A long way from Fresno
Evening Harbour, Chéticamp, Cape Breton IslandDay 11: Halifax-Dartmouth ~ Chéticamp (470km)
I took today's picture of the day in the dying moments of the sun's light. And lucky I did, because up to that point I had taken only a handful of shots, none of which were even remotely interesting enough to fill the spot.
After waking up to sunny skies and a wonderful breakfast at the B&B in Halifax-Dartmouth, we'd had a very uneventful morning. We left our laundry at a laundromat that had drop and go service and drove in to Halifax to see the Maritime Museum. For $8.00 we got admission and a cheezy lapel clip that would allow us to come and go for the rest of the day if, for instance, we wanted to break for lunch. "Is there really that much to see?", I asked the girl who took our money. I mean come on, it's a small museum in Halifax.
"Oh yeah," she replied, "Tons," but then proceded to show me a map with two small floors of displays. Needless to say, I doubt anyone spends so much time there that they require sustinence to go on, but at the same time, our 90 minutes there only allowed us to cover the detailed exhibits on the Navy, the Halifax Explosion, and the Titanic, all of which were very interesting.
A quick drive by the Halifax Citadel (great view of the city) and we headed off to grab our laundry in Dartmouth, leaving Halifax behind. The laundry safely collected, we got on the highway and made quick time to Cape Breton. While we have really been enjoying Nova Scotia, we've come to realize that whoever wrote the tourism guide did a lot of embellishing. Countless times we've pulled off a fast route to enjoy a scenic coastal drive or a quaint and charming town only to find the scenic drive 95% treed in and the charming town nothing more than some bland houses on an empty street. This afternoon we got suckered in again, stopping in New Glasgow to grab a quick bite, and it ended up being a pizza slice and a salad eaten off the trunk of the car standing in the parking lot of a strip mall. But I guess that doesn't sell so well when you're trying to bring in the tourists.
Late in the afternoon we crossed the causeway to Cape Breton and drove up the Ceilidh Trail, a beautiful winding road following the coast of the Gulf of St.Lawrence. After arriving at our B&B in and dropping our bags, we headed out to Plage St.Pierre which had a nice point sticking out into the sea. From there, off in the distance, we could just make out a pod of whales and the plumes of water they were shooting off. After watching the sun sink into the sea, we headed into town to check things out. Chéticamp is a small Acadian community in the northeast of Cape Breton, just shy of where the Cabot Trail comes out to the coast from the interior. There's not much here, but we had a recommendation for a place for dinner, so we were heading to check it out when I finally spotted a good photo-op for the day.
I was taking a few post-sunset photos of a dock, boat and lighthouse when a guy came out of the neighbouring restaurant, lit up a cigarette, and started to chat me up. Turns out his name was Paul and he owned the restaurant, and had just bought the place off a local. Here's the catch: he's from Fresno, California. Fresno's a long way from tiny Chéticamp, I said to him, and asked him how and why he had ended up here. He invited us in for a drink and told us the story at the bar, introducing us to the Dave the Bartender, who was actually the outgoing owner (it was his last day). Also at the bar was a funny looking local in a baseball cap, who was pounding back the Dasani and would mumble affirmations to everything Paul or Dave said, though none of it was intelligible to us. Anyway, after hearing the story, I was still a little amazed at his move, but he must have made a good investment because we ended up taking a table and throrughly enjoyed our dinner, especially the scallops au gratin appetizer.
Unfortunately, after getting all the attention we did at the bar, our table was all but forgotten for the rest of the night, but that might have been because they were very busy, understaffed, and had a lot of guests coming in to wish Dave a farewell.
All in all, an interesting night getting out to meet the locals in Chéticamp, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
After waking up to sunny skies and a wonderful breakfast at the B&B in Halifax-Dartmouth, we'd had a very uneventful morning. We left our laundry at a laundromat that had drop and go service and drove in to Halifax to see the Maritime Museum. For $8.00 we got admission and a cheezy lapel clip that would allow us to come and go for the rest of the day if, for instance, we wanted to break for lunch. "Is there really that much to see?", I asked the girl who took our money. I mean come on, it's a small museum in Halifax.
"Oh yeah," she replied, "Tons," but then proceded to show me a map with two small floors of displays. Needless to say, I doubt anyone spends so much time there that they require sustinence to go on, but at the same time, our 90 minutes there only allowed us to cover the detailed exhibits on the Navy, the Halifax Explosion, and the Titanic, all of which were very interesting.
A quick drive by the Halifax Citadel (great view of the city) and we headed off to grab our laundry in Dartmouth, leaving Halifax behind. The laundry safely collected, we got on the highway and made quick time to Cape Breton. While we have really been enjoying Nova Scotia, we've come to realize that whoever wrote the tourism guide did a lot of embellishing. Countless times we've pulled off a fast route to enjoy a scenic coastal drive or a quaint and charming town only to find the scenic drive 95% treed in and the charming town nothing more than some bland houses on an empty street. This afternoon we got suckered in again, stopping in New Glasgow to grab a quick bite, and it ended up being a pizza slice and a salad eaten off the trunk of the car standing in the parking lot of a strip mall. But I guess that doesn't sell so well when you're trying to bring in the tourists.
Late in the afternoon we crossed the causeway to Cape Breton and drove up the Ceilidh Trail, a beautiful winding road following the coast of the Gulf of St.Lawrence. After arriving at our B&B in and dropping our bags, we headed out to Plage St.Pierre which had a nice point sticking out into the sea. From there, off in the distance, we could just make out a pod of whales and the plumes of water they were shooting off. After watching the sun sink into the sea, we headed into town to check things out. Chéticamp is a small Acadian community in the northeast of Cape Breton, just shy of where the Cabot Trail comes out to the coast from the interior. There's not much here, but we had a recommendation for a place for dinner, so we were heading to check it out when I finally spotted a good photo-op for the day.
I was taking a few post-sunset photos of a dock, boat and lighthouse when a guy came out of the neighbouring restaurant, lit up a cigarette, and started to chat me up. Turns out his name was Paul and he owned the restaurant, and had just bought the place off a local. Here's the catch: he's from Fresno, California. Fresno's a long way from tiny Chéticamp, I said to him, and asked him how and why he had ended up here. He invited us in for a drink and told us the story at the bar, introducing us to the Dave the Bartender, who was actually the outgoing owner (it was his last day). Also at the bar was a funny looking local in a baseball cap, who was pounding back the Dasani and would mumble affirmations to everything Paul or Dave said, though none of it was intelligible to us. Anyway, after hearing the story, I was still a little amazed at his move, but he must have made a good investment because we ended up taking a table and throrughly enjoyed our dinner, especially the scallops au gratin appetizer.
Unfortunately, after getting all the attention we did at the bar, our table was all but forgotten for the rest of the night, but that might have been because they were very busy, understaffed, and had a lot of guests coming in to wish Dave a farewell.
All in all, an interesting night getting out to meet the locals in Chéticamp, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
posted by CHRIS at 10:55 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home