Road Trip, Day 14: A fiddle, a fort, a light, and a lodge

DAY 14: AT A GLANCE
Starting Point: St. Peter’s, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
End Point: Ingonish, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
Starting mileage: 190,016
Ending mileage: 190,205
Daily total (miles): 189
Trip total (miles): 1910

Day 14: The start of our third and final week on the road, and this third week is the week I’ve been anticipating and looking forward to the most—exploring Cape Breton Island and a return to Prince Edward Island, which we visited last summer. In fact, we loved PEI so much that we decided on exploring the rest of the region for this summer’s road trip. But still, Day 14. Damn, it’s going by quickly! So, Day 14…

Having spent a great night in one of Nova Scotia’s fantastic provincial parks, Battery Provincial Park, we woke up ready to take on the day. And here’s what I’ve decided on this trip: I think if I lived out of the van, I’d actually be a morning person! For starters, it’s hard to stay asleep when the sun streams through the van’s curtains—even though I wear this awesome eye mask. This particular morning, I woke around 5:20 a.m. and refused to actually get up that early. G, however, woke up around 5:30 and began doing work so he wouldn’t fall too far behind. By 6/6:30, my attempts to fall back asleep had failed. Since I had taken my ear plugs out (yep, I sleep wearing both an eye mask and ear plugs—at home and away—as G gets up A LOT during the night) and could hear G tap, tap, tapping away on his keyboard, I was definitely awake. I am not a morning person by nature. Yet, here I was, up and walking up to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for the day. Who knew?

Today would bring a bit of driving, but that would be broken up by a few stops along the way. Our plan for the day included a visit to the Fortress of Louisbourg, a swing into Sydney, a stop at Starbucks, and a final stop in Ingonish, where we’d be spending the night at Keltic Lodge at the Highlands.

Since we were up, we decided we’d hit up Starbucks first (instead of in after the fortress) so that I could work on a few blog posts (I don’t like being more than two days behind!!) and so that G could keep up on work. After transforming the van from “hotel room” to “car,” we were ready to hit the road by 7:30 a.m.; we arrived at the Starbucks in Sydney, Cape Breton just before 9, ordered drinks and breakfast, and got to work. Interestingly enough, this Starbucks had the best WiFi I’ve had thus far on the trip, and I made sure to take advantage of it, knowing that the next few days in Cape Breton might be hit-or-miss. In these little spurts, I’m realizing what it might be like to live on the road full-time (my absolute dream!!)—hanging in Starbucks for WiFi, finding a laundromat, packing up the van each morning, etc. Maybe, just maybe, this right here is the life!

First stop: The Big Fiddle. You can literally plug that into Google Maps, and there it is. And whoa! This fiddle is ginormous—nearly 50 feet tall! The fiddle, located on the waterfront where the cruises come in, celebrates the musical heritage of Cape Breton, brought over from Scottish immigrants. At first, I just got out of the van and snapped a few pics. Then I had to grab G, as you can’t quite get the sense of scale without a human in the photo. Luckily, we met up with a nice group of folks willing to take our photo, and we chatted about our trip and theirs, the fact that they were from Massachusetts, not far from where we lived in New Hampshire, and we even got a few tips of sights from the local couple they were visiting. G doesn’t really talk to strangers; I, on the other hand, can’t resist!

We finally left shortly before noon, and we were off to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg, North America’s largest reconstruction. We had been torn about this excursion, as it’s bit off the beaten path, and we weren’t sure if it would be, well, “cheesy.” While we both enjoy historical sights and sites, would costumed folks in colonial village reconstructions feel authentic or contrived?

I wondered if the Fortress of Louisbourg would be like Colonial Williamsburg—now, hear me out: I liked Colonial Williamsburg a lot, but it’s a bit commercial. And, at times I though the folks in character took their “being in character” a wee bit too far. I’m all for the suspension of disbelief, but c’mon! I worried that Louisbourg, despite the rave reviews, would be a letdown and that we’d regret the side trip. This couldn’t have been more from the truth! For starters, the Fortress isn’t built up or commercialized at all. There’s no “town” to speak of—just the fortress. Only 1/4 of Louisbourg has been reconstructed, three quarters remains in ruins. Both G and I wished we had had more time to explore and really take it all in and walk some of the trails through the ruins, but, unfortunately, we didn’t have the time. Next time!! Instead, we crammed in as much as we could, wandering in and out of buildings, stopping to have a bite to eat, and taking as much as we could in.

After parking at the visitor’s center and presenting our parks pass (otherwise, admission is $17.60CAD/pp), we waited for the shuttle to take us to the fortress. We walked up the path and met our first costumed staff member who asked the group of us if we spoke French or English. Keep in mind that when visiting Louisbourg, visitors travel back in time to French colonial life between 1713 and 1744. At that time, Louisbourg was a major cosmopolitan town and a major fishing center. According to this site,

Louisbourg was an important strategic capital in the French colony of Île Royale (Cape Breton Island). It was the scene of two major military sieges in the Anglo-French wars for supremacy in North America. The fall of Louisbourg to the British in 1758 paved the way for the capture of Québec and the end of French rule in North America.

The guide proceeded to give us an overview in both languages (French just sounds SO cool!!!) before informing us that we were about to enter a French fortified town and we were at war with the English.

As visitors enter through The Dauphin Gate (vertical photo), they’re met with vistas of the fortified town and even a few youngsters learning how to be a colonial child!

Reconstructed buildings in the fortified town; only 1/4 of the town has been reconstructed—the rest remains in ruins.

Interior shots. Duh :)

Frédéric Gate: the main entry for everything (people, merchandise, etc.) coming to the town. In the forefront, the iron collar, where criminals would suffer their fates.

We also made time to enjoy lunch at the Grandchamp House, the working class eatery, where all patrons are given only one spoon with which to eat their entire meal. We ordered the bread and cheese plate to be able to sample the soldiers’ bread and the Pain Perdu French Toast, which was toasty outside and creamy/ custardy on the inside. Note: Soldiers’ bread can be purchased by the loaf onsite as well in the King’s Bakery. For more on the bread (and a recipe), check out this page.

After lunch, we made our way over to the King’s Bastion section of the park. Within this area are the King’s Chapel, the military chapel, a guardhouse, barracks, and the governor’s apartments.

Inside of one of the King’s Bastion barracks; there were no dining areas/mess halls. Each room housed 12-16 men, and each room was responsible for its own meals. The men slept, ate, and relax in these rooms. Each of the beds slept three men—two at a time, as one soldier would be on guard duty.

Top: the military chapel. Below: the governor’s formal and informal bedrooms.

The highligh of our visit was the 3 p.m. cannon firing. Here’s the coolest part: For $55CAD, visitors can pay to be the ones firing the cannon! They spend a bit of time learning the process and techniques, don a uniform, and then light the fuse in front of all the visitors gathered (wow—pressure!!). There are multiple cannon firings throughout the day; when we watched, two cannons were fired, each by one of the park’s visitors. Such a cool experience—G said he would totally do that on a return trip! Another cool park offering (for an additional cost) is the ability to stay overnight within the fortress either by camping in 18th Century equipped style or staying in the Lartigue House; unfortunately, we couldn’t make it work this time around, but that would be such an incredible experience!!

We left the Fortress at Louisbourg around 3 (ah, I wish we had more time!!) and visited the Louisbourg Lighthouse just a few minutes away (and visible from the fortress). The light is Canada’s oldest—the current light is the fourth in the location, and the ruins of the first lighthouse are visible there as well. If we had had more time, we would have walked the trail out to the lighthouse and back. Alas, another thing for next time.

After a quick visit to the light and a few shots, we left the area and started on the Cabot Trail to reach our final destination of the day, Keltic Lodge at the Highlands. I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful the scenery of Cape Breton as a whole—and the Cabot Trail in particular is—green mountains converging and joining the sea. Breathtaking. On the way, we stopped at the Wreck Cove General Store and picked up a few stickers of this cool retro-looking road sign—which we later learned was the original design for the road signs of the Cabot Trail in the 1950s.

And then we arrived at Keltic Lodge in Ingonish. Whoa. Keltic Lodge is owned by Canada and operated by Canada Parks.

We had dinner in the lodge’s informal restaurant, Arduaine. We started with an appetizer of the “North of Smokey Bruschetta” (Ingonish lobster with Cape North mussels tossed with tomatoes, garlic, fresh herbs and scallions on a toasted Parisian loaf drizzled with balsamic reduction); for dinner, I had a Caesar salad and mussels (and these are local Cape North mussels—not PEI mussels!). G had the fish and chips.

After dinner, we walked back to our room, noticing the sky’s dramatic colors and the poppies. So beautiful.

We’ve only just begun our exploration of Cape Breton Island, and I’m so looking forward to what awaits us these next few days. While the rest of the Nova Scotia is incredibly beautiful, there’s something about the wild, untamed, rugged landscape of Cape Breton that—already—is drawing me in. It’s like California’s Big Sur, the Green Mountains of Vermont (if Vermont were on an ocean), and the cliffs of Acadia National Park all rolled into one. It’s what I imagine Scotland and Ireland to look like. Cape Breton, you are stunning. Absolutely stunning. And this is the just the beginning…