We went to le village historique acadien about a half hour out of town where we learned about the history of the Acadians. As you probably remember from reading Longfellow's poem "Evangeline" in eighth grade (we did in Heimdal, North Dakota anyway), the British deported about 12,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia around 1755 and quite a few ended up in Louisiana. I didn't know that many others went to New England and other places in the colonies. I also didn't know that many who were deported were allowed to come back to Nova Scotia after a few years.
This Acadian historical seaside village employs many of the descendants of those who came back. It was really interesting to hear their stories. Since there were very few tourists, we could spend a long time talking to them. Meanwhile, they also showed us various aspects of village life in the 1850's.
Here's a young man who spends 6 months lobster fishing and 6 months working at this village. He's showing G how an old wooden lobster trap used to work. During lobster fishing season he shows up at the dock at 1 am to head out to deep water where lobsters hang out. During peak season he will get back home at 11 pm. Probably won't even shower, he's so tired. He's not married--he said most girls won't put up with his schedule ( to say nothing about his bathing practices.)
I like to see the different ways of stacking hay around the world. This is called a salt haystack because it is found in the salt marshes. These stacks are raised above the damp ground. They are shaped so that rain runs off. After the marsh freezes in the winter, the farmer can drive his hay wagon over the frozen ground to collect the hay.
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