It was a cool 8C/46F start to the day...but it was sunny! At about 9:30 we headed out for another day of sightseeing. Today we're going to Baddeck, situated on the northern shore of Bras d'Or Lake on Cape Breton Island.
While the village population is just over 700 people, local hotels feature over 600 rooms. Baddeck is home to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, which houses a museum commemorating the work of former resident Alexander Graham Bell.
Our destination is the
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site...
Parks Canada’s Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site commemorates the genius and compassion of renowned inventor Alexander Graham Bell. Exhibits show how he and his associates achieved Canada’s first powered flight with their airplane Silver Dart, produced the world’s fastest boat, advanced recording technology, designed giant kites and, of course, invented the telephone. Original artifacts, films, and family photographs highlight his scientific and humanitarian work. Visitors can also enjoy hands-on activities and a variety of programs. Situated on 10 hectares of land with a superb view of the Bras d’Or Lake in Baddeck on Cape Breton Island, the site overlooks Bell’s summer home, Beinn Bhreagh, still privately owned by his descendants.
Admission to the museum was free today...bonus! We learned that there was a special presentation about Bell and his wife...and the hydrodome. But we had a little time before it started in the Water Exhibit area so we started off by going through the timeline...a lot of reading!
And taking in some of the exhibits on the way to the presentation...
It is mind boggling how many
inventions Bell worked on!
(Left)
Curtiss 1-Cylinder Engine
Purchased by Bell for propeller efficiency tests, 1906.
(Right)
Kirkham 6-Cylinder Engine
Water-cooled automobile engine purchased by the Canadian Aerodrome Company for use on the Baddecks I and II, the first Canadian-built aircraft.
We sat through an interesting presentation learning about Alexander Graham Bell...some of the Bell descendants were in attendance too.
The story of Bell's and Casey Baldwin's experiments with hydrofoil craft, culminating in the success of the HD-4, the fastest boat in the world in 1919. The original HD-4 is preserved here adjacent to a full-sized reproduction of the craft.
(that's where we sat for the presentaton)
Model of the HD-4 believed to have been built by Casey Baldwin.
Scale model of the HD-5...
Scale model of the HD-6...
Engine with counter-rotating propellers used on the Dhonnas Beag...
That's quit the cockpit!
After over 2 hours of wandering through the museum, we walked around the beautiful grounds outside...
We finished up at the museum just in time to head to The Freight Shed Bistro for lunch with Dave and Cheryl. They too, are travelling across Canada this summer. We spent a lovely couple of hours catching up with them and comparing notes on places we have seen so far along the way.
And then we wandered outside to check out the wharf...
Amoeba tour boat returning. Hard to see but the Bell estate Beinn Bhreagh is on the hillside directly behind the boat. Unfortunately there is no public access to it.
Then it was time to say goodbye to Dave and Cheryl...it was great you again...safe travels! We drove through Baddeck before heading back home.
We filled the car with gas, dropped off all the stuff from the car, in the trailer...and then took the car down to the office and left the keys with the campground owner. It will be picked up by the car agency in the morning.
We spent Monday, our last day here, taking care of some odds and ends. We researched campgrounds on Prince Edward Island, picked one and booked it. Then I did some research on car rental agencies.
Steve finished up pictures for the next blog, so I uploaded them to Blogger. I ended up pulling out our old laptop so that I could work on the blog update while Steve got started on another batch of picture editing.
We enjoyed our last happy hour outside in the late afternoon sunshine...and then Steve grilled steak for dinner.
Tomorrow we continue our adventures...to Prince Edward Island!
Great that you were able to catch up with Dave and Cheryl. Looks like you had great weather too.
ReplyDeleteIt was great seeing them again!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting museum, those hydro boats are cool. You better be enjoying all those lakes and rivers while you can as in a month or so all you are going to see is desert!
ReplyDeleteBell was a very interesting fellow. We can hardly wait to plant our butts in Q for awhile after so much travel.
DeleteIt's hard to believe it was almost exactly a year ago we met you guys (and Deb and Ray) on the shores of Lake Powell. We've all seen a lot of North America since then. So cool!
ReplyDeleteHope to meet up with you again soon. Safe travels!
We were actually talking about that the other day. We’ll definitely see you down the road again, somewhere. Safe travels!
DeleteThe museum was so interesting, we spent hours there...so much we did not know about him...
ReplyDeleteMy pictures did not come out as good as yours!!!
Thanks! We too thought all he did was invent the telephone. Safe travels!
DeleteI just learned things that I never knew. Bell was on the same level as Thomas Edison in many respects. Like yourselves I only credited him with the invention of the Telephone. Thanks for the tour and see you at the "Q".
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Yes...it was an eye opener for sure. See you in Q!
Delete