Jack and Carol's Epic Journey: From Chéticamp to Lac-Mégantic (We Should Have Learned French…)

We stayed at Chéticamp Outfitters, a very comfortable B&B on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, for two nights. As mentioned in the last blog, we arrived at night in the fog. We had a yummy breakfast in the dining room the next day, starting off with homemade blueberry muffins, and then pancakes! (Yay, we finally get the pancakes we’ve been looking for!) Veronique, the owner, is a VERY lively Acadian woman and fills us in on the background of her lodge (which started out as a hunting/fishing lodge) and the area. Chéticamp is considered one of the Acadian capitals of the world and is therefore mostly French-speaking. After the French Acadians were expelled by the British from the current-day Canadian Maritimes in the Great Expulsion of the 1700s some of them settled here, an area that was not colonized at the time. (Others ended up in Louisiana and became known as Cajuns there.) Chéticamp is known for its Acadian music and rug hooking and I’m really hoping to hear some music while here. The other people at the breakfast table are friendly folks from Connecticut and we enjoy finding out about their travels over breakfast.

Cheticamp Outfitters

View from Cheticamp Outfitters front porch.

It became obvious that our first day here was going to be a rainy one. Marc and Lynne set off early to hike the famous Skyline Trail but were discouraged by the rain setting in and soon came back to our cozy rooms, resolving to try later. Jack and I gave up easily and resigned ourselves to a quiet day inside reading, editing, and drinking tea. (Life can be so hard…) We went into town for lunch and some exploration and found out the music schedule for the evening, making a plan to come back for that.

We had supper in our rooms (rotisserie chicken and salad) and then Marc, Lynne and I headed out afterwards to listen to music. (Jack wasn’t feeling great and stayed behind.) The bar at the same restaurant where we ate lunch was advertising free traditional music. A young fiddler and an older woman on piano played (very well) old-time fiddle tunes. From what I’ve been able to learn, the Acadian music of today is a blend, incorporating French-Canadian tunes with very old Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes (Cape Breton is heavily Scottish). A teenage girl danced to one song—very reminiscent of our “flat-foot” dancing back home! A pleasant evening…

Acadian music.

The next day dawned with excellent weather for the continuation of our drive around the island. The road around is called the Cabot Trail and is a part of Nova Scotia known for its EXTREMELY scenic beauty. It was breathtaking, with cliffs overlooking the ocean. Marc and Lynne wanted a second shot at the Skyline Trail hike so we stopped at the parking area for the trail head. Jack and I weren’t feeling like a hike, so we poked around the area and chilled in the RoadTrek while they hiked. Lots of people were at the trail head, taking advantage of the good weather. On their return, Lynne and Marc reported a spectacular hike, and had lots of great photos to prove it.

Lynne and Marc share a scenic kiss on the Cabot Trail.

Then we shoved off for Ingonish, a little town on the Cabot Trail, on the northeast side of the island. We are staying at another little two-bedroom cottage by the water, and we find it with no problem and move our stuff in. It’s clean and comfy. After a little rest, we decide to drive around the town harbor and check out the Keltic Lodge, which we can see directly across the harbor from our cottage. The Lodge is a famous resort here since the 1940s, owned by the provincial government of Nova Scotia, set on a scenic (everything is scenic in this part of Nova Scotia!) peninsula. The buildings are impressive. We take some photos and then sit in the lounge and have a snack and drinks while listening to a pleasant guitarist/folksinger. Lynne and I both have a brief emotional meltdown when a couple gets up to dance to “their song”—it’s their 55th anniversary! The boys just laugh at us!

SeaBreeze cottage in Ingonish.
Click here for a panoramic view.

Carol, Lynne and Marc at the Keltic Lodge.
Click here for a panoramic view.
Click here for an inside panoramic view.

The restaurant in the main lodge doesn’t have availability for supper so we try another restaurant that we saw in a different part of the resort. They seem to be out of a lot of things that we try to order, but the food ends up being pretty tasty. After supper we call it a night.

The next day, Saturday, is a long driving day, heading for Saint John, New Brunswick, to drop Lynne and Marc off at Lynne’s cousin Don’s house. We arrive about 6:30 pm to a warm welcome and some delicious fish chowder and blueberry pie made by Don’s wife Beth. They will stay in New Brunswick visiting Lynne’s family for a few more days (her mom was Canadian from New Brunswick), while we head west toward Montana—with a few stops along the way. Jack and I spend the night at a lovely large park near the center of town, designed by the same person who designed Central Park in New York City, Don tells us. It has a comfortable campground and this gives us a chance to set the RoadTrek bed back up and get back into camping order for the rest of our trip.

The next day was another long driving day—we head first to Quebec for a few days’ visit with our friends Helen and Pierre. We love visiting with them and their charming house on the shores of Lake Mégantic, so anytime we’re near there, we try to stop for a couple of days. They are always so generous with their lovely piece of paradise. We choose a route that takes us back into the states, driving across Maine, and then back into Quebec. The strict customs/border agent at the Maine border asks us about what fruit and produce we have on the RoadTrek. I confess to a couple of apples in the refrigerator, but forget about an orange in there. The agent comes into the RoadTrek and finds the lone orange and lectures us sternly, saying that if the agriculture inspector had happened to be here, he would have given us a $300 fine! Oops. I didn’t tell him about the bag of 6 or 7 clementines tucked into our secret hiding space. I don’t think we will do that again. He was mean! I had visions of him bringing out the clementine-sniffing dogs!

We have one other run-in with the authorities closer to the Quebec border, as we pass through a little Maine town. I spot the cop hidden in the brush on my side just as we see the 25 mph sign. A minute later we see the flashing lights and Jack pulls over. To my chagrin, Jack immediately goes on the offensive with the young policeman, saying that he had slowed down as soon as he saw the sign and scolding the cop rather severely. I’m thinking, “Bad strategy here.” (I usually like to use tears rather than hostility.) The cop keeps his cool however and asks to see driver’s license, insurance and registration. We finally manage to defeat him by using the “confused old person” strategy. I slowly sort through the big pile of scraps of paper in our glove compartment, repeatedly asking Jack, “Are you sure you put the new registration in here?” After about 5 minutes of a fruitless search, the frustrated cop says, “What’s that?” I say, “It’s a registration but it’s from 2011.” “I’ll take it,” he sighs, and he goes away for a while. He finally comes back, gives us a warning and lets us go on our way, cautioning us to watch our speed. Ah! We’ve actually used that strategy previously with good effect.