July 21, 2016 Historic Annapolis, Nova Scotia

The rest of today's EXplore was to historic Annapolis-Royal which was originally established by Scottish settlers in 1629, and ultimately abandoned to the French in 1632.  There are several wooden buildings in this town that have survived, most notably the Sinclair House, built in 1710. This was a different sort of tour because they just uncovered the bare bones of the building in certain areas, showing all the changes over the years and what lies beneath.  Just amazing that this building is still standing!  Also, we were lucky enough to see the long-hidden murals being restored that date back to 1841.  Such painstaking work, removing multiple layers of wallpaper down to the darkened paint underneath.  What a fascinating tour this was!

Ancient beams propped up.

The building was once an Inn, then a Hotel.

Hand-hewn lath.

You will have to enlarge this, but the timeline is interesting.

Stopped for lunch at a delightful cafe with a patio right on the river;
that lobster BLT was pretty awesome.....

Another of the surviving wooden buildings was the O'Dell house, which is open for tours.  It's not quite as old as the Sinclair house, but still pretty impressive.  Another fascinating look into the past.

Where the Important People dined.

Where the servants and children dined.

And what did I see, as we walked the old streets of Annapolis-Royal?
A huge ginger tabbycat who was not pleased when I told him he should lose some weight....