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Time is going by way too fast… already September 20! I could be on vacation traveling for quite a few weeks… easy to get used to not going to work!!!!
We were pretty much packed and ready for the next section of our trip and, after a light breakfast, we were on the road at 9:00AM. We were looking forward to discovering the South-East side of Cape Breton Island and more specifically the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site.
The road was fairly easy driving even though there was some construction on parts of the road. Lots of work to do for sure on the smaller sections – and less popular – of the road. As you can see on the map, we didn’t take the fastest and/or shortest route. Instead, from Sydney, we took the Marconi Trail along the coast, passing through small towns and villages.
We stopped for lunch in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Supposedly, dumb tourists ended in this Sydney via air instead of the Sydney in Australia… go figure!
Unlucky for us, there was a humongous cruise ship in Sydney and plenty of people – mainly old people – were visiting the town. We walked a bit downtown, but Sydney is definitely not doing very well… although they seem to try and bring it back to life from its heyday back in the early 20th century.
We had lunch in a very traditional Celtic pub. We were lucky to get to the pub before the cruise people started to come in. Inside there was a small band playing Celtic music. The food at the pub was quite good.
There was some kind of wrecked wharf at the bottom of the lighthouse, which the local guys told us was destroyed due to many storms.
After lunch, we continued on the Marconi Trail and we stopped at the Low Point Lighthouse on the Marconi Trail. We even had a chat with three local guys on ATVs… harmless guys but one was completely stoned!
Click on the first photo to view each photo as a slide show
We arrived at the Louisbourg Harbour Inn around 4:00pm. The Inn appeared a bit under stress – difficult to maintain with the rough weather the area lives through most of the year. However, inside… woah! Amazingly maintained and decorated in a Victorian style with lustrous hardwood throughout.
The Inn is a century-old and used to belong to a sea captain, originally built by Captain Thomas Townsend, and has been the family residence of Parker, the innkeeper, for the past 40 years. Eight generations of Parker’s family have fished from the sea and, like Captain Townsend, he has an ancestor who fought in the second siege of Louisbourg.
The hosts were out when we arrived at the Inn but there was a note to take the keys to our room on the 3rd floor…
What a beautiful room! Very large with a huge jacuzzi-tub in the middle, two seating areas (with armchairs and rocking chairs), a small desk, and a roomy bathroom. Beautiful and cozy room. I could stay here for quite a while!
From the larger sitting area, we had a wide view on the small fishing port and in the far background we could see the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. The sitting area is where we had our wine and snack, enjoying the quiet time.
We walked a bit in town but it started to rain so we went back to the Inn. We had made reservations to the one-and-only restaurant in town that was still serving dinner off season, the Spoondrift Café. It had very good reviews and indeed the food was very well prepared. Jim and I had both onion soup followed by grilled scallops (for me) and mussels in a white wine sauce (for Jim). Of course, we had a bottle of Pinot Grigio which we didn’t finish but took back to our room for our tomorrow’s apéritif.
Surprisingly enough though, they were out of lobster for the season… until November! Bad timing for us.
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