W. Lloyd Williams

New website, please bookmark: http://LloydWilliams.co

a space for all the aspects of my life...

Filtering by Tag: history

Fortress of Louisbourg

August 12, 2010 Lousibourg, Cape Breton, NS

Louisbourg RV Park on the waterfront:

From the wharves we can see the Fortress of Louisbourg looming over the sea.

Louisbourg is the largest reconstructed 18th-century French fortified town in North America.

The French came to Louisbourg in 1713 after loss of territory to the English in Newfoundland and Acadia (Nova Scotia) in the War of the Spanish Succession. Louisbourg soon became France's most important stronghold and seaport in the Atlantic on account of trade and the thriving fishing industry.

In addition to arms and imported goods, livestock and gardens were integral to the community's health and survival.

By 1760 the English ruled and the fortifications lay in ruin. The reconstruction and reenactments are based on life as it was in 1744.

Red Coat and Blue Coat interpreters march, pipe, drum and fire off a cannon.

Lloyd buys bread the size, and half the weight, of a cannonball. And about the equivalent in flavour.

Jay's workout for the day: cannonball presses.

The crier reads aloud from a scroll which states that the guy in white stole a bottle of wine. The French officers will parade him through the streets, drumming all the way, then fasten him to a pole with an iron collar where he will serve his time: 2 hours a day for several days. In fact, he served five minutes before the interpreters ignored the unsympathetic crowd and let him go.

Jay writes his name with a quill pen next to the recently freed thief.

Since we couldn't elect Eric for public punishment we ordered him into the lime kiln for a time out. ;)

Back at the campsites, the boys strum it up. It's difficult to see, but Jay and Eric each trade a hand to play: Jay's left hand plays Eric's fretboard and vice versa (their right hands strum their own guitars).

In the evening we attended a ceilidh next door at the Louisbourg Playhouse featuring Jason Kempt, Beverly MacLean, Erin Martell, Lyndon MacKenzie, and Troy Young. Celtic music is expected and oatcakes hoped for, but this ceilidh included a box drum called a cajón and comedic costumed sketches too.

In the morning we had time to enjoy the sun and cereal by the sea.

-P

Grave Sights

We drove by this cemetery a few times. I had wanted to wander through it each time, but we were always en route to something somewhere: a reading, errands, a play, live music.

Luckily, Ernie and Pat also enjoy old cemeteries and they stopped just for us so we could browse the grounds.

They led us to one of the most popular tombstone epitaph:

We also came across "I'm just resting my eyes" and "Oh, sure".

Some gravesites are sinking. Some go back to the mid 1800s. Newer graves are above-ground vaults.

Some have personal touches, like this shock of colour and a handmade stone, repaired with some kind of ... putty.

The handwritten inscription reads:

Aleida Marie Blanco Feb 21 1928 - Mar 8 2007 Loving mother of 4 children "Mi casa es su casa" Loved to shower in the rain Loved papaya, sour sop + dancing

Isn't that nice?

This is one of my favourite views, which includes the "I told you I was sick" and "I'm just resting my eyes" epitaphs:

More than once we found a water pump spout within a grave's borders and a wide array of tropical flora creates a park like setting.

About 100,000 people are buried here, more than three times the current population of Key West.

-P

"Shadow Country" Country

February 27, 2010 We listened to Peter Matthiessen's "Shadow Country" en route to Chokoloskee Island, to stretch our Chokoloskee Island experience.

"In 1898, 42-year-old Edgar J. Watson became a living legend when a book credited him with shooting the outlaw queen Belle Starr nine years earlier. The descendant of a prominent South Carolina family, the legal or common-law husband of five women, the father of possibly 10 children, a leading pioneer on the southwest coast of Florida and a man killed by a large group of his neighbors in 1910 ..." in the land of walking trees, the mangroves.

Established in 1906, the Smallwood Store Ole Indian Trading Post and Museum stayed open and active until 1984.

Here we were told that Chokolskee isn't really an "island" at all, rather just a huge mound of seashells accumulated by early inhabitants, the Native Americans, with a smattering of soil on top.

In 1887 Ruby Tigertial, a Seminole native, wore at least two hundred strings of beads. "It was an effort for her to move her head ..."

Not a fitting souvenir for two vegetarians: "White Trash Cooking I" and "II".

Ha ha ha! Okay, not so funny... kinda creepy.

-P

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park

December 8-10, 2009 Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park in McCalla, Alabama was only meant to serve as a waypoint en route to New Orleans. We didn't expect an interesting stay, but were happily surprised with what the park has to offer, including ...

... old blast furnaces and blower houses, ...

... history ...

... rustic architecture ...

... poignant stories about "Powder Monkeys" ("boys ... under the age of subscription ... used as laborers in saltpepper production ... these boys entered the caves at daybreak and left after sunset doing backbreaking work by candlelight ... Many suffered from lung and back problems.") at the Alabama Iron and Steel Museum, ...

... Amish butter, all kinds of candy and ...

pickled hot okra at the Sweet Shoppe.

-P

The King's Rides

Elvis had a lot of toys. He had dune buggies, a go-cart, tractors, a pedal car, a skidoo converted to drive on grass, and some "normal" stuff too. Thirty-three of those toys are featured in the Car Museum.

The pink cadillac:

The car below is my favourite vehicle, which has everything to do with the colour, but my favourite feature of the car museum is the home movies, movies that Priscilla and Elvis's friends filmed. They show him at home. He liked to play.

And he had custom jets.

The Lisa Marie (No interior photos allowed. Elvis had all kinds of controls to play with in the cabin. Inside, the Lisa Marie is groovy, and brown.):

One day Elvis realized that his little daughter had never seen snow so he loaded up the family into the jet Lisa Marie and flew to Colorado. Little Lisa Marie played in the snow for a few minutes then everyone piled back into the plane and zipped home again.

Elvis's other jet is a Lockheed Jet Star and this is her cockpit (which looks like something I would see in a nightmare):

Here's her cabin:

Elvis hardly used the Jet Star. Why would he when the Lisa Marie had "a luxuriously appointed living room, conference room, sitting room, and private bedroom, as well as gold-plated seatbelts, suede chairs, leather covered tables, 24-karat gold-flecked sinks and more."? Instead, Colonel Parker, Elvis's manager, and staff shuttled in the Jet Star from city to city, wherever the concert tour took them.

-P

The King's Rides

Elvis had a lot of toys. He had dune buggies, a go-cart, tractors, a pedal car, a skidoo converted to drive on grass, and some "normal" stuff too. Thirty-three of those toys are featured in the Car Museum.

The pink cadillac:

The car below is my favourite vehicle, which has everything to do with the colour, but my favourite feature of the car museum is the home movies, movies that Priscilla and Elvis's friends filmed. They show him at home. He liked to play.

And he had custom jets.

The Lisa Marie (No interior photos allowed. Elvis had all kinds of controls to play with in the cabin. Inside, the Lisa Marie is groovy, and brown.):

One day Elvis realized that his little daughter had never seen snow so he loaded up the family into the jet Lisa Marie and flew to Colorado. Little Lisa Marie played in the snow for a few minutes then everyone piled back into the plane and zipped home again.

Elvis's other jet is a Lockheed Jet Star and this is her cockpit (which looks like something I would see in a nightmare):

Here's her cabin:

Elvis hardly used the Jet Star. Why would he when the Lisa Marie had "a luxuriously appointed living room, conference room, sitting room, and private bedroom, as well as gold-plated seatbelts, suede chairs, leather covered tables, 24-karat gold-flecked sinks and more."? Instead, Colonel Parker, Elvis's manager, and staff shuttled in the Jet Star from city to city, wherever the concert tour took them.

-P

Natchez Mansions

November 13, 2009 Up to twenty-five antebellum mansions are open to visitors for tours. We toured three.

Stanton Hall, 1857, "one of the most magnificent and palatial residences of antebellum America."

Magnolia Hall, 1858. "The last great mansion built in downtown Natchez prior to the War Between the States, it is one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture."

Interior photos are not allowed, sadly. Would love to show you the antiques, the opulence and some surprises. Did you know they used pocket doors back then?

Not on the tour, but quaint:

Undoubtedly grand in its day:

And one water view: a tugboat steers seven barges up the Mississippi. The little engine that can.

-P

Natchez Mansions

November 13, 2009 Up to twenty-five antebellum mansions are open to visitors for tours. We toured three.

Stanton Hall, 1857, "one of the most magnificent and palatial residences of antebellum America."

Magnolia Hall, 1858. "The last great mansion built in downtown Natchez prior to the War Between the States, it is one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture."

Interior photos are not allowed, sadly. Would love to show you the antiques, the opulence and some surprises. Did you know they used pocket doors back then?

Not on the tour, but quaint:

Undoubtedly grand in its day:

And one water view: a tugboat steers seven barges up the Mississippi. The little engine that can.

-P

Craters and Taters

August 26 - September 1, 2009 Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

No lunar travel required.

A 360 view from the peak of Inferno Cone:

L1020413

A lot of Craters of the Moon National Monument is lava rubble. Most of the volcanic debris is charcoal in colour, but some areas are rusty or a range of pinks, purples and oranges.

L1020475

"Spatter cones" formed as volcanic eruption petered out and spattered lava around the vent openings.

L1020430

Dwarf buckwheat dots the black expanse of Devil's Orchard - a dazzling contrast.

L1020433

The entrance to a lava tube cave.

L1020474

An 800 foot 'trail' zigzags through a lava tube cave. "Skylights" (collapses in the ceiling) illuminate the cave, but flashlights are highly recommended. The Indian Tunnel Cave Trail is not for cautious folk. Trail description: "If you are willing to scramble over (large rock piles) and (suck in your stomach to) climb through a small opening, you can exit this cave ... (through a barely big enough vent)."

L1020459

The wall of the exit vent:

L1020467

We stayed 18 miles away in Arco, ID. Arco is wee, weird and quiet, best known (actually, hardly known) as the first town to be lit by atomic power, but we like it best for the smoked baked potatoes at Mountain View RV Park. We also enjoyed the campground's free breakfast, but happily payed a little extra for the sweet potato pancakes with pecans. Yum! The coffee is weak, but I think the mini-golf makes up for that. :)

Also, Arco has a distinct landmark in Number Hill (I'll find my photo...). Local high school graduates have scaled this almost-mountain every year and painted their graduation year large enough to see for miles around.

Craters of the Moon National Monument is less a destination than a side attraction, but you won't see another place like it.

-P

Craters and Taters

August 26 - September 1, 2009 Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID

No lunar travel required.

A 360 view from the peak of Inferno Cone:

L1020413

A lot of Craters of the Moon National Monument is lava rubble. Most of the volcanic debris is charcoal in colour, but some areas are rusty or a range of pinks, purples and oranges.

L1020475

"Spatter cones" formed as volcanic eruption petered out and spattered lava around the vent openings.

L1020430

Dwarf buckwheat dots the black expanse of Devil's Orchard - a dazzling contrast.

L1020433

The entrance to a lava tube cave.

L1020474

An 800 foot 'trail' zigzags through a lava tube cave. "Skylights" (collapses in the ceiling) illuminate the cave, but flashlights are highly recommended. The Indian Tunnel Cave Trail is not for cautious folk. Trail description: "If you are willing to scramble over (large rock piles) and (suck in your stomach to) climb through a small opening, you can exit this cave ... (through a barely big enough vent)."

L1020459

The wall of the exit vent:

L1020467

We stayed 18 miles away in Arco, ID. Arco is wee, weird and quiet, best known (actually, hardly known) as the first town to be lit by atomic power, but we like it best for the smoked baked potatoes at Mountain View RV Park. We also enjoyed the campground's free breakfast, but happily payed a little extra for the sweet potato pancakes with pecans. Yum! The coffee is weak, but I think the mini-golf makes up for that. :)

Also, Arco has a distinct landmark in Number Hill (I'll find my photo...). Local high school graduates have scaled this almost-mountain every year and painted their graduation year large enough to see for miles around.

Craters of the Moon National Monument is less a destination than a side attraction, but you won't see another place like it.

-P