Blogs from Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, North America

7 August, 2013 After breakfasting together this morning, the four of us loaded into our truck for more sightseeing on beautiful Cape Breton. First stop was in Baddeck’s visitor center for directions to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site and museum. The museum sits across the road from Baddeck’s harbor (harbour in Canada,) which today happened to be having a regatta. So this corner of Bras d’Or Lake was full of sailboats with colorful sails going in all directions, or so it appeared. The gardens of the Bell museum were beautiful with lots of flowering plants. We were all surprised at the variety of inventions Bell created. His father was creator of visible speech, a way of teaching the deaf to speak. Bell worked with his father in this field, but was also encouraged in ... read more

Day 12: Got off from Glooscap CG by about 8:30 headed to Cabot Trail CG on Cape Breton Island. Gena wanted pictures of more of the carved elm trees in Truro, so se made a short detour to do that. Our first stop in Truro was in a Sobey’s grocery store. They are a lot like a really spruced up Harris Teeter store. We managed photos of all but one of the 20 carvings. We drove by the location where the carving was supposed to be, but could not see it. Fortunately today is still part of the long holiday weekend, so the traffic was really light. After getting all the photos we wanted, we stopped at an Esso station for fuel - - cost $102 to fill the truck. Weather was really nice until we ... read more

After we left PEI we arrived in Nova Scotia via ferry across Northumberland Strait and on to Cape Breton. If you have a bucket list this should be on it. We were at a camp ground about 9 kilometers outside of the village of Beddeck. I fell in love with the place. It is colourful, quaint, sceinic and charming. We left the 5th wheel at the camp ground and drove the cabot trail, I can't say enough about the beauty of that trip, it was amazing. Gaelic heritage is everywhere in Cape Breton, we came across a little shop that had a sign that said "If it's nae Scottish it's crrap". Even the road signs are in english and gaelic. Beddeck is well known because it was the summer home for Alexander Graham Bell and his ... read more

Saturday, September 6 When we started out on Saturday morning, everything was wet from showers in the night - the first bands of rain going out ahead of tropical storm Hannah. We ate breakfast at a Perkins just across the line into New Jersey. In New York, we drove through the Bear Mountain State Park. The clouds were sitting on top of the mountain, so the road to the lookout was closed. We took the Bear Mountain bridge across the Hudson River. For a while we drove through the countryside - with forest and large lakes. In Carmel, NY, we stopped for lunch and ran our errands - an optician to put the lens back into Mother’s glasses, a Radio Shack for an electrical adapter, and an A&P for Mother’s grocery store fix. Most of the ... read more

Now that we have internet access again I feel like I need to use it so a short odds and ends message. We have had clam chowder, fish chowder and seafood chowder in several places along the way from Maine on into Canada. All have been delicious and fun to taste different ones. All of the chowders we have had have been of a broth soup consistency, much thinner than traditional New England chowder, but very good. We both feel we have had a 2 year supply of coleslaw and french fries. It seems like most fish meals you order come with those 2 items. You know you have had too many fries when you start comparing them among restaurants as you would with steak or a glass of wine. We have been expecting more "traditional" ... read more