Cape Breton II

 After leaving Chetícamp, we dried off in the car as we followed the southern route of the Cabot Trail. We meandered through sparsely populated territory with filtered views of the mountains through the low hanging clouds. Eventually we made our way to the town of Baddeck where we visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum which is filled with not only telephones but equipment and languages invented for teaching and communicating with the deaf and airplanes and speedboats. By modern standards, Alexander Graham Bell would be considered a bit of a kook. Annabel enjoyed finding hidden sheep and completing the scavenger hunt.

We grabbed lunch at the Three Doors Down Diner in Baddeck before making the long road north to Ingonish. We decided to skip the Friday night music in favor of a quiet evening at our campsite by the sea. Instead, we whiled away the evening on a beach where Warren Brook terminates into the Atlantic Ocean. Annabel braved the cool water to swim while Mom and Dad played fiddle music on the beach. We found the campground playground by following the river trail but it was a bit of a disappointment after the massive series of structures at our previous campground.

After chocolate chip pancakes and bacon meat sticks the next morning, we were itching for a hike. We were in luck since our campground was situated across the road from Lake Warren - a beautiful glacial lake with a perimeter path. Annabel walked the entire four mile trail and other than a pair of dropped sunglasses (which were safely retrieved!) the hike went off without a hitch.

Lunch was back at our campsite before we spent the rest of the evening at the same beach we had lounged on the previous day. We all made friends with a local family and Annabel had a great swimming buddy in the afternoon. It was a quiet and relaxing day with almost no driving which was a nice contrast to most of the days of this trip so far. 

It was a bit of a rowdy campground night but we awoke early the next morning anyway and headed to Louisbourg Fortress National Historic Site. The site is a living history museum that recreates the fort as is appeared in 1744. We had lunch with the commoners (where you only get a spoon) and enjoyed talking to the many interpreters around the fort. Annabel enjoyed booing the “voleur” at the public humiliation!

We find ourselves in North Sydney for the evening at the nicest KOA that we’ve ever stayed at…although that isn’t a high bar to clear.