The drive from Sherbrooke back to Dartmouth was under 200km and should have taken 2.5 hours non-stop. In fact, there was so much to see that we planned many stops along the way, and it took us all day to complete the journey.
Our first planned stop was at
Marie Joseph Park. This turned out to be a non-event as it was basically a tiny strip of grass by the shoreline. We were thinking that it was just as well since we had a tight schedule and needed to be back in Dartmouth in time for dinner. But just around the corner from there we found what appeared to be a
ship graveyard at the
Marie Joseph Harbour. It was fascinating to see all these wrecked and seemingly abandoned boats. We spent so much time inspecting them that any time saved from not stopping at the park was more than lost. Later we found out that there was a
massive fire in 2021 that destroyed a marine services building, and multiple boats that it housed. It took more than 30 responders from volunteer fire crews from all surrounding communities over four hours to battle the blaze. What we saw were the charred remains of boats from this fire.
We next stopped briefly at
Ecum Secum, not just because of the lovely scenery and the amazing giant wood carving that was taller than me, but also because I loved the lyrically rhyming name of the community that made me think of the phrase “Rock’em, Sock’em. Continuing on, we reached
Sheet Harbour where we embarked on a short 3km walk on the
West River Falls Boardwalk. We strolled past a small waterfall and got to the Eagle Bridge over which we saw a man fishing. The scenery was pretty but the mosquitoes were swarming and the path started to get boggy, so we decided to turn back.
Instead, we spent some time in the
MacPhee House Community Museum, situated in a house dating back to the 1875 and purchased by John MacPhee in the early 1900s. The house was run as an inn until 1985 and occasionally housed a post office and a general store in the earlier years. The museum has on display artifacts gathered from around the area over the past century. I was enchanted by the teal-coloured enameled wood-burning Lady Scotia stove (circa 1920s-30s) and intrigued by the “chain-mail pot scrubber” possibly from the 1940s. In addition to the kitchen, there was a sitting room area filled with period furniture and décor including a piano, phonograph, clocks and various photographs on the wall. I did not inspect the photos closely enough to know whether these were images of the MacPhee Family or just some random period photos.
Upstairs we found a treasure trove of interesting items including telephones of various vintages, white lace gown and cape, a scale with counterweight, a pupil’s desk, spinning wheel, bicycle, sewing machine, baby carriage and more. Under a photo of Queen Elizabeth II are paper doll versions of herself and Prince Phillip, plus paper doll gowns and suits for the two. There were military displays and model ships including the “HMS Montgomery 1942”, and a vintage brightly painted folk art vignette of workers building a ship.
We were told by our friends to look out for
Barry Colpitt’s Folk Art in East Ship Harbor as we drove along the province’s South Shore. This “must-see stop” is the home and outdoor gallery of eccentric folk artist Barry Colpitt. Even without the heads up, there was no way we would have missed white wooden planked house that is literally covered with brightly coloured wooden carvings of birds, fish, mermaids, fishermen and religious imagery of angels and devils, sinners and saints. Topped on the Colpitt family’s wooden mailbox seems to be a saint sparring with a devil holding a pitchfork. Throughout the yard are quirky wooden whirligigs carved into shapes of birds, animals and human heads with wooden spikes emanating from them that spin in the wind. Barry resides in the house and loves to pop out and talk to tourists and locals who stop to admire his work.
On one side of the house are a set of wooden heads grouped together as “Barry’s Head Museum”. Each one is designated with a special power if you rub the head. From left to right, rubbing Bob’s head helps you quit smoking, asking your wife to rub Audrey’s head makes her (your wife, not Audrey?) treat you better, rubbing Darren’s hairless head cures baldness and Ann’s head will make you appreciate art more. The religious iconography continues with depictions of the 7 deadly sins, a skeleton captioned with “You Can’t Hide From Satan”, “The Birks vs Satan” and more. The railings of the porch seem to depict the legs of a Holstein cow.
The
Memory Lane Heritage Village was another themed museum with displays and artifacts dating to the 1940s. We did not have time to justify the cost of entry, so we carried on. At
Musquodoboit Harbour, we found a
Railway Museum situated in a restored 1918 Canadian North Railway Station, featuring a GE 44-ton diesel-electric locomotive built between 1940-1956, a snowplough, a CN caboose, a hand-pump rail car and a mail crane. The train stations of this era were made for the convenience of passengers with waiting rooms, freight sheds, ramps, platforms and living quarters for the railway agents.
Inside the station are museum artifacts highlighting the history of Canadian railways in the first half of the 20th Century. There was an elaborate electric train set, metal signs for Dominion Express, Canadian National Express and Canadian Pacific Telegraphs and Cable Office, a conductor’s jacket and cap and the traditional Railway King Potbelly stove. Scattered throughout are posters, tickets, maps and photographs, a Morse Code electromagnetic telegraph device and more. Outside, the train platform seemed right out of an old movie. This was our last stop before making the final drive back to Dartmouth.
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