July 17 & 18 - Cabot Trail

Since arriving back from our trip, the number one question we've had is "What was the highlight?" There were a number of places we loved, many we enjoyed, but unequivocally, the highlight was Cape Breton, specifically the Cabot Trail.


We left Antigonish early on the 17th, and headed across the Canso Causeway to Cape Breton. Although a bit underwhelming to look at, the causeway is an interesting feat of engineering. Built in 1955  to connect Cape Breton to the mainland, it was part of an overall plan to make the new province of Newfoundland accessible to the rest of Canada. When it was determined that a bridge would likely be damaged by ice flows in the strait, the 1,385 metres long, 65 metres deep causeway was built using over 10 million tons of rock.

View of Bras d'Or Lake from Alexander Graham Bell NHS, 2017

After a short drive up Highway 105, we began to border the Bras d'Or lake. We were immediately struck  by its beauty, but came to learn that it was special for more than its looks.

Technically an inland sea, the lake is a unique mixture of fresh and salt water, and as such, is a unique ecosystem for birds and fish.

Our first stop was the town of Baddeck, and the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. To be honest, we planned to stop here only as a break from driving, and didn't expect to spend much more than half an hour here. In reality, all four of us were captivated and inspired by the museum, and by Graham Bell's life and legacy. After several hours, we literally had to tear ourselves and the kids away from the place.

From Baddeck, we continued following the Cabot Trail toward Ingonish. There was a short stretch of the trail that left us wondering if Cape Breton was going to be a bit of a letdown. But not long after, we arrived at the Middlehead Peninsula, which offered stunning views from the historic Keltic Lodge perched on cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. From that point on, we were enthralled by the rugged beauty of Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Eastern Shoreline of Cabot Trail, 2017

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the rocky, Eastern shore of the Cabot trail. Stopping at numerous viewpoints and collecting stamps in our Parks-issued passport. At Neils Harbour, we turned inland and experienced the highlands first hand. Coming from just outside the Rocky Mountains, it's easy to be dismissive of other mountainous areas, but the steeply inclined and narrow passes of Cape Breton rivaled anything we ever experienced back home.

Cape Breton Highlands, 2017

Western Shore of Cabot Trail, 2017

We arrived in Pleasant Bay - our stop for the night - just in time for dinner. Based on several recommendations, we chose the Rusty Anchor, and it turned out to be a remarkable experience in so many ways. The service and the food were outstanding. National Geographic touted the restaurant as having the best lobster rolls on the Cabot trail, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Nor did the crab legs, or the chicken fingers (for our non-seafood eating nine-year-old). Most impressive, however, was the ambience. Situated high on cliff looking over the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the restaurant has a large deck that provides stunning views at anytime of day. But with a perfect vantage point to view the sun setting over the water, the views at dusk were absolutely spectacular. If I could pick the one moment of the trip that I felt most at awe, that was it.

Sunset from the Rusty Anchor, Pleasant Bay 2017

We started the next morning at the Whale Interpretive Centre in Pleasant Bay. I highly recommend a stop here as the museum is very well done. We learned a lot about both the natural history and cultural history of whales. Pleasant Bay is also home to a number of whale watching tour companies. Had there been enough time, we would have loved to take one of these as well.

Bog Trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park 2017

Instead, we took to the Cabot Trail again, and began exploring more of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The scenery on this side of the trail is absolutely fantastic as you wind higher into the mountains while maintaining views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Once at the top of the mountains, they flatten out, and the dense forest of Balsam Fir and Sugar Maple succumb to the fen and scrub of the Taiga (Arctic-like ecosystem). We stopped at the Bog trail to take the short, interpretive walk where we found carnivorous pitcher plants, orchids, frogs and other bog life-forms.

Cabot Trail from Skyline Trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park 2017

From there we went to the iconic Skyline Trail. This is an absolute must-do if you are in the park. However, the full trail is quite long (about 11 km), and while its nice, only the boardwalk portion is spectacular. In retrospect, we would have gone left at the fork in the trail, just done the boardwalk and viewpoints, and headed back to the car without doing the rest of trail.

After the long hike, we were in need of both water and lunch, and made our way to Cheticamp. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to driving, and we enjoyed the quaint towns and views from Cheticamp to Port Hawksbury along the Ceheilidh Trail.

July 16 - Nova Scotia Northumberland and Fundy Shores

The original purpose of July 16 was to simply relocate ourselves from PEI to the base of Cape Breton. We had plans to meet friends in Antigonish in the evening, and were setting out to the Cabot Trail first thing on the 17th. Outside of that, our day was flexible and full of options. As it turned out, it was a day full of surprises, and one of the best days of the trip.

Our first decision was to leave PEI via the Confederation Bridge rather than by ferry, as this gave us the most sightseeing opportunities and didn't leave us bound to a ferry schedule. Almost immediately after crossing the bridge, we came upon our first surprise of the day. Looking for a spot to take some photographs of the bridge, we pulled off at a rest area as we entered New Brunswick.

The rest stop ended up being Cape Jourimain, and while it did offer great views of the bridge (including an observation platform), it also offered a whole lot more.  The Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Area comprises 621 hectares of preserved shoreline, marsh and mature forest that can be explored via a number of short hiking trails. We unfortunately only had time for a short nature walk, but we did spend some time in the interpretive centre, which had excellent displays on the  ecosystems, bird life and human history of the area. One of the most fascinating displays was on the human-pulled sleds that were used to transport people and goods across the Northumberland Strait when the ferries got iced in. If you are crossing the Confederation Bridge, I highly recommend you spend some time exploring the Cape - it was certainly worth our while. 

After another hour on the road and crossing the border to Nova Scotia, we decided to stop in Amherst for a quick lunch. By this point in our trip, we were accustomed to small towns in all parts of the country that were more functional than aesthetically pleasing. We had expected Amherst to be similar, but were pleasantly surprised to find that it was very quaint. Though we didn't stop longer than was required to eat a sandwich, it was another discovery that made the day special.

Amherst, NS 2017

From Amherst, we took a short detour back to the Bay of Fundy and Joggins Fossil Cliffs. The drive through narrow, winding back roads left us wondering just what we were getting ourselves into; but once we arrived it didn't take long to realize we had found somewhere special. This UNESCO World Heritage Site houses the world's most complete record of Devonian (100 million years before the dinosaurs) fossils, and was one of the inspirations for Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. Unlike the fossil beds in Alberta which can be difficult to access and are highly controlled, here you can walk down to the cliff face where the tides expose new fossils every day. I highly recommend the guided tour in which you can learn a bit more about the history of the location, the fossils and the earth in the Carboniferous era. From there you can wander, explore and find fossils for yourself.

Fossilized tree, Joggins Fossil Cliffs 2017

Joggins Fossil Cliffs, 2017

Fossilized Amphibian print, Joggins Fossil Cliffs 2017

 After exploring the cliffs and interpretive centre, we drove to Antigonish. Again, we were pleasantly surprised by how cute the town was. We spent the evening with friends at their cabin on Antigonish Harbour, before resting up for the next day's journey to the Cabot Trail.

July 14-16 Prince Edward Island

Confederation Bridge, 2017

We drove across the Confederation Bridge to PEI in the early evening, which is a lovely time to cross, but didn't leave us much time to linger if we wanted to make it to our hotel on the other side of the island before dark. Though in reality there are few opportunities to linger anyway. There is a natural area on the New Brunswick side and a little commercial area on the PEI side from which you can view the bridge, but beyond that there is little fanfare for the world's longest bridge. The bridge, itself, is a narrow two lanes with no room to pull off, so the views from it must be taken in while keeping up with the flow of traffic. That said, the views are incredible, and the eight miles of bridge seem an unfathomable distance even as you driving it.

PEI Landscape, 2017

It was early evening by the time we got across the bridge, and we needed to find dinner and our hotel, which was on the north center of the island. We quickly learned some key facts about navigating PEI. First, there are no direct routes. Coming from the prairies, it is easy to take for granted the grid system for survey and roads. No so for PEI, which was established on a older system in which all roads radiate from the largest centre on the water (in this case Charlottetown) with connectors in between. A map of the province looks like a big spider web. Speaking of maps, ensure you get a full size map of the province - PEI will be too small on a combined map of the Atlantic provinces to be of use, and even if you use GPS or Google Maps, you'll want something to follow as you a navigate the many twists and turns to your destination. Keep in mind, even though the distances between points may be short, there generally is not a quick way to get where you are going.

PEI Landscape, 2017

The second learning is also related to maps. According to our map, PEI was littered with small dots, but when we drove through the "towns", they were by and large just a collection of farms indistinguishable from the countryside. These townships on occasion had a school or small store, but they did not have the services one would expect of a town.  This becomes problematic when you are trying to find a specific service such as a gas station, grocery store, or as was our case, dinner, without first researching your destination.

Part of the charm of PEI is that it works on its own time, and is a decidedly slower pace than the mainland. Realigning our expectations regarding when things would be open was our third learning. Finding a restaurant outside of Charlottetown that was open late was difficult, as was finding a grocery store (even Walmart) that was open before noon on a Sunday.

Ultimately, we found Brackley Beach, and with it dinner and our hotel. The next morning we took advantage of some of the amenities at Brackley Beach North Winds Inn & Suites - an amazing complimentary breakfast that included fresh, homemade baking; a large swimming pool for the kids; and most importantly, laundry.

Greenwich Dunes, PEI National Park 2017

Chores complete, we set out to explore a bit of the island. Our first stop was Rick's Fish and Chips for a great lunch. Then it was off to Greenwich Dunes on the east end of Prince Edward Island National Park. Here, we hiked the 5km Greenwich Dunes trail which starts by offering beautiful views of St. Peter's Bay, then turns into a cool forest, then out to a stunning boardwalk through marsh and sand dunes, and finally ends at a long stretch of open beach.

Greenwich Dunes, PEI National Park 2017

I very much enjoyed this trail as it provided amazing views and a number of wildlife viewing opportunities, and would highly recommend it. However, I did later learn that the dunes landscape extends throughout the park, and you can see it from both Brackley and Cavendish beaches without the drive to Greenwich.

On the way back, we took a scenic drive along the Gulf Shore Parkway, past Dalvay by the Sea and the many beaches that make up the central section of Prince Edward Island National Park. By this point, the boys were seriously itching to dip their feet in the ocean, so we capped off the afternoon with a visit to Brackley Beach.

Sandcastles at Brackley Beach, PEI National Park 2017

Unfortunately, the waters were overrun with bright purple jellyfish. While I am uncertain as to whether or not they would sting, it was certainly enough to keep everyone out the water. Earlier in the day, the beach had been the site of sand castle competition and fortunately, this was enough to inspire the kids to make their own creations... and so, we managed to make the most of our beach time regardless of the invaders.

We decided to head into Charlottetown for the evening, where we enjoyed a terrific lobster dinner at the Water Prince Corner Shop before going for a little walk and drive through the city. We returned to Charlottetown the next morning in search of gas and groceries before our drive to Nova Scotia. This is when we learned that everything, but gas and convenience stores, are closed on Sunday mornings. We did, however, take another drive through Charlottetown to view some of the sites in daylight, including St. Dunstan's Basilica, Province House, and Confederation Centre for the Arts. We also drove by a great Farmer's Market on Queen Street that would have been fun to explore if we had had more time.

From Charlottetown, we took the southern section of the Central Coast Drive, making a couple of scenic stops before heading to Borden-Carleton and back across the Confederation Bridge.

Central Coast Drive PEI, 2017