I was 18 years old when I visited Louisbourg in the summer of 1974. I recall being very impressed with things like the ornate period furnishings inside the fort, as well as the blacksmith shop, and I remember being overwhelmed by the size of the place, which was completely shrouded in fog. But the significance of the fortress and its place in history was lost on me until many years later, when I finally took in that this was indeed an ambitious and massive fortification for its time. Difficult to imagine today, considering its remoteness, that this was once one of North America's busiest seaports.