settled by 116 men, 10 women, and 23 children.  The fortress was besieged and captured by British forces in 1745 and again in 1758.  The fortifications were demolished in 1760.

 

As a bonus there was a model of the grounds made of Legos.  It was impressive! 

The excursion was over but still had a lot of time so enjoyed the beautiful weather walking the boardwalk and just hanging out. 

Merchant Marine Memorial . . .

The Big Fiddle was hard to miss.  It is 17 meters tall, weights 8 tons, and took 8 months to build.  

It was back onboard!