Nova Scotia Day 8

A nice long  drive on the "Cabot Trail" towards our next destination, Fort Louisbourg.   

Nice scenery on the way - about 3 hours.

I always find little road-side eatery's names interesting.....didn't stop at this one, but weird name....not sure anyone wants to lick-a chicken!!

It was lunch-time when we arrived near Louisbourg, so we stopped at a waterfront restaurant.  Nothing special - but I loved that ever chair had little knitted  "booties".  My sis will love that!

We did make it to the Fort Louisbourg park.  It was a 18th century French fort - but was eventually taken by the British.   In it's time, it was the 3rd busiest port in North America in the early 1700's - behind Boston and  Philadelphia. 

Like Willaimsburg, there were lots of  costumed folks doing the work that they would have been doing in the 1700's.  This blacksmith shop was really neat - they hammered out neat items while they were talking.

Very interesting - this is looking down in the "ice house" - it was like a huge well - but they used ice and layers of straw to keep produce and milk product fresh year - round.

What fort is complete without cannons?    These are re-creatations, not the originals.  (real warm-body soldier in the background!)

A pretty chapel.

Must have been a busy town back in the 1700's!

I'll leave you with a cute little video clip!

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!