Discovering the Cabot Trail

This work by Suzette Leeming is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License.

Driving up the north side of Cape Breton, we headed for Pleasant Bay, on the edge of the Cabot Trail. There, we stayed at a really cute motel called MidTrail Resort. It was the kind of place you look at and think it will be very basic, unlikely to even offer air conditioning. Au contraire! When I walked into the room, I had to turn around and leave and ask John to come in. What a beautiful room! Remote controlled A/C, and a queen sized canopied bed. Sliding glass patio doors led to a deck on the back, where we could sit and have a cigarette while we feasted on the view of the mountains around us and the bay below.

I ate lobster for the first time in over 2o years and we had a nice Nova Scotia Chardonnay to go with it. The town of Pleasant Bay was small, but cute, but we weren't there for the town, we were just there to sleep before we starting driving on the Cabot Trail. Words cannot describe the majesty of the mountains, the remoteness and the beauty. Even when it rained and the fog and mist descended on us, it was beautiful. We would stop and gaze at the view around us - the beaches, the lakes, the incredible sights around us; it was impossible to believe that the world is becoming overcrowded. And yet, even in this wilderness, wireless hotspots were available... hmmm...

Coming down on the Altantic side, beside the Cabot Strait which separates Nova Scotia from Newfoundland, we saw the fury of the ocean crashing against the shores. When I get a minute, I'll attach a short video I took. All around, neat tidy houses in the midst of which could be found a unique log and stone home which just seemed to belong as it blended into the surroundings. What I'd pay to live in a place like that and to awaken every morning to the sounds of the ocean and the beauty of the water!

Eventually, we did finish the Cabot Trail and we drove back to the causeway to reconnect with the mainland again. And for a second time, we found a Super 8 hotel in Amhurst, Nova Scotia. I really like these hotels. They offer affordable luxury in a super friendly environment. I asked to use the laundry facilities but both the washing machines had clothes sitting in them (for quite a while), and the front desk clerk (Kim) didn't feel right about removing the clothes, regardless of how long they'd been there. So she offered to take our clothes and wash them herself. We got a call in our room awhile later, that my clothes had been washed, dried and folded and were waiting for me. Now, I don't expect that everyone that goes there will get that kind of treatment, but it does show how one exemplary employee can make all the difference in how satisfied customers are. Both John at Mr. Lube in Dieppe and Kim at Super 8 in Amherst, have converted me to being a deliberately repeat customer. I've found myself looking for places that have a Super 8, and hoping that they're as good as the ones I've been too.

We're hoping to make it to the Bay of Fundy tomorrow. Click the video to get a sense of where we are - no other people around, just us and the ocean.