Sydney, Nova Scotia and tendering to shore

Phyllis and I go ashore via tender to look around Sydney. Shawna and Gramma stayed on board. The first thing you see is the worlds largest “violin”. We hear both fiddle music and bagpipes around the port. The people of this area trace their roots to the Scottish Highlands.

The walk through town led us to a post office, pharmacy, a couple of museums, and lunch at Horton’s. I had a goal of eating at a Tim Horton’s on this trip. Lunch was very good.

We visited the Sydney Museum. It was very nice with lots of local history.

The last museum was the “Cossit House”. This was the home of a “Loyalist Reverend”. Loyalist meaning loyal to the Crown of England and not to the Revolution. As a result, he moved from New Hampshire in 1787 to Sydney. The King allocated money for a home and church for the Cossit’s ministry. The next few years were eventful for the family. They had to live in a shack till the home was built. The Reverend got into a disagreement with the local fort commander on paying troops with rum. As a result, he was imprisoned until the King send a letter releasing him and ordering the commander to pay the troops properly. Later he got into a protest against local businesses about not paying the employees and as a result had every window broken in his home. He left the area to avoid further repercussions to his family of 13. His wife had died in childbirth after the 13th child.

It was a fascinating tour with a guide who was knowledgeable, loved answering questions, and was in period dress to boot. The home is restored with the correct furniture and included actual account books and letters from the Reverend. We were given a tour of the sitting room, study, bedrooms, and kitchen where we were given a taste of pine needle tea that was used to fight scurvy. It was pretty awful.

Back to the ship.

Shawna and Gramma had a great day relaxing and taking in spa visits. Shawna went back to the doctor for a follow up on her feet. The report was back from the radiologist in Annapolis, MD that her feet were not broken just as we all suspected. So now that it has been more than 48 hours of ice on her feet, she could now soak them in hot water. So several times a day, she went to the hydro pool in the spa area to help with circulation and healing. Being in a wheelchair all the time made circulation limited and caused her feet to feel extremely cold. There was a concern for blood clots in the legs as well. I am  not sharing how black her feet looked from the extreme bruising. So 20 minutes 3 times a day in the hydro pool and then the warming beds help to increase circulation.

I have not mentioned it earlier but we are regularly making trips to the Shops to buy the daily charm. This started with a purchase the first day of the cruise when the ladies got their charm bracelets and five charms. Each day there was another charm to purchase.

More music. The musicians are fantastic.