RoadNotes: Cabot Trail

Englishtown, NS – September 9 - 13, 2012 Our Current Location

Our goal after leaving Sydney was to find a nice reasonably priced campground with wifi and laundry facilities. Darn laundry keeps piling up no matter how much we recycle clothes in the closet.

Our first attempt was guided by all the pretty brochures and signs we saw for Mountain View RV park. With all the glitz and glamour they used for their advertising it had to be a great place, no?

After traveling for what seemed miles on a pothole laden road, we found it. It was really out of the way which was a good thing. Frank went into the office to talk to them while EJ checked out the laundry.

Ever heard the horse expression "rode hard and put away wet"? Well you could say that about this campground. It looked like nobody had cared for it in a long time. The grass wasn't mowed, we scraped branches on the way into the campground, and the laundry was a joke. To top it off, all their sites had 15amp electric outlets but for two, which had 30 amps.

This campground was not set up for big RV’s and to top it off, we had to disconnect the Honda in order to turn Big Guy around so we could get out of there.

Our next stop was Englishtown Ridge Campground which fit the bill perfectly. This would make the perfect base to explore the Cape Breton National Park and the east part of the Cabot Trail.

We had been warned about taking the Englishtown Ferry to the Park. Apparently even though it could carry the size and weight of an RV, the ramp to the ferry could really tear up your rig. After seeing the ferry, we’re glad we didn’t try to take Big Guy on it. It was exciting enough with the Element.

The east side of the trail has more artists and shops than the west side, so our goal today is to explore all the shops that look interesting as well as take in the sights.

We found this little place with some creations outside. the owner was playing the fiddle when we arrived. He makes all of the items in his shop from recycled fur coats.

The drive is right along the Atlantic coast and has some really cool sights.

We hiked up to a look off at the entrance to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park to get a glimpse of the surrounding area.

Then later, EJ just had to check out the Atlantic Ocean to discover how much colder the water is than in Florida.

Various places along the route we stop to enjoy the scenery. To say it is beautiful is an understatement. The views are fantastic.

In Neils Harbour we stopped a to buy a well used lobster trap for yard art at the condo back home.

We made it to Cape North where we reversed direction to return to Englishtown. It got dark before we got back to Big Guy and even though the area is supposedly known for it’s moose population, we didn’t see any today. Since they are supposed to come out of hiding at dusk we thought for sure we’d see one.

Before we leave this side of the Island, we explore Baddeck where the Alexander Bell Museum is located. Most know him for his work on the telephone, but he had many areas of interest such as hydro foil boats, photophones, tetrahedral lifting bodies, airplanes, and more. One of his hydrofoil boats won the speed record in 1919.