Cape Breton is beautiful and I do visit it quite regularly. Last month, we went together as a family and explored further than I have since I was a teen. And it didn’t disappoint! Man, I forgot how stunning it is when you really get up into the highlands.
Car loaded, phones and camera charged, we hit the road. We had nothing really set in stone other than where we were staying and that we were having a meal with Janice on Sunday. I wanted to go to Highland Village, Michael wanted to go to Meat Cove. The girls wanted to go home. { Insert parental eye roll here… }
Sometimes traveling without a real game plan can lead to the best adventures. Picking wild blueberries, eating famous fish and chips and catching stunning sunsets can be the reward for those unmade plans. We could’ve stopped a hundred times over to snap pictures of the incredible view. I do want to do it again when the trees are in full fall splendor, but that’s a whole other plan.
Our first real stop, not counting coffee and bathroom breaks, was Highland Village. We love to explore historic sites and this one perched over the Bras d’Or Lakes was amazing. It tells the story of the Scottish immigration to Canada and what life looked like for them. I’m always amazed at how primitive life was for those first settlers and how they survived the harsh and brutal living conditions.
I, of course, took tons of photos, but I’ll only share my favourites…ok, only my top 4 favs…..
On we cruised, up switch backs and down along the bays. Along the tops of mountains and into the valleys. We pulled into Cape Smokey and wandered down the twisting trails and picked berries warm off the bush. We posed for pictures, the background hazy with the smoke from the fires that spread across this fair country.
We needed to fuel up and along our drive we saw all these signs for a general store. And when you see a hand painted sandwich board on the side of the road, it’s intriguing, I’ll admit. So, we stopped for gas and because we were rather curious. And it didn’t disappoint, the staff was friendly, and the store was filled with everything from snacks to pyjamas to road signs and antlers. If you find yourself along the Cabot Trail in Wreck Cove, use any excuse you need to pop by!!
I’ve never been to Meat Cove and now I can say that I have been. It’s remote, rustic and well-worth the drive out to see the raw beauty of it. Photographs don’t capture it. We happened to be there as the sun was setting and as the western tip of Cape Breton, it appears to be a good spot to enjoy the sunset. I’d like to go back again, and do a little more exploring, maybe some hiking and even perhaps camp perched above the ocean.
We weaved our way onto our hotel. The landscape dipping and raising up to meet us. The hills stretching on before us and closing in behind us. The number of trails we passed by that beckoned me back to lace up my sneakers and explore….I still hear them calling my name. But dangling the added carrot of the fall splendor now….
Day 2 will be coming – stay tuned!!
To be continued,
Lori
