The Cabot Trail

Hi F and F, 

The day dawned and it was very windy, cloudy and drizzly. Good thing we were not heading out in the boat today.

At 9.30 am the rental car guy, Philip showed up with a nice VW Volkswagon .We had arranged it the day before .Also he is the town locksmith and had already been over to our boat yesterday to try his hand at repairing the faulty door handle.

We headed off with maps in hand to try to do the whole trail.In total about a 300 kilometer round trip. About an hour into our trip at Margaree Fork  we stopped at the information store and found out we could make a slight deviation to visit Glenora Whiskey Distillery off to the left off the trail.

Graeme was keen , and it was just the day for it being windy and wet , so off we went We were  very pleasantly surprised to find a lovel Distillery and Inn there.

We sampled some. 14 yr, 15 yr and 21 yr  single malt whiskey.We really liked the 15 yr nice and mellow. I took a picture of Graeme pouring some. 21 yr whiskey out of a barrel and into a bottle.

We retraced our steps a little then headed north up the coast to Cheticamp , where we visited the Acadian museum . The Acadians were originally French from Brittany region. Their spoken French is different from the Quebec French.They lived in isolation but were able to hold onto their French traditions. The women were famous for their rug making , something to do on those cold bleak days and evenings in the winter I suspect.On the way out we stopped at the AuCoin Boulangerie and bought a large chicken and pork pie . Plans to have it for supper tonight.

The views despite the bad weather were spectacular.

We entered the Cape Breton National Park and drove through mist and lots of trees.Couldnt see much so much so we kept driving.Once over to the other side onto the East coast we dropped in to visit the St Paul's lighthouse museum., in Dingwall. Fascinating to hear the stories of the lighthouse keepers who stayed on St Paul's Island.Always married men were given the job to man the two lighthouses on the island which was  20 miles away off shore from Cape Breton.From December to May they had no contact with the mainland.

I picked up a book written by a man who grew up as a child on the island. It describes life as it was then.The last lighthouse keeper left in 1991 when it became automated. Onto Neil's Harbour for a cup  of  warm seafood chowder. Then we headed south down the coast back to Baddeck. Lots of good views of the ocean which was a lot calmer and  on rain on this side. Arrived back about 6 pm and then organized our dinner,  the  pie  and salad.The pastry on this pie was the best we had both tasted in years.

Over and Out, 

S and S