Our ride today was 54 miles from Stellarton to Antigonish. The first 35 miles were spectacular, especially a stretch of about 20 miles along a coastal highway overlooking the Strait of Northumberland, which is the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It all looked just like Nova Scotia is supposed to look! We are seeing lots of Scottish names, such as New Glasgow, and references to Scottish history, as in a monument to the Battle of Culloden.
We ended the day with headwinds, some moderately heavy rain, and then some blue sky at dinner, giving us hope for tomorrow.
Looking down to a small town, harbor, and lighthouse.
On the other side of the road, we had small rivers and ponds. It is very much still spring, with lots of flowering shrubs and more of my favorite lilacs.
This old church, built in 1834, was beautifully designed. I was interested to learn that the blacksmith who forged the square headed nails used in its construction was a woman.
Of course I had to stop at St. Margaret’s, as I haven’t encountered her often. Doing some online research later, I learned that she lived in the 11th century, was married to a king of Scotland and the mother of three Scottish kings. A bit gory perhaps, but still interesting, was that centuries later, Mary, Queen of Scots, had Margaret’s head as a relic. Alas, she gave it to Jesuits who took it to France, where it was lost in the French Revolution. You learn interesting things on bike trips.
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