Port Hood and the Ceilidh trail

Private home on cape

We are quite taken with the  small, very cute town on the west coast of Nova Scotia, called Port Hood. Our campground is on the beach front with views of an island across the bay. This small fishing/lobster town has neat, trim houses and gardens, most of which sit on hillsides with great views of the bay. Across on the island, we can see a grouping of houses and it looks idyllic. We learned the only way over there is by a hired boat and most of the homes are summer homes owned by Americans or people from Montreal.  Most of the building materials were trucked over to the island in the winter when they can construct an ice road.  I estimate that it would be between 1/4 and 1/2 mile across the water.  One impatient resident couldn't wait for winter so he had his construction materials helicoptered over.  Apparently money is not an issue.  We've walked on the beach, waded in the warmest water yet and watched beautiful sunsets. This is our last stay before heading over to Prince Edward Island (PEI).


North of Port Hood are the towns of Inverness, Margaree Forks and Glenora, home of the Glenora Distillery. Not having ever been to a distillery, we took a tour, short but interesting. Single malt whiskey is made there and after the sample I don't think we will be sipping too much whiskey, maybe a mixed drink. As with all alcohol here, it is also pretty expensive. We enjoyed some local Scottish music at the pub, with lunch. We also visited the Gaelic college and attended a Ceilidh (Kaylee), basically a celtic jam session with the instructors and some students. Fun, foot tapping music. Today, we visited another Celtic interpretive center, learned more about the Scottish roots and music and were serenaded at lunch with fiddle and piano. A passing visitor joined in and someone got up to step dance.

Nice day for the beach.

Huh?

In the driving around the last few days we've come across some camera worth shots that I'll leave you with. Funny things in life are all around us.

All things Canadian

Miscellaneous rambling. Gail screwed up and posted a blog after this so this info is out of order. Oh well, you'll get the idea.


Bills got the computer first this morning so he gets to start this.  Yesterday, (last Friday), we had a 39 mile day from N. Sydney, NS to Baddeck, NS.  We were here by noon.  Got settled into our new campground, where we'll be for a week.  Got the Primo spot here.  Right next to the office.  Sitting outside I feel like Walter the Wal-Mart greeter.  "Hi, How are ya?"  Wave to the newest neighbor just coming in.  Life doesn't get any better than this.  We were invited to go for a kayak paddle this morning but with the outside temp at 60, it wasn't hard to pass.  Remember, our kayaks are "sit-a-tops" and we get our keesters wet.  A scenic drive will be much better.  We're obviously not "hardy and hale" like these Canadians.   BRRRRRR  OK, actually we were invited by a couple from Arizona but their kayak is dry.  


It's a holiday weekend up here so the park is going to be completely full.  We noticed the most popular camping trailer is the pop up, especially for families. There aren't a lot of 5th wheels or motor homes. Most of those are the Americans. Several caravans have been at the camps too. These are groups of 10 or more rvs, signed up to go to the Atlantic provinces, Alaska, Mexico, etc with a guide and program. There were quite a few waiting to board the ferry to NL. We'd rather be on our own.

Hmmm

Let's go shopping. It's been kind of sticker shock for grocery shopping.
Beer $12.00 a 6 pack. We share and sip now.


Wine, I pay $5-6 for name brands at Walmart or grocery stores, here at least $12.00. I'm out of stuff I bought in Maine so I guess I'll wait till we get back in Maine


Drank all of the tequila, bottle cost $15.00 at home, $35.00 here! No more margaritas till Maine


Chicken, $8.00/kg (about $4.00/lb whole), breast $5.00, thighs $6.00, legs even more.
Beef is high, hamburger over $5.00/kg


There are some nice grocery stores, and we find bargains but we don't fill the shopping cart at a time. Oh and milk, $3-4/gal at home, $6.35 in mainland NS and out on the island, $7.50!  Bill sips it too now.


Gas runs around $1.09/liter, diesel around $1.00. That makes it over $4.00/gal. Unfortunately, the truck doesn't sip it.

Popular eating place!

And so it goes with most food items. We think maybe the reason everything is so high is all information is in English and French. Double sided writing on packages, signs, road info, on and on. It's a mystery.


Then add 15% HST (Harmonized sales tax)!


Well, that does it for now, better publish this before it's too out of date.

Cabot Trail

Baddeck lighthouse & Amoeba

We're spending a week in mid Cape Breton, near the town of Baddeck. This was the summer home of Alexander Graham Bell and is the largest town around.  We took a drive all around the Bras d'Or lake on Sat. The day was nice and sunny, the lake sparkled and the small towns along the lake were neat and tidy. The Acadian influence is sprinkled around, along with the Scottish. There is no major development on the waterfront, plenty of large lots and properties, quiet and peaceful. There isn't any overcrowding on the lake either. That weekend though there were plenty of events going on. Being a holiday on Mon, there was a bike fest ( mostly Harleys) up at Sydney, a week long regatta on the lake at Baddeck, and lots of vacationeers.

Yesterday, Mon., we drove the "world famous Cabot trail". This is a 195 mile drive around the top end of the island, part of the Highlands Natl park, and a must see and do. The east coast was rugged, wild and quite scenic. A lot like the west coast of the U.S. too. At the top is a small village, pretty isolated, and they make their living on lobstering. Along the road to the top is a small picnic park. This is the site of explorer John Cabot's landing. There are questions as to the exact spot or exact date and the signs claim him to be the first to land on North America continent. It was a very nice beach park, scenic coast and great spot for lunch.

Town of Bay St. Lawrence

West coast of Cape Breton

The west side of the Cape is the more popular side but different. Most of the trail drive is very wooded and suddenly we were in a town that was practically bare of trees. This was an Acadian village and I guess they cleared all the trees and vegetation away, built their town and didn't replant any trees in town or around houses. It was rather stark looking. Neat and trim but bare and stark. The drive through the Natl park seemed very wild. Hiking was available and camping in the wilderness. We paused for the overlooks and the highlight of the drive was seeing 3 moose, one just off the side of the road.