6.29.18. Friday. Louisbourg to Cheticamp, Nova Scotia (Cabot Peninsula and Trail).
Our itinerary had us leaving the Louisbourg area and then proceeding to Cheticamp via the Cabot Trail. But the day was grey and rainy and seemed like doing the Cabot Trail would be a trial rather than a treat. So, Jeff did some re-routing and decided to head straight to Cheticamp, call it a short day, and double up on the following day’s plans.
Before leaving Louisbourg, however, we headed out for a geocache located on parkland outside of the town, on a point overlooking the bay. The morning was wet and misty. When we arrived at the designated spot, we found a windswept cliff with a narrow foot trail of dirt along its edge with signs warning that the cliff might crumble and cave, -- and awe-inspiring misty views. As we headed out along the trail we spotted a pair of the red chairs. It was a very worthy spot. The trail was bordered with deep, spongy ground cover. The ground cover gave way to field and then forest off to our right, as we walked along the cliff. We found an unremarkable geocache in an evergreen. But what at stunning location!! This is the part of geocaching that is fabulous!
Back on the bike, we reached the highway and a steady all-day rain. We stopped in Sydney so I could duck into the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. Jeff stayed outside while I shopped (and shipped my finds home). There was a very moving arts exhibit on the upper floor on cancer, death, and surviving. Usually I avoid such things (I prefer not to think of myself as a victim, but I also do not believe I merit a “survivor” badge given how much deeper this disease has scarred others than me), but I decided to give it a glance and ended up entranced. After lingering for quite some time, I reemerged into the rain to find that Jeff had not seen my texts inviting him into a dry chair in the lobby (knowing that the gallery was not his thing). But he reported having nice sidewalk chats with, a cop and others while standing outside in the rain.
Our other Sydney stop also included a giant fiddle at a cruise ship terminal, an immigrant statue (Melting Pot tour), a war memorial, and of course, a geocache. Back on the bike, and more rain.
We skirted the Bras D’Or Lake, an enormous body of water in the midst of Cape Breton, and pushed on, in an all slab, all-wet ride. Sometime in the early afternoon, Jeff advised that the rain would move on in about an hour. I suggested that we therefore spend the next hour inside somewhere eating lunch! We were near a relatively larger town, Baddeck, so we exited. Baddeck is a quaint town with some gorgeous historic buildings. We found a cute and very friendly little diner for lunch, the Yellow Cello. We also discovered that the island across from the town had been the home of Alexander Graham Bell and the town housed a museum paying tribute to him. I had suggested this museum as a stop when we were trip planning, but it wasn’t on the original route, so got dropped. But it was the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon, so we visited. The museum was a small but very nicely done museum, packed with his inventions and stories of his life.
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| Wet, wet, wet. Ugh! |
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| A wonderful refuge from the rain. Good food, very friendly. Happy to just chill a bit. |
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An old customs house
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| The island where the Bell home was located |
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| Wa-a-a-y ahead of his time! |
On the way out of the museum, we ran into two couples, also from the U.S., who were touring on motorcycles (although they were staying in town and were in street clothes at the time). One couple had trailered their bike from North Carolina to the Boston area where their daughter lived. The other couple had ridden from Pennsylvania and met them in Boston, and the four of them had ridden from there. They too had planned the Cabot Trail for that day and, like us, skipped it to do the next day. We had a discussion of Meat Cove, the upshot of which was “DO IT”!
We continued on to Cheticamp, a little cluster of buildings clinging to the shore with a road running through them. But just beyond the most populated area, there is a fabulous folk-art gallery, Sunset Art Gallery and Frog Cafe, which I had scoped out in advance (on-line). We got there before closing. I purchased a number of items, including a painting and a bird sculpture, all to be shipped home of course. No room on the bike!
Our hotel, the Cornerstone, was to the northeast of Cheticamp, on the Cheticamp river. It is a perfectly nice little Mom & Pop motel that caters to motorcyclists with boot dryer rentals and a bike washing stand. But things like hair dryers were only available on request. (One was available, as long as it was picked up before dinner time.) The motel has a lovely riverside location with benches and chairs out in the grassy areas and among the white birches. We chatted a bit with a couple from New Zealand. They had shipped their bike over (3 weeks on a boat) and were now spending a month touring. I think they said it was their third trip to North America, doing that.
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| The rooms were comfortable, but not fancy |
The proprietor advised us he did not have laundry on-site and sent us out to a camp ground, well beyond the edge of town (southwest, south, west, then north), to do our laundry. So, off we went and found a camp ground / trailer park on a flat spit of land with a little convenience store/billiard room/laundry in the middle of a muddy parking area. But the store happily provided change for the machines, there were several available, and so laundry happened. Jeff had found these great little sheets that had laundry soap embedded in them and served as dryer sheets too. Easy to pack and easy to use. I sat and read while Jeff wandered around outside taking pictures, then joined me in reading, until the laundry was done.
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| The camp ground entrance |
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| A convenience store, pool hall, and laundry -- all in one. |
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| Laundry waiting |
After we packed up the now-fresh LD comforts and other laundry, we headed back to town and stopped at a restaurant on the water’s edge. It was bustling, but they found us a table and we watched the darkness fall over the water as we ate.
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| Dinner reflections |
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