Nova Scotia Day 7

More Cape Breton touring!

And a whale watching trip on a zodiac!

Unfortunately during the 2 hour boat ride, we found no whales!!  We did, however spot some playful seals.  They were shy though - you mostly saw their head pop out of the water and then a splash like this one in the distance.

And I finally spotted a moose!!  I've been searching every bog and treeline for one....and this one was just on the side of the road! 

Pretty hike to a small water fall.  Wonderful temperatures in the woods.   No humidity. 

Coastline with not a soul in sight!

We hiked the popular "Skyline Trail" - almost 6 miles and ends in a boardwalk that is really spectacular!

The B&B for the night was sortof weird - I didn't even snap a photo.  

I did document the local beer we'd been drinking - (this comment is for Buddy - Karen actually liked this beer - it's called an IPA, but it really wasn't!)

Nova Scotia Day 6

Today was spent touring the east side of Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Beautiful day and beautiful scenery!

We went on several hikes thru the wilderness.  Very peaceful!

No handrails in this park!

Convinced Duane to stand still for another "selfie"!!!

Up the coast we passed several fishing villages just outside the park.

Long day of hiking!!  Our next B&B - lovely and in the "middle of nowhere"!

Our own separate entrance.  This would have been a nice place to stay for a few days just to relax.

Another good day in Canada!!

Nova Scotia Day 5

A long drive awaits today - we drove off of the mainland Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island.  Destination, a town named Baddeck.

A stop along the way was at a small Scottish heritage museum.....it wasn't much, but I did spy this beautiful old spinning wheel.

Just thought I'd mention these chips.....the dill flavor apparently is a local favorite since the snack aisle would have 6 or 7 different choices of that flavor!  I decided I would have to try it.   Not bad, but I don't think I'd want it too often!

The main event for the day was to visit the Alexander Graham Bell museum just outside Baddeck.  Beautiful grounds.    He "retired" to the area - but continued all sorts of scientific experiments.

Really, I had no idea how famous he was in that era!    He and his wife were also involved in aircraft experimentation - this is the "Silver Dart" - circa  1909.  He and his team were experimenting with powered flight in the late 1800's  just like the Wrights!  The submarine looking thing in the background is a hydrofoil that was built by the Bell's for the US Navy.

Since it was a long drive, that's all we squeezed in for today!   Another nice B&B.....

Nova Scotia Day 4

I picked a few interesting places to stop - first up was the Jost Winery.

Had a nice wine tasting - very good wines - and we bought  a few bottles of course!!

And next stop was neat old grist mill.   Balmoral Mill was in operation until fairly recently!

Got a nice tour of the mill -

Pretty neat!

Destination for the night was a little coastal town called Pictou. Quaint little place, but brimming with activity on a weeknight. Obviously the Nova Scotians take every opportunity to get outdoors in their short summers! The streets were alive with live music and lots of activity. There was a replica of the ship Hector that brought the first Scottish settlers to Nova Scotia in 1773. Pretty cool and amazing that they stuffed 200 folks onto a 80 foot boat. We thought 4 folks was just the right amount on our 40 foot boat   :-)

Pretty harbour.

Lots of Scottish references here.  The street lights all bore a Clan tartan and creed.  We couldn't find the Macrae clan sign.  Probably wasn't big enough to warrant a post!

Had a nice, simple dinner - this was mine -  $16.99 !!!

And then on to our lodging for the night.  Note the No Vacancy....glad I booked ahead!

 

Cozy room - there was air conditioning but we didn't need to turn it on!

Nova Scotia Day 3

The morning after post-tropical storm Arthur was spectacular! But, still no power....but out wonderful hosts made us a yummy breakfast anyway. Rhubarb sauce and yogurt was very good and a combination I'd never thought of.   Fresh blueberries abound in the area - and we were served them several times. 

The view from the room - the churned-up muddy water in the bay, but the sky was gorgeous! 

We had planned visiting several parks and hiking trails....but almost everything was locked up!   Hiked down to the coast line in Advocate Harbor anyway.

We did find one park open - sortof....at Joggins.   The park still had no power, so the exhibits inside weren't very visible.  They only charged 1/2 price for the entry fee, so I guess there was a little silver lining!
This are is where fossils abound along the rocky shore.  Darwin investigated here. 

And Duane actually found a fossil lying among all the rocks!   This was probably an ancient tree.