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Published: February 10th 2006
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Leaving Cape Breton
Bell, amazing inventor
Off to PEI.
We had a pretty slow start this morning since Carman had to set off and get some much needed petrol before we could head off on our travels. But it's a pretty easy going day today compared to the activities of yesterday.
Once we were back in business we headed off to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Bell is well known and credited with the invention of the phone but I didn't know what other amazing and wonderful things he also did. He actually was very interested in sound/hearing and worked at a school for the deaf. In fact he even married one of his students!
Some other highlights of Bell's career include the invention of the phone. There was this one phone on display with the number "5". The placard stated that the phone number was 5. Hmm, one digit dialing! Sure is different from the 10 digit or more dialing that most of the World is used to these days. lol He was very interesting in sheep breeding. He was curious about longevity and also did extensive studies on genetics. He also contributed to inventions in the
air and water like the HD4 which was like a hydrofoil or something like that. He did work with x-rays, air conditioning (because he got hot easily...) and the slide rule. Hmm, what else? He worked a lot with kites, tetrahedral structures, artificial respiration, desalinization and water distillation. There were many more things that he was studied and no doubt worked on but there was too much information for this little brain of mine to remember. A lot of Bell's work has since been used and refined by other inventors. He was quite an amazing man.
And that's not all. This museum also houses many copies of photos of Bell and his family and colleagues. It appeared that he was really and truly in love with his wife Mabel Hubbard. At least that is what I saw in the photos. There were quite a few photos taken at his home in Cape Breton which was interesting to see. We kept joking that we didn't think that he was ever young because the majority of the photos of him are from later in his life and he always sported a long white beard. But then we realized that taking photos in that day and age was not as easy as we have it with out digital cameras! lol
After our time at the museum we headed back to Baddeck where we grabbed something to eat for lunch (including a super creamy soft serve ice cream cone), drove around on the go karts and hit some balls in the batting cage. We were going to have a race with the go karts but that was sort of a bust since the karts take off one at a time. Oh well!
Then it was a short drive to the Northumberland Ferry that would take us over to PEI. It was a short wait or the ferry to arrive before we could board and then another 75 minute crossing. Most of us grabbed a bit to eat while on the ferry. I was gonna order a piece of pizza but Amelia ordered before me and was given two slices for the price of one so we split that. Score! Then we headed outside to enjoy the fresh air and even spotted a few whales off in the distance.
It was less than an hour of driving over to Charlottetown where we hit town. Stopped for some groceries and booze and then checked into our accommodations for the night which was a local motel. It was pretty cool to have two people to a room. Katja asked to share a room with me. Sure! Especially since I was worried that I was gonna be "stuck" with Cathy. She's nice and all but sometimes a little much for me to handle if you know what I mean! lol We all decided to have a bit of "party" in the parking lot before catching a couple of cabs and heading out for a night on the town. We headed into an Irish pub where they serve up some pretty decent food and drink and even had a live band playing. I had a really delish quesadilla (I think I just spelled that wrong!) and Caesar salad combination. Or perhaps I was just craving a bit of cheese and a fatty salad. haha
Viv and Mandy were itching to go dancing so they headed off to a dance club with Cathy while the rest of us stuck around the pub for a bit longer. I think Carman headed back to the motel for some much needed rest since he's been trying to get over a cold the past week. Anyhoo, the rest of us had some good laughs at the pub. Amelia and Amanda were giving a little dance performance of Time Warp vs. the Bush dance. Some of these guys had so much to drink and were out of it already that by the time we got up and headed to the Velvet Room for some dancing it was quite amusing.
On the way to the Velvet Room we encountered Cathy on the street! That was a close call since we were being a bit mean and talking about her. Olaf referred to her has wearing a pillowcase for a shirt, than Amelia drawing the short straw and having to share a room with her (mind you she bags the bed. lol) and some not so nice stuff. 😊 When all of a sudden down the street we say...Ohmigawd! Is that Cathy coming towards us??
It was just plain silliness on our little walk. First we kept getting different directions on how to get there and then we ran into some young boys that were on a pub crawl that dragged us all into a picture with them. I'm pretty sure we made their evening. LOL
We eventually made it to the Velvet Room where the music was pumping and more drinks were ordered. It was funny when I kept hearing a less than sober someone saying "my pants are vibrating!" At first I thought, I don't want to know what that's all about! Then I think it ended up being their mobile phone going off and he didn't realize it. LOL
We got back to the motel around 2:30AM. I was in bed around 3AM while some stayed up later. I was pretty much out like a light again! So much so that I didn't even hear Tania stumble into our room looking for a toilet and her not realizing she wasn't in her own room at 4 in the morning!
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Robyn
non-member comment
Remind me, what PEI stand for?