Day 4: Continuing Down the Cabot Trail

Baddeck, Canada

After a delightful, made to order breakfast at our B&B this morning we ventured back down the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island to make our way to Baddeck. We first spotted cows grazing on the island almost directly across from our B&B. It was a funny sight, as I’ve never seen cows seaside before. Along the way we made a few stops at scenic lookouts to just take in the views of waves crashing and at a few points could have spotted a whale (still TBD). However, our first destination of the day was Uisge Bàn Falls Provincial Park. We arrived to this trail and took about a 3K hike through the beautiful wooded area along a small stream to find this gorgeous waterfall and rapid. This waterfall is 150 meters (500 ft) tall, and when we got to the lookout point we initially could only sneak a peak of the large waterfall and were close to the rushing rapid further downstream. Luckily, we then spotted some other hikers further uphill and learned of a better vantage point…however, since I immediately freeze when my fear of height kicks in I decided I’d spectate and let Bry stick to climbing. He had a blast and scored some incredible photos (see included pics)! Definitely a worthwhile stop for both the hike and the views! We then drove into Baddeck (just about 15 minutes away) to grab lunch. We decided to stop on the crowded patio of the Highwheeler Cafe & Bakery. Bryan tried a fresh made chicken/apple wrap and I decided on the seafood chowder. Both were perfect to get us on our way to the local UNESCO place (one of many places/biospheres across the globe that are committed to trying to balance the needs of people and nature), the Alexander Graham Bell historic site. I’m highly impressed by the constant curiosity that Bell exhibited throughout his life. The legacy he left behind is truly fascinating, and I never knew that the telephone was created as a result of his efforts and passion of assisting those with hearing/speech issues. From the art of Visible Speech, to the “talking glove” and his knowledge of electricity, the idea of the telephone peaked Bell’s interest to transmit speech by wire. His assistant, Thomas Watson happened to pluck a transmitter reed on Bell’s apparatus, allowing Bell to hear the sound in another room. It didn’t take Bell long to fine tune and in March of 1876 he officially called his assistant “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!” Hence the functioning telephone. The list of inventions for Bell goes on, and again I’m simply impressed by his perpetual ability to generate ideas and solve problems…he created his own assistance for cooling his home because he didn’t care for the stuffiness on a hot day, had a few versions of hearing aids, and was also vastly involved in flight/aircraft/Hydrofoil. We even got to see the remains of the Hy-4. It was also pretty wild to learn that although Bell had built a successful business, as a wedding gift to his wife he essentially gifted her all but 10 shares of his company and she quickly became largely involved in all of its efforts (including being one of the first to fly the H-4…Bry and I can’t decide if he was having second thoughts on his wedding gift because he never actually rode in it himself!). 🙂 We also learned upon arriving to town that it was Regatta Week! As we left from the museum we made our way down to the waterfront to watch the many sailboats dancing across the water. Boats travel in from all across the providence to attend this all week affair. It was fun to watch, and we also spotted a couple other boats, including a giant (106 ft) yacht from Washington state (Rushmore) and a boat named “It’s Five’o Clock Somewhere!” Across the waterfront (Bras d’Or Lakes) was the Kidston Island Lighthouse and on the edge of the coast you can spot part of the Bell property and the Bell’s residence. From here we decided to it was time to check in and relax some, so moved on to the Inverary Resort. This was a pretty cute property with multiple buildings making a little village with some Celtic influence to wonder. We checked out the activities center and pool, then ended up catching a drink at the pub before headed back up the small main drag through town (just about a 5 min walk) to dinner. We decided to have a completely low key evening and indulged in the locals’ favorite pizza place (Tom’s pizza), look in a couple gift shops, grabbed Atlantic style ice cream (haven’t discovered the difference but it was still yummy), then listened to some live music with a drink on the patio at the Bras d’Or Lakes Yacht Club as the sunset. Baddeck is a nice, but small town. Nice to have a slower paced day, but I’m looking forward to getting into the city (Halifax) when our journey continues tomorrow! Ps. I forgot to mention our miscellaneous discovery in our first hotel here in Yarmouth…when making breakfast, we notched small packets of Cheez Wiz right next to cream cheese. Didn’t notice anyone trying this on their bagels yet, but found it interesting as I’ve only ever seen it in a can and am wondering how it would be used with the breakfast items severed (no crackers).