Our weekend road trip started early this morning. Of course, it has been much colder and snowier than any of us would have wanted, oh, and it has been pretty windy as well.
After a quick to the airport to add me as a driver to the rental car agreement we made our way towards Truro. Before reaching Truro we stopped in Stewiacke, the former homeland of giant mastodons. What drew us to the site was the large mastodon statue that was visible for the road. Not surprisingly, we took the opportunity to take a few photos with the mastodon and some of the other touristy items (including a cement Flinstones car).
From Stewiacke we made our way to Truro to watch the 12:20 tidal bore. Much to all of our surprise, the tidal bore turned out to be something of a local attraction (there were 15 cars worth of people there) and of a fair size. If you are in the area it is definitely worth checking out.
[Embedded video]
After the tidal bore we made our way to Margolians, a locally owned department store. While at first I wasn't particularly impressed with the store I soon found that the prices for many of their items were half of what I thought they were. In the end I walked out with a handful of brandname shirts and sweaters for about $10 a piece. Everyone else found great things as well. Actually, we were all so impressed by the experience that we are hoping to head back on our way back from PEI.
We were all pretty impressed with Truro, it was definitely a nice little down.
From Truro we made our way to Parrsboro and the Fundy Geological Museum . After quickly passing through Parrsboro we made our way to the aforementioned museum and checked out a few of the exhibits. The museum employee then gave us a few suggestions about things to see in the region, we were particularly taken by her suggestion that we go gem hunting on a local beach.
Almost as soon as we arrived at the beach we noticed that a car a little further along the beach appeared to have gotten stuck in some loosely packed beach stones. Obviously we decided that it would probably be best if we didn't drive any further and that we should offer to help the guy get unstuck.
After a few unsuccessful attempts at lifting the front of the car with the guy while his ladyfriend gave it some gas we left them to do some digging out while we made our way down the beach to do some gem hunting (it really wasn't as bad as this likely sounds). After limited success gem hunting (none of us knew what we were looking for) we made our way back to the stranded car and helped them put some boards under their front tires. With the boards in place we were finally able get the front tires enough traction that our pushing actually mattered.
After freeing the car from the beach we made our way to Joggins Cove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of some very old fossils. Of course, because it is off season, we weren't actually able to see anything or visit the interpretation centre.
After our failed visit to Joggins Cove we were finally on the final leg of our trip to Sackville. Shortly after checking in at the Marshlands Inn (an inn that once hosted the Queen) we made our way out to find a restaurant for dinner. After dinner we took a brief tour of the town, though managed to see basically everything there was to see (at least those things that you could see by driving by).
The plan for tomorrow is to head to Dorchester to see the world's largest Sand Piper as well as the infamous penitentiary (there should be a museum-type aspect of the prison). We are also hoping to see the Mount Allison Owens Art Gallery, though we will have to check this out on our way back from Dorchester. I guess we will also eventually have to make our way to Charlottetown, which is where we will be spending the night.
Showing posts with label museums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label museums. Show all posts
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Michigan +10
Today started with tour of the River Rouge Ford plant. We were able to see portions of the production of F-150s. All-in-all I would have to say that it was a pretty impressive tour. My sense of things is that they were cranking these trucks out at a rate of about one truck a minute, maybe even less than that. While huge portions of the operation were mechanized, many labourers were still required and involved in various processes. The cleanliness and quality of the working conditions were also impressive.
After the factory tour we made our way the Henry Ford museum.
While in the museum we saw things like trains and presidential limos. We also saw the world's first regular production Mustang (which happens to have been sold in Newfoundland and still has Newfoundland plates).
We also saw, and were able to sit in, the bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat.
While in the steam engine and generator section of the museum Neil and I engaged in an electricity generating competition.
[Embedded video]
I am pretty sure I won.
Afterwards the museum we made our way to Highland Park, my father's place of birth. As expected, it was pretty desolate.
The highlight of the trip was heading down the alley next to this house to stand on the last piece of Highland Park land still owned by my family. For some reason Neil and Kirsten walked down the alley but then declined the chance to actually set foot on the triangle of land.
We just returned from family dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. As expected, it was great. Unfortunately, I was talked into eating about half of a watermelon. As one might expect, I feel somewhat bloated and water-logged at the moment. I am hoping that this feeling will soon pass.
After the factory tour we made our way the Henry Ford museum.
While in the museum we saw things like trains and presidential limos. We also saw the world's first regular production Mustang (which happens to have been sold in Newfoundland and still has Newfoundland plates).
We also saw, and were able to sit in, the bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat.
While in the steam engine and generator section of the museum Neil and I engaged in an electricity generating competition.
[Embedded video]
I am pretty sure I won.
Afterwards the museum we made our way to Highland Park, my father's place of birth. As expected, it was pretty desolate.
The highlight of the trip was heading down the alley next to this house to stand on the last piece of Highland Park land still owned by my family. For some reason Neil and Kirsten walked down the alley but then declined the chance to actually set foot on the triangle of land.
We just returned from family dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. As expected, it was great. Unfortunately, I was talked into eating about half of a watermelon. As one might expect, I feel somewhat bloated and water-logged at the moment. I am hoping that this feeling will soon pass.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Does this make me a paparazzo or does it just make me creepy?
Almost immediately after I awoke this morning Neil asked me if I was interested in going to see Steven Harper, Canada's Prime Minister. It seems that Neil had learned that Harper was to be making some kind of announcement with Darrell Dexter at the Pier 21 Museum. It turns out that the announcement was about the Pier 21 museum becoming the a national museum, like the Museum of Civilization or the National Gallery. If you are interested the announcement has been covered by CBC and CTV.
Given my inclination to see politicians in the flesh I decided to join him on the trip.
Shortly after we arrived at Pier 21 we learned that the actual announcement session was not open to the public. We decided to camp out across from the vehicles associated with Harper's entourage. I assumed that staying by his security personnel would give us indications about when he was likely to exit the building, an (obvious) assumption that turned out to be pretty on the money.
Unfortunately, it seems that we arrived long before people began to exit the building. We also seem to have arrived long before any of the others hoping to get a glimpse of Harper.
Eventually, after maybe an hour, we talked to a security guard who said something about seeing Peter MacKay, Newfoundland's voice in Cabinet, someone we never did end up seeing. At about the same time our local MHA/MLA, Leonard Preyra, came out and ended up walking right past us, making us feel a little awkward as we had just been taking photos of him. Presumably he was there because the museum is in his district.
A few minutes later we saw Peter Kelly, Halifax's mayor, and Darrell Dexter, the newly elected Premier of Nova Scotia, exit together. Unfortunately it was hard to get a picture of them together as Kelly was literally running towards his car. We only managed to get a snap of the back of his head, at least I presume it is his head.
Eventually things began to pick up and the motorcade vehicles moved into position near the door. The best part about this was that once they were in position they completely blocked the Lieutenant Governor's exit. She had to make her way through the motorcade to her limo, which then had a few issues with the curb. All in all, it was rather undignified and I felt that she somehow drew the short end of the stick when it came to car access. I really would have imagined that the two groups would have managed to coordinate so that everyone could make a successful exit from the building.
[Embedded Video]
Shortly thereafter Harper came out, waved, and got in his car. Within about a minute of his exit from the building he had taken off and almost all signs of the Prime Minister's visit were gone.
After the Primer Minister had taken off just about the only things that remained to indicate that something had happened were the two TV trucks that were still hanging around.
CTV's was a little smaller. We were wondering if they were sensitive about this.
The other car that we saw that was a little strange appears to be a military car, though we don't know who the guest of honour was. What we do know is that the thing above the license plate with two stars was covered until just before it picked up its passenger.
On our way home I stopped to pick up a coffee. As we were heading back to the apartment, with coffee in hand, I noticed that Mr. Lahey was standing across the street talking to some guys. As we had our cameras handy I snapped a pic of this local Halifax celebrity in his local environment.
If you can count spotting famous or influential people as being productive, today has been a pretty productive day so far.
Given my inclination to see politicians in the flesh I decided to join him on the trip.
Shortly after we arrived at Pier 21 we learned that the actual announcement session was not open to the public. We decided to camp out across from the vehicles associated with Harper's entourage. I assumed that staying by his security personnel would give us indications about when he was likely to exit the building, an (obvious) assumption that turned out to be pretty on the money.
Unfortunately, it seems that we arrived long before people began to exit the building. We also seem to have arrived long before any of the others hoping to get a glimpse of Harper.
Eventually, after maybe an hour, we talked to a security guard who said something about seeing Peter MacKay, Newfoundland's voice in Cabinet, someone we never did end up seeing. At about the same time our local MHA/MLA, Leonard Preyra, came out and ended up walking right past us, making us feel a little awkward as we had just been taking photos of him. Presumably he was there because the museum is in his district.
A few minutes later we saw Peter Kelly, Halifax's mayor, and Darrell Dexter, the newly elected Premier of Nova Scotia, exit together. Unfortunately it was hard to get a picture of them together as Kelly was literally running towards his car. We only managed to get a snap of the back of his head, at least I presume it is his head.
Eventually things began to pick up and the motorcade vehicles moved into position near the door. The best part about this was that once they were in position they completely blocked the Lieutenant Governor's exit. She had to make her way through the motorcade to her limo, which then had a few issues with the curb. All in all, it was rather undignified and I felt that she somehow drew the short end of the stick when it came to car access. I really would have imagined that the two groups would have managed to coordinate so that everyone could make a successful exit from the building.
[Embedded Video]
Shortly thereafter Harper came out, waved, and got in his car. Within about a minute of his exit from the building he had taken off and almost all signs of the Prime Minister's visit were gone.
After the Primer Minister had taken off just about the only things that remained to indicate that something had happened were the two TV trucks that were still hanging around.
CTV's was a little smaller. We were wondering if they were sensitive about this.
The other car that we saw that was a little strange appears to be a military car, though we don't know who the guest of honour was. What we do know is that the thing above the license plate with two stars was covered until just before it picked up its passenger.
On our way home I stopped to pick up a coffee. As we were heading back to the apartment, with coffee in hand, I noticed that Mr. Lahey was standing across the street talking to some guys. As we had our cameras handy I snapped a pic of this local Halifax celebrity in his local environment.
If you can count spotting famous or influential people as being productive, today has been a pretty productive day so far.
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