The Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip! {Letter “P”}

I am very excited to be taking part in the Blogging A to Z Challenge 2013.  This is actually my third challenge; the first year I featured a recipe for each letter and last year I drew on  my nursing background and used “parts of the human body” as my inspiration!

This year I have decided to change things up a bit.  I live in Canada and believe it is one of the most beautiful countries on the planet; so I have decided to feature a different Canadian “place”, for each letter of the challenge.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how everyone interprets the Challenge and I would love to have you join me, as I crisscross this vast country on my Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip!

So, without further ado, “P” is for Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.

I have visited Peggy’s Cove and believe me when I tell you,  it is a place like no other, the scenery is the most awe inspiring I have seen and the people are so friendly and warm. If you have never been to Peggy’s Cove, I highly recommend it!

Population:  640  {2011 census}

Geography/History:  Peggys Cove is 43 kilometres (26 miles) southwest of downtown Halifax and comprises one of the numerous small fishing communities located around the perimeter of the Chebucto Peninsula.

The first recorded name of the cove was Eastern Point Harbour or Peggs Harbour in 1766. The village is likely named after Saint Margaret’s Bay (Peggy being the nickname for Margaret), which Samuel de Champlain named after his mother Margarite.

The village was formally founded in 1811 when the Province of Nova Scotia issued a land grant of more than 800 acres (3.2 km²) to six families of German descent. The settlers relied on fishing as the mainstay of their economy but also farmed where the soil was fertile.

Many artists and photographers also came to Peggys Cove and as roads improved, the number of tourists increased. Today the population is smaller but Peggys Cove remains an active fishing village and a favourite tourist destination.

Peggys Point Lighthouse:  Peggys Cove is one of the busiest tourist attractions in Nova Scotia and is a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail scenic drive.  The community’s famous lighthouse marks the entrance of St. Margaret’s Bay and is officially known as the Peggys Point Lighthouse.

The lighthouse is still operated by the Canadian Coast Guard and  is one of the most-photographed structures in Atlantic Canada and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world!

Visitors may explore the granite outcrop on Peggys Point around the lighthouse; despite numerous signs warning of unpredictable surf (including one on a bronze plaque on the lighthouse itself), several incautious visitors each year are swept off the rocks by waves, sometimes drowning.

{Peggys Cove Lighthouse (above) (Photo attribution – Dougtone (CC)}

* Interesting note – A guide at the lighthouse told my husband and I that once, during a tropical storm, a rogue wave crashed so high that it broke the glass from the highest of the three windows you see going up the side of the lighthouse!

Peggys Cove

 {Photo attribution www.nrcan.gc.ca(CC)}

Notable:  Well known sculptor and painter William E. deGarthe lived in Peggys Cove. A gallery exhibiting his work is open to the public between May 1 and October 31.

Swissair Flight 111 –   The Swissair Flight 111 Memorial is located at The Whalesback, a promontory approximately 1 km northwest of Peggys Cove. It is one of two memorials built to commemorate the victims of the Swissair Flight 111 disaster, which saw the aircraft crash into St. Margarets Bay on 2 September 1998. The crash site is roughly equidistant between the Whalesback Memorial and another memorial at Bayswater, Nova Scotia,  opposite Peggys Cove.

{Swiss Air Flight 111 Memorial{Photo attribution: Josephbrophy}

The monument reads in English and French:

“In memory of the 229 men, women and children aboard Swissair Flight 111 who perished off these shores September 2nd, 1998. They have been joined to the sea, and the sky. May they rest in peace.”

The site of the crash and the two monuments form a triangle. The three notches on the monument at Whalesback represent the numerals 111. The sight line from the three grooves in the stone points to the crash site; while the markings on the facing stone point to the memorial at Bayswater. The memorial wall at Bayswater contains the names of the 229 passengers and crew of flight 111. The facing stone points to the crash site.

Peggys Cove Harbour {Photo attribution: elPadawan (CC)}

Peggys Cove {Photo attribution: Dougtone (CC)}

It has been a very wonderful day, the scenery at Peggys Cove is second to none and the people, so friendly!  It has also been a very sad and somber day as we cannot help but think of the 229 men, women and children who died in the waters off Peggys Cove during the Swiss Air disaster.

Time to head to bed, reflect and be thankful for all the truly important things in life.

Past visits on the A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip:

• A is for Alma, New Brunswick
• B is for Banff, Alberta
• C is for Cornwall, Ontario
• D is for Dawson City, Yukon
• E is for Edmonton, Alberta
• Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 – Virtual  Road Trip & Actual Road Trip! 
• L is for London, Ontario {Resumption of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip!}
• M is for Montreal, Quebec
• N is for Nanaimo, BC (with recipe)
• O is for Ottawa, Ontario

Complete listing of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 participants.

CREDITS – Map source – File: Canada Nova Scotia location map 2.svg  (altered to add place name).  Information contained in this post was obtained from Wikipedia, Peggys Cove Coastal Region, and PeggysCove.ca