Nova Scotia

We're going to Nova Scotia and I am soooo excited!!!!!! Can you tell?

Now the back ground. We traveled to the Eastern USA & Eastern Canada in 2000. As most of you know, my husband and I spent 4 years living and traveling in our 30' Jayco 5th wheel, pulled by our 1 ton Dodge pickup. This trip we made in 2000 was joined off and on by our dear friends of 24 years (now 31 years!) Don & Barbara. They were traveling in a Class A Motorhome and pulling a tote (car for you who are not familiar with RV lingo!).

From the very beginning I was most excited and looking forward to visiting Nova Scotia. It just sounded so exciting to me. Our northernmost point of travel, on this trip, was to Meat Cove on Cape Breton on September 9th. While on Cape Breton I picked up a little flyer that was promoting a ship launching they were having at a small town called Pictou. I shared it with my husband, Mickey, and Don & Barbara and said "This sounds fun let's go". So off the 2 RV's and 4 of us go to Pictou.

Now Pictou was somewhere we'd never heard of and I doubt we would have gone there had it not been for that flyer. The ship launching was to be September 15th. We arrived in Pictou on September 12th and stayed 6 days. This event turned out to be the highlight of our trip.

The ship was the Ship Hector and was an exact replica of the original Dutch Ship Hector that had arrived on September 15, 1773 bringing the first settlers from Scotland. Hence the name Nova Scotia (New Scotland). This little town had been working on this ship for 10 years. Being land locked Okie's, I cannot tell you what an exciting time it was for the 4 of us to be part of this historic event. That is one of the most exciting parts of traveling as we did. Not just visiting all the standard tourist sites you have always wanted and dreamed of visiting but all these little unexpected things the Lord blessed us with along the way.

The launching was to take place September 15, 2000. Exactly 227 years from when it had first arrived after its long voyage at sea. Come the 15th it was POURING rain. Thousands of us stood in the rain and they kept waiting, and hoping that it would clear up so they could launch but that didn't happen. We all came back the next day, September 16th, and watched this beautiful replica of the original Ship Hector launch. Oh what a marvelous sight that was and so exciting

One of the festivities of the celebration was a "tattoo". Now I had never heard of a tattoo (other than the type you put on your skin!) before this trip. But as my good Lord would have it, while in Nebraska I was talking to a fellow RVer. When he heard we were going to Canada he said "If you get a chance be sure and go to a Tattoo". I, of course, said "What is that?". He couldn't really explain it to me but he did say it was the most fantastic show and display he and his wife had ever seen. Based on his word I was excited that part of this celebration was a Tattoo on the night of the launching. We had our tickets, it was outside, it is still pouring rain. I don't mean raining, I mean pouring rain. The 4 of us sat, under umbrellas, watching this spectacular performance. Of course all the participants were getting drenched and they didn't have umbrellas!! I kid you not, when we got back to our RV that night we rang the water out of our clothes. But the experience was just fantastic. Here is an explanation of what a tattoo is:

Why It Is Called "Tattoo"It began as a military "last call." In 17th century Dutch villages, drummers marched through the streets summoning soldiers to return to their quarters from evening gatherings in taverns and inns. A drumbeat signaling innkeepers to "doe den tap toe" or "turn off the taps," was eventually shortened to "tap toe" and finally to "tattoo." The phrase now heralds the extraordinary entertainment highlighted by marching bands, hundreds of musicians, and military competitions. What makes The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo unique and one of the world's largest annual indoor shows is the mix of hundreds of Canadian and international, military and civilian performers.

Now, as to our current trip. For Christmas one of the items Mickey and I got was a DVD/VCR recorder/duplicator. Mickey has been busy dubbing our old VCR's onto DVD. One of them happened to be the launching of Ship Hector. We had not watched it in some time. Needless to say it reminded us of the wonderful time and experience we had. Shortly after this we had Don & Barbara over for dinner one night and showed them the DVD. Then the four of us reminisced about the wonderful experience that had been.

When they launched the Hector it was complete except for the masts, which were to be added later. We had always kind of talked about "wouldn't it be wonderful to go back up and see it after they put the mast on it". You know, that dreaming sort of conversation. Toward the end of our evening Don said to Mickey "Would you guys go back up there with us?" We said no we didn't think that was in the play book at this point. I said if I went back I definitely would want to see a Tattoo. It has always been my dream to be blessed with getting to see another Tattoo.

The next morning I got up went to the computer and Googled "Tattoo" Of course I got all the skin ones. OOOPS!!! Then I tried "Scotish Tattoo" and up pops one in Edinburgh, Scotland. THAT would be wonderful but don't think that's in the budget. Then I stumbled onto one in Halifax, NOVA SCOTIA!!!!! AND it's going to be held July 1-8, 2007!!!! I get some air line fare prices and sit down and e-mail Don with something like "Okay, now you've done it. Let's go and here's what I found out about a Tattoo in Halifax". Discussion leads to more discussion and we decide we don't want to fly but drive and enjoy the trip coming and going. Don offers to drive because they have a nice roomy van. I don't think our '93 2 door red Cadillac Eldorado would make a very comfortable ride for 4 people that distance!

Here is a link all about the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. Our bags aren't packed yet (ha) but we are making plans. We have already purchased and have in hand our tickets. We opted for the Prestige seating. We figured since we're driving thousands of miles to see this we surely wanted the beat seats they had to offer. We have our reservations made at the Residence Inn Halifax Downtown/.

We opted for the July 8th performance because it includes this Pipefest/. This will be something new to us and it sounds very exciting.

After spending the 7th & 8th in Halifax we will travel on to Pictou and view the Hector with her masts. We have no idea what wonderful adventures await us there and on the rest of our journey. The 4 of us always find exciting and fun things to do.