Spotlight On Nova Scotia Part 1
After spending a week on Prince Edward Island, Abby and I were headed to Nova Scotia while my mom broke off the train and headed to Quebec. Pulling out of Charlottown we had two options, catch the ferry to Nova Scotia or drive across the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick. The ferry would be quicker if the timing was perfect, but we decided on the bridge because I’ve been on enough ferries and it would be cool to say we had driven across the bridge.
Saturday morning started out misty and foggy, not the best for viewing the massive bridge or taking pictures of it. It only took about an hour to reach the bridge from Charlettown, so we were making good time. As we arrived in New Brunswick the skies began to lighten up just a bit and the trip to Nova Scotia looked promising. We blazed by deserted homesteads and farms, very similar to P.E.I. I found it sad to see these places, at the same time wondering what the stories behind the homes were.
We hit the Nova Scotia/New Brunswick border and were stuck with another decision. You see our ultimate destination was the beginning of the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. But, Abby knew of a place, Joggins, that some say is a must see. However, it was about an hour in the wrong direction. I figured this could be our only shot at going to Joggins, which is a fossil park on the west coast of Nova Scotia, so we headed for it.
The fog and mist rolled in again as we approached Joggins. We checked out the area for about a half hour and then decided to pin it towards Cape Breton. With a good amount of time, Joggins would be a great place to check out. However, if you’re rushed, half assing it really isn’t worth it.
Once again the skies began to lighten as we cruised through coastal towns like Pugwash and Wallace before making an effort to check out Antigonish. Antigonish is a great little place with a beautiful University, but our time was short and we moved on. We reached the bridge to Cape Breton at around 1 pm and knew we still had 2-3 hours to go before reaching the B&B in Cheticamp.
Wonderful looking little towns continued to become a memory as we put the rented Chevy Cobalt to the test, stopping here and there. We arrived at the B&B around 3:30pm and met our hosts for the evening. They informed us to go check out the live fiddle music at the local pub. I have to admit it was a little intimidating pulling into the pub parking lot. Cheticamp is a small enough town for the locals to pick out tourists quickly and we were not going under the radar. Everyone took a quick look to see what we were up to. Being from a small town myself, I knew what they were thinking and I was not used to being the hunted. After one drive by, we went in. The music was amazing. Young adults mixed with wily veterans, using fiddles, keyboards and spoons to rock the small town on a Saturday afternoon. The music lasted until about 6pm forcing us to move on.
The weather was really spotty and we heard it could rain the following day. So, after the music ended Abby and I decided to take in the beginning of the Cabot Trail before it got dark. In the end it was a good decision. We checked out a bog, some beaches and saw a giant moose before calling it a night. It was a long day of driving, but plenty was absorbed. To be continued…..
