Jack & Jackie's Travels: Baddeck, Cabot Trail, North Sydney and the Ferry to Newfoundland.

July 6-8. We traveled from the campground in Halifax to Beddeck NS, on Cape Bretton Island, a distance of about 214 miles.

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Along the way we crossed the Cross Canso Causeway. The causeway was built in 1955, requiring about 10 million tons of rock. It is the deepest causeway (213 feet) in the world and is 130 feet wide at the top and 800 feet wide at the bottom. Cape Breton remains an island as the causeway has a swing bridge to allow boat traffic to transit the Strait of Canso.

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According to Wikipedia the word Canso is believed to be derived from the Mik’mag word “kamsok” which means “opposite the lofty cliffs”

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The following day we went on a tour of the Cabot Trail. The trail is about 185 miles long and loops around the northern tip of the island. It encompasses the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Our first stop was at Joes Scarecrows. According to the story, Joe and his wife had a little

Store and they had a few scarecrows in the yard. They soon realized that people were stopping not for the store but to take pictures of the scarecrows. They grew the collection to what it is today.

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It is custom to pose with one and get your picture taken. Here is Jackie and Phil, our Wagon Master.

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The head count indicated that a scarecrow or two might have boarded the bus. After a rest stop and a little more travel we arrived at Les Trois Pignons museum which is located in a fishing village in Cape Breton named Che’ticamp... The museum houses the collection of Marguerite Gallant (1890-1983) a collector (who couldn’t throw anything away) even people in the community would bring her objects they didn’t want anymore but couldn’t bring themselves to discard. Thanks to Marguerite many valuable artifacts from Che’ticamp’s history have been preserved. Che’ticamp is the center of rug hooking and the hooked rugs are also part of the museum.

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Here are a few pictures of Marguerite’s artifacts that are on display.

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We saw a demonstration on rug hooking. From what I saw it looks like a lot of work.

In the early days a burlap type material is stretched and then the yarn that make the patterns is weaved through the openings, there are burlap weave in 12 by 12 so there are 144 squares per inch to be filled with the threads. The guide demonstrated the technique of “hooking” the threads, making loops at the start and end of each strand so that no single ends can be seen.

There were many tapestries on display and some had information pertaining to how long it took to make and other pertinent information

At one of the stops some of the gals wanted their picture taken. Phil, our Wagon Master was given the job and several cameras. I took the opportunity to get a picture of both. Notice the cameras hanging from Phil

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The terrain is hilly and they have named mountains. Our guide was quick to point out that the elevation falls short of those in the western states but non the less when you are going up and especially down the steep grades in a vehicle (some were 10% or more) I wouldn’t argue about whether they were hills or mountains.

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After lunch we stopped at a fishing village. They catch of lobster and crab here. We saw crates floating from the docks and were told that each crate contained 100 lbs of lobster. We also saw round mesh traps that are used to catch the crabs. There was a couple of jelly fish near the pier, the larger one had caught at least one fish and had it in its tentacles. If you click on it to enlarge the picture and look in the 6:00 o’clock position you will see the fish.

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On the way back to the campground we stopped at a resort named the Keltic Lodge, which used to be a private estate. Besides more scenery the ice cream they sold really hit the spot. So, with our taste buds satisfied we headed back to the campground.

July 9 - 10. We all have the Parks Canada Pass and in Beddeck is the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. He had a summer home here and did a lot of work here. I did know that Bell’s primary interest was in finding ways for deaf people to communicate. And, that many of his inventions were for that purpose. He worked with the deaf and that led to a long and happy marriage. I did not take photos of most of the posters but I thought this one was worth remembering.

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Most people know him as the guy that invented the telephone but his interests went beyond that. He did many experiments with kites and build a hydrofoil that hit speeds in the 70 mph range. It was being built with a potential for military use but with the end of the war all commercial interest in it died and the hydrofoil lay abandon on a beach until it was salvaged. The display was dimly lit but parts of the original hydrofoil and a replica are on display.

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Later that day we took a short, 33 mile, drive to North Sydney Nova Scotia. We were there two nights, the second night was a dinner at the wharf with the choices being either 2 lobsters or a 16 oz. steak.

Several of us couples chose to have one take the lobster and the other the steak do some trading and each could have a turf & surf dinner. Actually the portions were so large that some of us took a doggie bag home. I found that if I took the cold lobster, pit it in a container, add a few thin slices of butter and heat in our microwave at about 60% power, I ended up with warm buttered lobster that was perfect for a lobster roll or just to eat as is.

With some free time, Jackie and I got haircuts, washed clothes and did some shopping.

The pictures I am uploading to Shutterfly are those taken by Jackie & me. Since our cameras number the pictures differently you will see one sequence and then the other. The pictures at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/2258

July 11- Ferry Day. Today was a highlight as this was the first time I would take the motor home on a ferry. Our group all left the campground at the same time, 5PM, in order to be able to be parked together. The ferry did not start to load until after 9 PM so we have some time to wait. There was a cafeteria in the port so we started with pie ala-mode and then had a hamburger. One of the 5th wheels picked up a nail and had to be changed. As you might imagine, one guy did the work with a multitude of supervisors watching and advising. We took some pictures of vehicles waiting in the terminal and ferries arriving a loading.

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There were an assortment of trucks, cars, towed trailers ( one had an old Rambler Police car with a for sale sign) and RV’s of all sort. As it was getting dark the loading started.

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A tie down and close quarters

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The ferry got underway at 11:00 PM and the crossing took about 16 hours. We all had cabins, they were smaller than those found a on a cruise ship. I think they were the size given to the crew members on a cruise ship. None the less, they were very satisfactory for a nights sleep. The following day we had a buffet breakfast and lunch. The food was very good, at least cruise ship quality. Here are some pictures from around the ferry.