Cabot Trail, Part 2

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September 15, 2013



One night at the Markland Resort at the northern part of Cape Breton Island was certainly not enough, what an amazing part of the world! With the cool sea breeze coming through the window, a cozy bed, and an exhausted body, I think I fell asleep in two minutes... a record for me. After a nice breakfast with the cyclists we were soon back on the Cabot Trail. We took a coastal route detour that took us out of Cape Breton Highlands NP so that we could get a few more ocean views. We stopped at several places along the road for birding, but struck out there. The migrating birds that were supposed to be here weren't.

We stopped in at the luxurious Keltic Inn to tour the grounds and interior. It was indeed a fancy place, but I think we had more fun at the Markland than we would have here. The Keltic sure has one beautiful golf course, though. Behind the Keltic Inn is the Middlehead Trail that leads through the forest out onto a rocky promontory. It took us a couple of hours to walk this enjoyable path.



We finished up the Cabot Trail around 4 PM and drove into North Sydney to the Harbourfront B&B. We are only a block from the ferry terminal. We need to be there at 9:45 AM tomorrow, so it will be very convenient. We can sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast.

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Photos

Morning at the Markland
View from our deck this morning at Dingwall, NS.

Cyclists at Markland
They were cycling the Cabot Trail, many were way older than us.

Cabot Trail, NS
Golf course at Keltic Inn.

Comments

[Tom Swan]

Beautiful
Nice composition, Judy

[Connie]

Stunning photography, I especially like the fall colors on the forest floor- moss and so on. Looking forward to the ferry pictures...

[Judy Mosset]

So far your trip has absolutely astounded me. You know I am keeping all of these blogs in order to plan my itinerary when we manage to make it there. You've done an incredible job of both planning and presenting this to us. Talk about being inspired!! You can't go home as I look forward to these blogs every night!! Cheers

[Lois Settles]

B & B
Judy, your mom, if she were alive, would be asking you to take pictures in all the B & B places you go to send her. She LOVED to see each B & B we went in. She would always want to see our room, too. One place was done in Waverly fabrics matching in every room. She loved that place. That was in Bath, England. I went to the restroom in the Keltic Inn (restrooms were hard to come by as I recall). Also we walked around the grounds. Lovely. Such a great trip. I am so glad you are getting to enjoy it this time of year. I hope your back is much better....enjoy New Foundland. Am looking forward to your blog from there.

[J J]

Bed and Breakfasts
Most of the B&B's we stay at aren't all that fancy. Joe doesn't really care for them all that much but I like them. We compromise and do it all. Sometimes we even stay in hostels or in cabins at campgrounds. We don't have camping equipment with us, so none of that on this trip.

[Bob Barbee]

J&J: Why didn't you take us with you? What a wonderful trip. We did spend about two weeks in Newfoundland and toured around the entire island. We mentioned that the Viking Village, preserved and interpreted by Parks Canada, is a must. It is a bit out of the way but worth it. Old St. Johns is really worthwhile, as are all the little villages. The people on this island are a story of resilience, bouncing back from the Cod collapse. The Province was an independent country until 1948 and then the vote was close to stay independent or join the Canadian Federation. Becoming a State in the US was also an option. It is another spic and span place. We were told that if someone abandons a car, they have a certain amount of time to remove it or the Provincial gov't. will have it moved and charge them. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from that. Have a great time. We will look forward to your reports. Cheers, B&C

[J J]

Vikings
L'Anse aux Meadows must be the place where you saw the Viking Village? I don't think we allowed enough time to go way up there. We should have given NFLD more time, but when we started this trip we weren't even sure we were coming here. We should have asked you to come but you'd probably need more than a two day notice. I know we should be more organized, we are always short on time because we want to do too much.