Baddeck to Cheticamp in the Drizzle

Day 4 – Baddeck to Cheticamp

Breakfast Report: The Silver Dart Inn - beautiful oatcakes and good, strong coffee – served in a sunlit room with a water view. What more do you want?

Scenic drive ahead, small fishing villages , and many a National Park picnic spot. Maybe picnic supplies a good idea. A baguette and some smoked halibut pate?? But whoops… we are in Celticland – the wonderful bakery had hearty loaf breads and muffins, but baguettes? “we don’t do those.” Although, up the east coast of Cape Breton, we found a boudin blanc, white sausage, and local pickled herring. The road was pretty much hemmed in by trees, so glimpses of the water only occasional.

I think we are treed out!

There were many arts and crafts establishments, and gift shops selling Celtic wares. And every other person had a B & B. You do wonder how people manage to make a living. And then it started to mist. The red rocky coastline was inviting, the weather not cooperating. We decided to go just one more harbor before laying out the spread on the dashboard. And there was the little Chowder House, in tiny McNeils Harbor which was full of boats and traps.

Seafood chowder was Gre-at, with a lot of potato, my crab burger – was only crabmeat (sweet and delicate) and mayo on a plain ole hamburger bun, that didn’t do it justice. But the French fries were marvelous. Next time…. And the picnic? There is always tomorrow.

We climbed up, over and down dramatic mountains in the gloom, with the sea below – and reached Cheticamp, an Acadian town, where the signs are in French and you hear French spoken. There is a crafts co-op known for their wool rug-hooking. The local women dye the wool themselves and work on their projects individually as a cottage industry. The English spoken had an unusual intonation – a French-speakers English.

A small fishing village, Cheticamp has known prosperity when potash was found the beginning of the 20^th century. The community flourished for awhile, but the arrival of WW 2 brought the industry to an end. There is a beautiful stone church soaring over all. The votives were sparkling like jewels.

Laurie’s Motor Inn is still in the…maybe 70’s….rubber plugs in sink and tub (as were last night’s). They work very well.

And the clouds broke to allow a sunset.

And then: Dinner

Where? I think we made the right decsion – lowkey place – Hometown Kitchen Restaurant.

Crab dinner. And learned some interesting things – the lobster and crabs seasons are very limited, and vary according to the region of the island. Lobster season here May 1 (if ice is gone) to July 1. Assuming this is about conservation.

Someone said – “when there is a will, there is a way.”