The Black Pearl Adventures: Hautes-Terres-Du-Cap-Breton

We crossed into Canada on June 29 at Calais, Maine. Lucky for us we didn’t get stopped and ransacked by Customs! We were a bit over the alcohol limit and I might have stashed a lime or two away! The weather was still cloudy and rainy that day…I think the last bit of sun we saw was Friday afternoon when we arrived at the Pumpkin Patch in Bangor. That was a bit of a tease!!

We stayed in Moncton, New Brunswick for two nights before heading into Nova Scotia and arriving on the island of Cape Breton July 1. Here we stayed until July 8 to explore the area. During our last visit to Nova Scotia five years ago, we didn’t make it this far north so this is new territory! Too bad the weather is still cloudy, foggy, and rainy…I think we are getting use to it? Like vampires when the sun catches up to us, we may explode and burn!!

After settling into our campsite for the week…btw, no cell phone, no wi-fi, and only two TV channels, one in English with the worst programs, and the other in French…we began to plan our week’s strategy for exploration. First on our agenda was The Cabot Trail.

The trail is 185 miles in length…probably over 200+ miles when you take side roads. Named for the explorer, John Cabot, the trail goes from river valleys to mountain top, from pounding surf, to mist-covered barrens. The trail snakes its way up the side of massive fog covered headlands only to plunge rapidly to meet the sea again.
These highlands are the last reach of the Appalachians.

SCENES ALONG THE WEST TRAIL

We chose to break the drive into two days giving us more time to stop and take “it all in”. July 2, we drove the west side of the trail. Called the “Sunset Side” of the trail (we were definitely hoping to see the sun!!), we set off to discover the Margaree Area, Cheticamp, and Inverness. Part of this route is called the Ceilidh Trail. Ceilidh (Kay-lee) is Gaelic for “party” or “gathering”. The Gaelic language is still alive in these mountains and coves on Cape Breton and the “plaid” is proudly worn.

VILLAGE OF CHETICAMP

THE MARGAREES

We stopped and viewed beautiful Atlantic scenery, some odd scenery, browsed gift shops, and even toured a distillery. Glenora Distillery, distiller of North America’s only single malt whiskey. Everything was brought over from Scotland to use in the distillery. We did learn, however, that their aging barrels come from Jack Daniel's in Lynchberg, Tennessee!

PATTERNED AFTER SCOTLAND'S DISTILLERIES