Louisbourg Day 5 & 6

I decided to lump Friday and Saturday together since Saturday wasn't much about Louisbourg.

Friday, August 27th 2010 (Day 5)

7:10 AM
I woke up and started packing since I was going to be leaving for Halifax from the Fortress. I had already packed up most of my stuff the night before and all I had to do was the finishing touches (you know, the toothbrush and toothpaste deal). Once it was all packed up, I dragged my suitcase and two bags down three flights of stairs and popped them in the car.

8:00 AM
Went down for breakfast and asked how to check out. They told me we were having french toast and since I had already had it during my stay, I could choose something else if I wished. I told him it was fine and I'd jut have the french toast again. I like french toast, so it was no big deal. I was just glad it wasn't the Island Bake again.

8:30 AM
I agreed to drive Larry to the site, and drop him off as I was leaving town. Bruce Fry stopped into our B&B looking for a couple who had sneaked into the lecture we were having at the Chevlier House. We weren't quite sure how they got in there since we were pretty careful not to let the public visiting the fortress in. Bruce told us that we were going to look at some siege sites outside the Fortress area so we should all meet up at the Visitor Centre parking lot and inside of it. We were also leaving after hours so we had to make sure we got our cars down to the Fortress since they locked up place after hours.

8:45 AM
On the way to the Fortress, Larry told me that we should pull over and check out Wolfe's Ridout. A ridout is a camp they would have made to prepare their troops for the siege. It was about a 5 minute walk. We quickly checked it out. When we met up with the others, Bruce asked us what had taken since we left before him. I told him Larry wanted to take a side tour.

9:00 to 10:00 AM
Bruce drove us around, stopping the cars every once and awhile so we could go out and explore. Since it had rained all day Thursday, the area was marshy and wet. The natural environment had over taken the siege sites and it was very hard to see what was left. We went to a ridout called Green Hill which was a valuable camp for the British since you could get a clear view of the Fortress. Back in 1758, this area would have been totally cleared of the trees.

10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
The others were eager to get back to digging, but I wasn't. I had already found something better than iron nails and glass. The site was slightly flooded as well due to the rain. I decided to stay back with the collections manager and help label and catalogue the artifacts. Most of it was writing on pottery shards and glass bits, but I enjoyed it. We had some tea, and talked about this and that. We decided we'd go to the site around lunch to see what was going on with the others. I wanted to explore the rebuilt town a little bit more. We got a chance to see stuff during the week, but there were still some places not yet ventured. Since the program had a "Do What You Want" attitude, it wasn't a problem.

12:00 PM
We went out with the lunches to the site. I went over to the site to find out what had been found (nothing) and inform them that lunch had arrived. They grudgingly left their work for food.

1:00 PM
We all went back to the site. I hung out for a bit, but then left to go look for the blacksmith from the day before. Hubba hubba.


1:30 to 2:30 PM
For an hour I went about the site, snapping as many pictures as I could of buildings, exhibits and people. I cursed myself for not charging my camera like I should have, since it was dying quickly. I talked to a few of the interpreters and while I didn't see the whole site, I felt like I had seen enough to get a feel of the place. I also picked up some more souveniers for people because I didn't have too much success in town. I took my stuff back to my car so I wouldn't have to carry it around with me all day. I walked back to the Chevalier House because I was going to go deo some more catalouging when I ran into Bruce on the way back. He said that he was just getting Heidi the collections manager and they were driving up to the site and I could catch a ride with them if I wanted to.

2:30 PM to 3:10 PM
I went back to the site and helped people shift their their dirt, which was now mud. It was a lot harder to find artifacts this way since they were all covered in mud. There were about 2-3 of us working on a bucket at a time.

3:10 PM
We packed up everything and the archaeology crew began covering the sites. We took our equipment back to the Chevalier House. During the week it stayed in the equipment tent. Once we arrived back the the Chevalier House, we were told we were going to go to one of the exhibits about fortification and the military before we met up for dinner at the L'Epee Royal, the upper class restaurant, at 4:30.

4:00-4:30 PM
We explored this little house with some artifacts of the remaining walls, drums and military explanations. We then walked to the L'Epee Royal.


4:30 to 6:00 PM
The meal was on the Program, so we didn't have to pay for alcoholic drinks like we had to Wednesday. I had a glass of red wine with my meal. We had the same type of soup from Wednesday, and we were also served fresh baked buns. The choice was turkey or salmon and I wanted something diffeernt. We were given a big bowl of rice, and Paul and I were given a plate of turkey with a wild mushroom and carrot dressing. Dessert was the same little brownie, but it was good.

6:00 to 7:00 AM
We went back to Chevalier House to pick up the rest of our stuff. After we all went to our cars and drove out to an area called Black Rock. This was a huge rock that over looked the Atlantic Ocean. We stayer there for awhile, snapping photos. I agreed to drive a couple people back into town. Paul's ride showed up at 5:30 and likely left him, so I told him I'd drive him back to Sydney since it wasn't really out of my way too much. I was driving to Halifax airport that night, with the unhappy event of sleeping in the airport since I had a 6:45 AM flight back to Toronto.


7:00 PM
We all said our goodbyes. I dropped off people and said my goodbyes to them. We had all given each other our emails to keep in touch and share photos.

8:00 PM
By 8:00 PM I driven to Sydney. I dropped off Paul and gased up the car for the first time in Nova Scotia, which I was a little impressed by. I spent the entire time driving straight through to Saturday...

Saturday August 28th, 2010 (Day 6)

12:30 AM
I arrived at the airport but like an idiot I went in the wrong lane. I had to find the gas station too since I was required to leave the car with a full tank of gas. I ended up driving up to the commercial car lane and an airport worked helped me out. I found the gas station at the airport and it was CLOSED. Ugh. I popped in gas station in my GPS I had brought along and it directed me to a gas station 10 KM away. I drove out to this gas station to have my credit card denied at the pump. I went to another pump, gassed up and had to pay at the window.

1:00 AM
I finally got to the rental car drop off at the airport. I pulled everything out of the car and repacked some stuff. I had not packed my mugs yet so I wanted to wrap them up well. I checked the car over for anything else that belonged to me. I was scared that the airport may be closed since I didn't think there were many flights coming in this late. I dropped the keys off into the drop off box, and prayed that they wouldn't charge me for the stupid stone chips out the window that were already on the stupid car in the first place.

1:30 AM to 2:00 AM
I walked around the airport, looking for the places I had to be in the morning. Wet Jet would not allow me to check in at their kisosks so I had to wait until the morning. I wanted to check my bags so I wouldn't have to sleep with them but I lucked out. I found a spot by the security that was also near a bunch of shops and an indoor playground for kids. There was also a wifi table so I logged in to check some stuff. I curled up on a bench with my three bags positioned so if someone attempted to take my stuff, I would have been awoken. I woke up three times; once because I was cold so I had to fish a sweater out of my suitcase, and twice because that was the time people were polishing the floor. At one point I grabbed all my stuff and slept on the floor because I was tired of getting bench marks on my legs since I stupidly wore khakis that day.

4:15 AM
By this time, people were coming into the airport. I awoke to the security staff talking. Since I was scared of being asked to move, I decided to wake up and go check my bags. I checked in on my laptop at the airport with its wifi when the kisok wouldn't let me so I had to obtain a boarding pass while I was checking my bag. I got one and was told I should get through security now since it would probably get busy soon. Boarding was at 6:10 AM.

4:30 to 6:10 AM
I got through security like a zombie. I got a little nervous when they took awhile to scan my laptop. I went to my gate and hung out there for a bit. When other people started getting Tim Hortons, I decided to get up and also get some breakfast. I asked for a bacon breakfast sandwich but got a sausage one instead. I didn't really care. I got a small cappuchino to keep me up since I didn't want to fall asleep at the gate. We boarded at 6:10 AM. I was surprised that I got the same seat as my flight in; 6A. I was delighted that in a three seat aisle, I was the only one in it which was strange since it was a fairly crowded flight. As soon as I was sitting down, I put my pillow to the window. I had fallen fast asleep before the review of the safety features finished. I woke up on the flight and checked where we are. We were nearing Toronto and I couldn't really get back to sleep. I watched the tv without sound for a bit until we landed.

8:00 AM
We arrived in Toronto at 8 AM on the dot. I decided not to call Linds, who graciously was allowing me to drop my stuff there while I attempted to get into Fan Expo until I was actually ready to leave. It took me awhile to get my bags, and I got lost looking for the luggage pick up since nothing is labelled well in Terminal 3 of Pearson airport.

8:30 AM to 9:30 AM
With my bags in hand, I called Linds who told me to take the bus from the airport to the subway to the subway drop off near her place. It was wonderful to just sit down and go somewhere without having to think too hard about it, like driving haha. I had a neat little trip going from Bus to subway to car. They came and picked me up and we got breakfast (yay!)

10:00 AM to 4:00PM
We hung out for a bit, and then we decided to try to leave for Fan Expo around 1:50 PM. We took the subway to downtown and the line ups were huge. Crazy even. As much as I love Sci fi, Comic books, D&D, Gaming and Horror, I wasn't prepared to wait in line for 6 hours and pay $35 to get in, and likely only get to get an hour out of it. I knew quite a few people who were there, and I was sad I didn't get to see them but I suppose I should have planned better. I wasn't too upset about it. We went back to the house, and I called to find out when I was getting a ride back home.

5:20 PM
Linds and The Newf dropped me off at the Go Station to I could get picked up at Oshawa. I didn't want my ride to have to come get me in Toronto.

6:30 PM
Back in Oshawa, got picked up, finally arrived home! Gave people their gifts and went to bed at 9:30 PM like a wuss. Slept in until 11 AM Sunday, haha.