Blogs from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, North America - page 6

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, is mostly populated by Scottish and Acadian descendents in small villages and towns on the coast and the Highlands. You will hear Gaelic and French spoken, and signs are sometimes in two languages. We visited historic Fort Louisbourg, a reconstructed 18th century French fort which protected France’s interests in the New World. To condense history, the fort was captured by the British twice, and the French were evicted both times. The Fort is akin to Colonial Williamsburg in that period-costumed soldiers, servants, and residents provide a taste of settlement life in the 1700s. We also drove the beautiful Cabot Trail which will require its own blog entry. Some general observations since we’ve been north of the border: Quirky Maritime food tidbits Poutine - French fries smothered with gravy and cheese. Hot ... 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

The drive from Halifax to the link to Cape Breton is not hugely exciting so we added our own excitement by first getting lost on our way out of Halifax and then by missing the exit for Truro, where we intended to have breakfast. After Truro, the highway meets the Trans-Canada at a "T" and we exited at the first town after that. The town really only had a convenience store, so they recommended going 5 minutes down the road... to Truro! We ended up with a really yummy breakfast at a diner attached to a motel - and it was super cheap, about $3 per person! Once on Cape Breton, we headed east to Isle Madeleine. There is a reknowned candy store here that my boss had raved about. They make their own candies and ... read more

Today was great. We took a drive up to Marion Bridge (not too far away from Baddeck) to go to the Two Rivers Wildlife Park. We figured this was probably the only way we were going to see a moose since our trip to the bog wasn't very fruitful. It seemed like more of a farm with pastures and lots of room for the animals to roam. It is a rescue facility and the keepers rehabilitate any animals that can be and release them back to the wild. Some animals however, will spend the rest of their lives at the farm due to their inability to reaclimate to the wild. There were some terrific animals here; some that we normally would not get this close to. Like a beautiful lynx (related to a bobcat), a porcupine, ... read more

We woke this morning to very cool weather. There has been some rain off and on but not enough to interfere with our plans. We spent part of the day at Highland Village in Iona. http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv We had a lovely drive over via the small car ferry at Little Narrows and then afterwards drove around St. Andrews Channel up to Sydney. It’s a beautiful area. The leaves are really starting to change now; lots of gold and red. The colors are such a nice contrast against the evergreens. Around lunchtime we spotted Fitzgerald’s along Highway 105 in Southaven. It was a great little restaurant with the nicest lady waiting on tables. She seemed to really enjoy what she was doing; we thought at first that she must own the restaurant but found out later that she ... read more