Baddeck, Canada

I awoke to overcast skies today so it seemed like a good day to visit the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada. The museum uses artifacts, films and programs showing how Bell and his team achieved Canada’s first powered flight which happened in Baddeck in 1909.     The site is run by Parks Canada and it primarily tells the story of the adventures of Alexander Graham Bell in the Canadian context. We all recognize Bell for his work on the telephone, but he had a whole lifetime of inventing and one of his primary passions was teaching the deaf which he inherited from his father. His wife, Mabel, deaf at the age of 5, was once a student and she became one of the most influential people in his life as well as a financial backer of his projects. Her father became the first president of Bell Telephone Company. Bell moved his family to Baddeck for health reasons, and built a huge home there on the hills overlooking Bras d”or Lakes, originally as a summer home, but it became an important part of their lives and they are both buried there. The Silver Dart, a replica of which is on display in the museum, was the first powered plane to be flown in Canada in 1909. It was first built in Hammondsport, NY and flew there in the summer of 1908 but it was then disassembled and moved up to Baddeck and was flown in the winter of 1909.    While I was at the museum, a class of students was being instructed on the art of kite-making as Bell used a lot of kites to prove various hypothesis regarding flight. I saw them outside afterward trying them out.     After a quick bite I then headed to Iona, a short drive and cable ferry ride south of Baddeck. It is the location of the Highland Village, a part of the Nova Scotia museum system. The village is a group of historical buildings moved to this site from around the highlands of Cape Breton, to tell the story of the Highland and island Scots migration to Nova Scotia. Various buildings span the time from 1770s – 1920s and there are “first person animators” (i.e. students and others dressed in period costume) who greet you in Gaelic and tell you about their experiences living in these times, their reason for the migration to Nova Scotia and then for many on to Boston and other parts of the eastern seaboard. This and other projects are hoping to ensure that Gaelic identity continues to be embraced, nurtured and celebrated in Nova Scotia. By the way, the signs in Cape Breton are written in both English and Gaelic. I chose a picture of this sign to post because we have some McKinnons in our genetic pool. I picked up a CD by Natalie and Buddy MacMaster of music from Cape Breton at the gift shop.    By this point it had started to rain, so I decided a nap was in order. During the 30 minutes of my nap I had 3 new neighbours when I emerged! It must be Friday! And since it was Friday I decided I deserved a night on the town, well, at least a dinner in a pub at the Inverary Inn. I had a great Chicken Caesar Salad, glass of wine and great conversation with the bartender and the proprietor. Everyone was excited for the first wedding of the season which is tomorrow. Apparently this is a big destination wedding location and there are at least one or two weddings every weekend. I had heard that there would be live music at the Yacht Club Friday night and so off I went in seek of that experience. I found not only the Yacht Club, some local music, but some new friends. I chatted at the bar with a lovely woman trying hard to get the bartender’s attention to get a drink and she ended up inviting me to join she and her companion who are on a bus tour from Halifax. Ingrid from northern Indiana, travelling with her mother and Maureen, a nurse from Massachusetts, were on the last couple of days of their tour. We also got talking to a couple of locals who were really enjoying the music. Great end to a great day.

Baddeck, Canada

That’s what the sign says, and from the languages I heard being spoken on the Trail today, I’d believe it. German, english from Australia, England, and USA, and another which I wasn’t entirely sure. Lesson learned for today: In Cape Breton you say, “Down north”, not “Up north”. I love oat cakes! My exercise ball makes a great footstool. The sun shone mostly brightly today, as promised, and so I took off early to navigate the Cabot Trail. Which direction you ask, well that is the 64,000 question. Discussions about the direction of travel – whether clockwise or counter-clockwise – consume visiter info booths and campground gathering spots around the island. On the advice of the pedicurist I went counter-clockwise, and it was confirmed by the Parks Canada employee at the gate that it was the right way to go about it. First, since most of the pullouts are on the right going counter-clockwise means you need to cross traffic less often. Second, the sun is in the right direction for photos doing the east in the morning and the west in the evening. (Of course that one depends on where you start the circle), and the vistas on the west are definitely better going north to south. The pictures really say it all. The only thing I’ll add is that I had awesome crab and corn chowder at the Chowder House up near the lighthouse in Neil’s Harbour. The people were super friendly, but then that is the case all over Cape Breton Island and more generally Nova Scotia and even more generally, all of Atlantic Canada. Oh yes, and don’t miss the moose picture. She came out of the woods and just stood at the side of the road as I slowed to a halt and took her picture through the windshield. Then off she went back into the woods.

Ingonish, Canada

Neils Harbour, Canada

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Margaree Forks, Canada

Victoria County, Canada

Today was a mixed bag of activities. So much to see and do! Since it started off as a dreary raining day, I started the day pampering myself with a pedicure at the Spa at the Inverary Inn. I’m sure those toes will end up in a picture sometime soon, if it ever gets warm enough for them to be out of their hiking boots! Before my pedicure I stopped in at Bean There to grab some tea. There was quite the buzz in the coffee shop this morning. It was the first Community Market of the year and everyone was excited to be going and catching up with friends. Everyone in the shop had something to tell me about it and to be sure I got there. So after my pedi I headed over there to see what all the excitement was about. It was relatively small, but someone noted that it was larger as the season went on once the farmers had produce ready. There were all sorts of the good quality artists’ works, several baking tables, hand made soaps, talcum powders, sausages, and seemingly a little out of place, samosas. I grabbed a chili sausage and rhubarb tart for my lunch and sat at a folding table to munch and chat with one of the local residents whose daughter lived in Ottawa. Seems there is always a connection of some kind when you get talking to folks. Then all fueled up and with nice bright toes, I started off for a hike that had been recommended to me by the info booth ladies, who know me on sight by now, and the aesthetician. It was just a few minutes north of Baddeck back up in the hills and featured a waterfall they claimed was worth the walk. It was only an hour and about 3.5 km round trip and followed a small river all the way along. It had rained a lot last night so the trail was quite wet and muddy in places. I passed a woman coming back who said she wasn’t going further because she was wearing white runners and they were getting dirty. So her husband went on without her. Smart man. The falls were pretty and the walk was delightful with the sun filtering through the trees. Reminded me of the west coast and in particular the Rosewall Creek trail, Rae and Char. No cougar sightings on this hike though.