Sydney is a harbor town on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. The city was built shortly after the American Revolution in 1785 as a haven for loyalist.
There were several excursions offered by Holland America that we could have taken, but instead decided to walk around the historic city as we had the day before in Halifax. The trip to Baddeck and the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site would have been interesting but it would have taken most of our day - five to six hours depending on the excursion. (Bell spent the last 32 years of his life in Baddeck.) I love history living museums and would have enjoyed seeing the Highland Village. Well, we will just have to go back again.
The first historic place we stopped at was the Thomas Jost House, c 1786. Originally built for Samuel Sparrow who was a merchant and ship owner, Thomas Jost bought the house in 1836 and his family remained on the property until 1971. You can see some pictures of inside the house at the above link. (If you are interested in reading the genealogy of Thomas Jost, check it out HERE.)
The picture I took from the side down the street shows how the house was remodeled in the early 1900's when the second floor was extended to add bedrooms and a bathroom. Here is another site you can read that provides a little more information.
Nearby we visited the Cossit House, another one of the oldest houses in Sydney built in 1787 and named for its original owner, the Reverend Ranna Cossit, an Anglican minister from the colonies and his wife Thankful. Six of their children were born in the house. Thankful died giving birth to their 13th child. I hope you will read more of their story in the link above.
One block away is the church that Rev. Cossit was appointed to, St. George's Church built in 1785 to serve the Sydney Garrison in the British military is Cape Breton's oldest church. It was the first permanent structure built in the city. I only took the picture of the church. Please go HERE to see a picture of the "ladies" who give you the history of the church.
The lady who told us the history of the church, who admitted she was not a member of the church as the other ladies were, gave us much interesting information about the church and Rev. Cossit. Before we left, I asked if she could recommend a place to eat lunch and she recommended The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse several blocks from the church. We had a very good and filling lunch there.
Walking along Charlotte Street, we saw so many beautiful hanging flower baskets and these colorful chairs if you wanted to rest a while. Most of them were chained to the pavement. Did you notice the other interesting thing along this street? The parking meters were not at the curb but up by the buildings. Didn't think to ask why when I bought a new pair of shoes at the Reiker by the Shoe Tree shop. They are so comfy and helped out tremendously with all our walking.
So we had another good day seeing some beautiful country and learning some interesting history. Bernice and Richard were again eager to hear about our day at dinner.
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Bar Harbor, Maine Halifax, Nova Scotia
There were several excursions offered by Holland America that we could have taken, but instead decided to walk around the historic city as we had the day before in Halifax. The trip to Baddeck and the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site would have been interesting but it would have taken most of our day - five to six hours depending on the excursion. (Bell spent the last 32 years of his life in Baddeck.) I love history living museums and would have enjoyed seeing the Highland Village. Well, we will just have to go back again.
The first historic place we stopped at was the Thomas Jost House, c 1786. Originally built for Samuel Sparrow who was a merchant and ship owner, Thomas Jost bought the house in 1836 and his family remained on the property until 1971. You can see some pictures of inside the house at the above link. (If you are interested in reading the genealogy of Thomas Jost, check it out HERE.)
The picture I took from the side down the street shows how the house was remodeled in the early 1900's when the second floor was extended to add bedrooms and a bathroom. Here is another site you can read that provides a little more information.
Nearby we visited the Cossit House, another one of the oldest houses in Sydney built in 1787 and named for its original owner, the Reverend Ranna Cossit, an Anglican minister from the colonies and his wife Thankful. Six of their children were born in the house. Thankful died giving birth to their 13th child. I hope you will read more of their story in the link above.
One block away is the church that Rev. Cossit was appointed to, St. George's Church built in 1785 to serve the Sydney Garrison in the British military is Cape Breton's oldest church. It was the first permanent structure built in the city. I only took the picture of the church. Please go HERE to see a picture of the "ladies" who give you the history of the church.
The lady who told us the history of the church, who admitted she was not a member of the church as the other ladies were, gave us much interesting information about the church and Rev. Cossit. Before we left, I asked if she could recommend a place to eat lunch and she recommended The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse several blocks from the church. We had a very good and filling lunch there.
Walking along Charlotte Street, we saw so many beautiful hanging flower baskets and these colorful chairs if you wanted to rest a while. Most of them were chained to the pavement. Did you notice the other interesting thing along this street? The parking meters were not at the curb but up by the buildings. Didn't think to ask why when I bought a new pair of shoes at the Reiker by the Shoe Tree shop. They are so comfy and helped out tremendously with all our walking.
So we had another good day seeing some beautiful country and learning some interesting history. Bernice and Richard were again eager to hear about our day at dinner.
Check out posts on:
Bar Harbor, Maine Halifax, Nova Scotia
Sounds like quite a journey, I love Cape Breton Island, were you able to hop over to Newfoundland? My parents are going there next year....
ReplyDeleteHi Kevin, No, Newfoundland wasn't a stop on the cruise. We saw some beautiful country. Definitely would like to go back there again when we would have more time to spend.
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ReplyDeleteI expect the Parking Meters are up by the buildings to assist with snow clearing in the winter. Our snow banks get high enough here in my part of Ontario that the towns remove the snow banks several times during the winter. /Cathy
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy. That certainly makes sense and I just didn't think of that. Would like to go back in a car and see more of Canada. You have a beautiful country. Patricia
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