Nova Scotia
In lieu of making a decision about where to stop, we just kept on driving. The weather was drizzly and rainy, which was actually the main impetus for leaving Moncton; but thankfully, not stormy, so the drive went smoothly, all 467km (290mi) to Sydney, Nova Scotia, cancelling our original hotel located in North Sydney (20 minutes apart).
Disappointment #3: had hoped to visit the mine/museum in Springhill, scheduled to open May 18, but now not opening till June because the mine is undergoing work in the shafts to prevent collapse. Hope that we'll be able to squeeze in a trip, on our way home in July. I think that I forgot to mention, that our original itinerary covered an 8 week period. Now, all being well, we will be away an extra week. It's risky being away from home for a long period, because I frequently have dental emergencies.....grinding my teeth away. And no matter how much I beg, my dentist will not accompany us on our trips. There's also the matter of my health insurance so I can't be out of Quebec for more than 60 days.
In any case, I probably picked the most challenging road to drive on, once we crossed into Cape Breton. That hasn't been my intention, but somebody didn't hear the navigator say "Right, turn RIGHT" and instead of u-turning, figured, what the heck, all the roads end up in the same place. Which is TRUE, but not all the roads are in the same condition. This road would have been perfect for a Rally Car race, with more zigs and zags than I have ever seen. Also crumbly road edges with no shoulders, plenty of pot holes (more than at home!), and no safety barriers. Even then, we could have handled it ..... just didn't welcome the challenge at the end of a loooong rainy drive.
We finally limped into a hotel, and I LIKE Sydney. If I were a small town person, which I am not, I could see myself living here. I was expecting to see a poor sad, and decrepit ex mining town, but found the polar opposite. Not that I saw an abundance of mansions, but I also didn't see boarded up stores on the main streets and there were a variety of different shops, with vendor sponsored Adirondack chairs, up and down the main downtown street.
A beautiful park edged the downtown area.
One evening we went to a choral concert and another , we spent at a local brewery that didn't serve food, but encouraged you to bring food or order in. And local entertainment provided.
I had a fabulous plate at a pub. Mushroom ravioli. Sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, herbs, spinach, cheese and chili peppered oil.
Michael was pleased with his seafood Ceasar salad.
And it was still warm enough to eat out on the patio although I appreciated the pub decor inside.
And of course, the highlight of our stay here, was our drive on the Cabot trail. We took an entire day, with occasional stops to visit different trails. The hope is to come back again in July and to then spend more time on some trails.
Lunch time rolled around but although we had seen plenty of restaurants at the start of the trail, at noonish, places that should have been open, weren't. I was sure that I was going to be found dead of starvation, by the side of the road, but we lucked upon a twice a year church breakfast. Thank GOD. Pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, muffin, coffee and bottomless maple syrup and we were revitalized again.
This morning, we're all packed up, left our apple blossomed hotel and we're ready to board the ferry.
