My Canada-The Maritimes Aug. 2016, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Part 3 of the “Staycation” series. Spending our vacation time as Canadians exploring our Canada.

Who knew-I didn’t. I did not know Nova Scotia had such a beautiful, mountainous, landscape! I am sooo glad we included Cape Breton into our driving trip on Nova Scotia! We had heard from others that it is not always a given that you can actually see the landscape here – fog often moves into place obscuring the view.   We travelled here in Aug. and I was surprised that we also encountered some fog in the lower lying spots in between the mountains- making driving a bit tricky and adding bit of angst to hairpin turns and shear cliff drops. But for the most part-we struck it lucky with being able to see the landscape and the Ocean! Yeah!

  It is definitely an outdoor enthusiasts dream! My husband, Henry’s goal was to hike at least one of the many park trails. We chose the easiest/shortest trail to hike based on our timeframe that day and my fitness ability. I have to say… I thought I was in pretty good shape. But after 1.5 hours hiking the trail to the Ocean- climbing up boulders and going up and down along the paths, I was quite hot and extremely exhausted!  Not only hot and exhausted, upon arriving back at the car, I realized I had a golfball sized insect bite on the back of my neck. EEKKK.  Henry would have liked to do many more trails-I on the other hand, was done at one and spent the next couple of days Googling insects of Nova Scotia and nursing a sore neck and wondering where the closest hospital would be if I needed it. But in hindsight- the bite and sore neck were a small inconvenience in comparison to the vast, incredible views and experiences gained hiking on the Trail!

Our other memorable stop in Cape Breton, was Louisbourg National Historic Site and Lighthouse. Again we had heard mention of this place along our travels and decided to make a point of visiting. Wow- so glad we did. When we arrived at this Canadian Historic Park we entered the visitor services building and wondered where the Fortress was. We then realized that a shuttle bus would transport us to the main Fortress area.

I think Henry and I were both shocked (I’m sure it showed on our faces) at the magnitude of the Historic Fortress when the bus stopped and let us out!!  We wondered if we were going to have enough time to cover the entire grounds! I kept thinking I should have paid more attention in Grade 11 Canadian History class and I would have known about this!

We loved interacting with the costumed interpreters-and the fact that they had livestock including sheep and geese, etc… just made it feel like you were back in history! They included many demonstration (I loved the lace making) and we were even able to enjoy tea in one of the buildings!

We also heard about the lighthouse and stopped there after we left the park. I would highly recommend stopping at the Louisbourg Lighthouse (below) if you’re already in this area!

Cape Breton had numerous great stops that also included the town of Beddeck where we visited the Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site and watched sailing on the lake from the Historic site.(below) I think I could go on and on about this beautiful region. Make sure it is on your agenda if you are heading to Nova Scotia!