Acadian Museum at Miscouche

The day we did the North Cape Coastal Drive it got late on us so we missed out on the Acadian Museum in Miscouche. Today we decided to do it and the little bit of the coastal drive that we had missed. A wrong turning allowed us to stop and see St. Mary's Church, home of the Indian River Festival of classical music. The last day, Jim had sped past with me muttering "I would like to have looked at that.". Today he stopped!

It's a beautiful church - the size of a cathedral.

St. Mary's Church, a fine example of the French Gothic influence, was built in 1902 by Prince Edward Island architect, William Critchlow Harris. The Harris trademark, a rib-vaulted or groined ceiling, enhances the quality of sound , with the use of fir, pine, spruce, maple and birch throughout the building. On July 6th 2012, just before we arrived in PEI, the church was formally designated a heritage place in recognition of its historical and architectural significance to the island.

The tower in detail.

The main Altar.

One of the side altars.

When we arrived, 3 old ladies (actually one of them was about my age so she's not old, is she?) had arrived just before us and were getting a guided tour (which I think is offered to all visitors) by a very scantily clad pretty young woman - rather incongruous given that this is a place of worship. It turned out that one of the elderly ladies seemed to have a far greater knowledge of the church. Then she pointed out the pews where her family used to sit. Clearly she was revisiting a place of her youth.

The Acadian Museum is quite small but very interesting. It has a permanent exhibition and a temporary exhibition. The current temporary exhibition is entitled "La Roche et Le Grand Ruisseau: 200 years in Egmont Bay and Mont Carmel". It commemorates this year's bicentennial of the parishes of Egmont Bay and Mont Carmel (where we were Sunday). It pays tribute to this Island region founded in 1812 by Acadian families who were living on the shores of Malpeque Bay. There are maps, photos and artifacts that chart various aspects of the history of the parishes. In a second gallery, there are photographs taken by local photographers Leona Arsenault (that name again!) and by Jacinthe Laforest. The permanent exhibition charts the history and culture of the Acadians of PEI from 1720 to today. Again, it was very interesting - life was difficult! An interesting part, I thought, that arose from the Acadians not mixing with the other nations and cultures was that there was a lot of intermarriage, first cousins with first cousins etc. Hence so many Arsenaults and Gallants.

2 of 4 carvings depicting the deportation of the Acadians (I think). On the way into the museum.

An Acadian fiddle - traditional music is very important to the Acadians.

St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Miscouche - Catholicism is a huge part of the Acadian tradition and way of life.

Food time again so we went on search of Milligan's Wharf, which was mentioned in the tourist literature as having great fish and chips. We had made a brief effort on Sunday to find this but were too hungry to persevere. Jim was for giving up today too but I insisted! And we found it.

Just a little shack really with an open-air veranda. I asked what was recommended and was told that everything was homemade - bread, batters, sauces etc., everything except the ketchup which we didn't want anyway. She told us to ask the group on the veranda if the fish (haddock) and chips was good. They confirmed so fish and chips it was!






This led to a conversation with the two young men and the teenager who were obviously enjoying their food. They told us lots about PEI and about Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and basically settled our itinerary for the next few days. They were fishermen - lobster during the lobster season, herring, halibut, tuna during proper seasons with quotas. They also have their own water area where they grow oysters. Then one of them asked if we had tried bar clams. We hadn't. They are really big clams in shells as big as scallop shells. The woman of the house showed us a shell and then proceeded to cook a sample for us (on the house!)- they were delicious - I was sorry I had not known about them as I would have had them instead of the fish even though the fish was delicious.

Fishing boats at Milligan's Wharf.

The tour was now complete so we headed home to finalise plans for Nova Scotia and to post this!