Final addition to this post is for Monday, July 1st.
MONDAY, JULY 1st
Today we visit Highland Village Museum, a living history museum and folklife center that celebrates the story, language and living culture of Nova Scotia Gaels. Set on a hillside over-looking Bras d’Or Lake we begin an outdoor walk thru time. Following a woodsy path to a time set in the 1700’s in Scotland, we come upon a small stone cottage.
A grandma converses with us about the ways of life, the troubles the Scots have had, how so many have left to a faraway land, and what life is like for those that have stayed behind. Notice the sleeping quarters behind, the hearth and what appears to be soda bread. Below, the cottage was one room, very small.
Hairy, spotted on the left side of adjacent photo, emigrated from Portree on the Isle of Skye in Scotland several years ago. He is delighted to meet his kin here in Nova Scotia!
Note: Hairy was lucky to see these out of character/place beasts in this setting. Emigration from Scotland began around 1775. No Highland Cows came aboard ships at that time. If people were lucky enough to take more than a small suitcase it had to be heavy enough to provide ballast for the ship. An example would be a quern-stone used for hand-grinding grains.
Fast forward to Cape Breton Island here in Nova Scotia (New Scotland). Many of the immigrants were mainly Highland farmers who had been forced from their rented land to make way for sheep grazing due to the British Agricultural Revolution, or they came to flee famine in Scotland.
Within the villages there most always is a church. And a cemetery.
Today there is to be a joyful wedding, with the bagpipes heralding the event. Standing at a distance, the bagpiper provided background music to the event taking place within the church. With our views out over the lake, the bagpipes, the villagers in historical character, it was easy to conjure busy, active lives here hundreds of years past.
SUNDAY, JUNE 30th
KitchenFest! is in it’s 11th year. It is an annual event to which all are invited for “the rich and vibrant Gaelic culture of the island”. Festivities take place all around “Canada’s Musical Coast” which is about halfway down Cape Breton Island on the southwest side. Events take place in large venues down to small buildings, inside or out. In the spirit of this ‘kitchen ceilildh’ there is local and professional musical talent, dancing, foods, plays, storytelling and much socializing. Prices range from free to $80.00 this year.
Ceilildh: pronounced kay-lee: A social event at which there is Scottish or Irish folk music and singing, traditional dancing and storytelling.
We chose a small venue, about a 50 minute drive along winding roads lined with natural greenery as far as the eye can see, driving thru one small town along the way and listening to Gaelic music as we go. Although we arrive early, the Celtic Music Interpretive Center in Judique is filling up. We find a table to share with Paula and Rob from Ontario.
There are regulars here. The Interpretive Center hosts ceilildhs every Sunday throughout the year. The Regulars are soon up and dancing to the keyboard, fiddle and guitar music. Each ‘set’ features three dances which are interactive with four couples in each group. There’s only enough room on this dance floor for 2 groups.
Fun Fact: when the dancers are ready to stop dancing they begin to clap to the rhythm and the musicians wind it down.
Michael, the guy in the maroon shirt in the photos below, kindly spoke with Marilyn and me to inquire our desire – or not – to dance. Yes!! So we both were able to experience the fun on the floor!
There was a range of ages in attendance from babes in arms through, well, the ancients. It was a grand time had by all!
SATURDAY, JUNE 29th
It is a holiday weekend with Canada Day falling on Monday. I must set up a storage space today for Lulu with storage commencing on Tuesday. Rather than driving two rigs around the Cabot Trail for a week, I’ll store Lulu and we’ll take Marilyn’s van. So many phone calls – I’m glad to have service – with so many helpful people offering a variety of options or recommendations from “Ya, sure. I can do that. Just phone me on Tuesday and I’ll tell you where to park. No, no charge” to $50 bucks in a fenced in, gated but not locked open space and I settled on $10/night in a very large building which houses antique cars in the winter. Such accommodating folks, helpful and kind.
After the phone calls, Picnic Table Pilates, reading, writing and taking care of chores I pack my bag for the day and hop into Marilyn’s van for another days’ adventure. Today we’ll drive from Whycocomagh Campground for half an hour to reach Baddeck which lies on the shores of the extensive, gigantic estuary of Bras d’Ors Lake. It is actually an inland sea in the middle of Cape Breton Island. See the first photo at the bottom of this post for the map of the island.
Our mission in Baddeck is the Saturday Farmers Market and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.
We begin this dry, overcast day at the Farmer’s Market on the Alexander Graham Bell grounds. Artists, bakers, produce gardeners, jewelry and all wonderful folks to speak with about their products, and themselves. Germans, locals, Canadians from afar who’ve moved here. It wasn’t too busy, even though there’s a tour bus – yes, tourist season is getting started – down at the museum. So vendors had plenty of time to converse.
When I’d exhausted my capacity for chatting, it didn’t take long to locate Marilyn. She was in animated conversation with Patrick. Her short story to him about our adventures and our common experiences in sailing led him to invite us to leave Lulu at his place for the week, come spend the evening, we’ll drink his homemade rum and tell tall stories. His business is selling sprouts, greenery plants (pot?), lard – see the jars on the table – from his pig renderings. Besides the little farmer’s market income he harvests pigs and chickens to sell to neighbors. A man of many aspects. The two of them had much to converse and enjoyed a lot of laughter.
Below: Bras d’Ors Yacht Club in Baddeck was hosting a small sailboat race. There were A LOT of participants. Fun!! There were also a handful of sailboats anchored in the harbor and a few motor vessels at the dock. With multiple restaurants and shops within easy walking distance this makes a wonderful destination when sailing the inland lake.
Below is an island which is a park and has a swimming beach complete with life guards. If you don’t have your own water craft, Banneck offers a small water taxi service to take you there. Run by two young men, 20? and 18?, passage is by donation. Marilyn tried her hardest to flirt them into taking us across with a detour along the way past a group of folks on shore which she had chatted up with. Her reason was to make them jealous we found a way across. Or, she says to the Skipper and crew, how about, do you serve rum or mai-tai cocktails while cruising across? It was all very funny and the guys took her in stride. Marilyn is hilarious. Maybe you have to witness it to get the full experience.
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum was enlightening: the man, his family, and the times of the day. There was much more information than I could absorb and came away thinking I’ll look for a succinct biography featuring him – if succinct is even possible. He was unstoppable in his quests to invent, particularly with regards to hearing and speech. He was instrumental in helping Helen Keller be able to communicate and countless others less known.
After our daily cribbage game at a wonderful, small family run coffee shop and perusing the nearby Flying Kite Artisan Shop we headed out the road for a much needed hike to Uisge Ban Falls – I have no idea how to pronounce that. It was a lovely walk in the woods to a nice waterfall.
Below are a few photos to give a glimpse into the terrain of what we’ve seen so far on Cape Breton. What began as a gray, overcast day evolved into a lightly overcast, 65 degree day with just enough wind to keep the bugs at bay.
Finishing the day back at camp with separate dinners, as is usual, we meet at the picnic table for a game of rummikub, with views across the trees to an unexceptional, yet fairytale-like sunset. I sometimes have to pinch myself. Another lovely day in Atlantic Canada.
FRIDAY, JUNE 28th
We’ll take several days next week to do the Cabot Trail drive. For now we’re exploring nearby. Today we take a drive to Mabou.
A walk up the main street brings us to The Red Shoe Pub, where Marian is out watering the flowers. We strike up a conversation and learn to say How are you? in Gaelic and other terms we’ll not remember or pronunciate correctly. However, we practice throughout the day and get positive reactions and lots of laughs.
Lunch at the Red Shoe was a fun experience.
We also take a walk down the adjacent side street and meet John McInnis out doing yard chores. He didn’t mind a long break to visit, give us history of his and his wife’s roots on Cape Breton, the musicians in their family, and that this is the first day of KitchenFest! a 10 day celebration with Celtic fiddling, Acadian dance, sea shanty shows, demonstrations, and more. This all occurs at various venues where we just happen to be at just the right timing. On “Canada’s Musical Coast”!
This first day spent mostly in Mabou was a Gaelic treat to begin 11 days on Cape Breton!
THURSDAY, JUNE 28th
Cape Bretoners refer to the other part of Nova Scotia as The Mainland. Cape Breton is a huge island connected to the mainland by the Canso Canal Bridge and causeway.
We arrived here at Whycocomagh Provincial Park on Thursday, June 27th after a 2 hour drive from Caribou/Munroes Provincial near Pictou, NS. We have spacious, open sites next to each other on a flat shelf shared with two other sites. The views are large across Bras d’Or Lake to hills of green.
Among all the hearts, flag and squares entered on this map (places we want to see), there’s a blue circle. This is where we’re located at Whycocomagh Provincial Park. A wonderful location for a 5 night stay.
Upon arrival we ventured to take a ‘rigorous hike’ up the hill behind us for views. It was rigorous indeed, but the two viewpoints were worth the buckets of sweat.
For those of you who read topographical maps, you can see it was quite a short but steep climb!
Bras d’Or Lake is long and huge. We think we’re overlooking the lake here and beyond to the Altantic Ocean.
Another view from the top. Overcast skies and slight breezes – the rains have subsided and the mosquitoes are blown away!
Looks fantastic! Everything you’d want from a road trip: beautiful sites, friendly locals, fun food, drink and culture to taste, lots of laughter, cribbage and a place to return to at the end of the day. Great to ride along vicariously with you.
Thank you for the comments Berta. I’m glad to know you are interested and enjoying the posts!