Winding Down with Naomi: Long weekend (part 2)

I know what you're thinking...the long weekend was way back at last weekend. Boy, is Naomi slow at getting to blogging. You'd be right if you thought that...but better late than never, right? (Warning-- pictures available at the end of the blog!)

Ah, yes, where did I leave off?

Louisbourg. Peter and I started off the morning packing everything back into the car, returning the key and heading out. We decided we'd try to find the fort (and got closer than we thought!) and explored a bit out past the entrance to the historic site. We found a fun tree by a graveyard and turned around to go back into town. We found a little cafe for breakfast, ate and then it was almost time for the fortress to open, so we went back. We arrived at the building only to find that we were going to be bused to the fortress. (No driving right up to it!) From there we started a day in the life in 1744. (Or rather, just a morning!) We were warned in town that the weather was unpredictable, and it was misty, so we brought our jackets...and forgot the sunscreen in the car. It was warm, sunny and beautiful, though there was fog off in the distance (and later that day!). We wandered the town, listened to stories told us by the townspeople, Peter took videos of the firing of the gun and I snapped a few photos of the town and fortress. On our way in we were challenged as to who we were, why we were visiting and if Peter's tripod was actually a weapon. I certainly didn't plan to use it as such, though I was carrying it, and they let us in.

We heard about rations and a soldier's life. We poked our noses into some of the houses to see how people would have lived. After the weapons demonstration we set back out for the gate and the car...next stop Baddeck. We stopped near the entrance to the Cabot Trail for lunch, eating seafood, like all good Maritime tourists should.

In Baddeck we visited a museum dedicated to Alexander Graham Bell. It was quite fascinating. He had a lot of great ideas. I also learned what a great interest he had in the deaf. He worked on some amazing things. Peter took photos, but I did not...sigh.

After we left the museum we set out for Cape Breton. We found a Celtic school and browsed a bit. Then started the windy roads! We made better time than I had thought we would, so we travelled over Smokey Mountain and entered Cape Breton Highlands National Park to try to find a place for the night. It being the Friday of a long weekend, we were almost out of luck!! We found a spot in Ingonish, settled in, and went for a hike to a Mary Ann Falls. It was a warm day- and a sticky warm night. I slept well in the room with a ceiling fan, but Peter chose a room with no air flow. He moved to the living room in the night, making rather strange noises and really scared me for a minute!!

The next morning we set out again-- without breakfast. We found it challenging to find a place that was open before 9am, and as we were on the road shortly after 8, we made it far from the inhabited places long before 9am. We drove right through Neils Harbour (very nice), up to White point and then to Cape North, and up to near Aspy Bay. No luck with breakfast, we snacked on licorise and held off for brunch.
More stories later-- now, pictures!