Baddeck, Nova Scotia

This is what we did on August 3rd....

This morning we awoke foggy, misty weather. It was nice and cool after yesterday’s heat. We packed up and headed north from Halifax. Destination: Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Baddeck is on Cape Breton, a large island that compromises the Northern portion of Nova Scotia.

The weather cleared up as we went north. In fact, we had beautiful sunny weather by the time our 210 mile drive was over. Since we moved so far north, our internet satellite won’t work. Baddeck sits on the shores of Bras d’ Or Lake. It is home to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, as well as a primarily Scottish/ Gaelic culture.

We visited the Alexander Graham Bell Museum this afternoon. Although Bell was born in Scotland, he spent part of his life in Boston, some time in Ontario but the majority and end of his life was spent here in Baddeck. In fact, his granddaughter (aged 101) is still living in his former home. It was interesting to learn of the wide variety of research that Bell was involved in, including of course the invention of the telephone.

This evening after dinner we were entertained by some local folk who hosted a ceilidh for us. Ceilidh is a Gaelic word, pronounced “kay-lee” and is a gathering of several fiddlers and a guitar player who play traditional Cape Breton music. They were 3 older gentlemen who are quite talented. They brought along one of their high school age students who could also play quite well. They said there is a Gaelic college here that teaches music and dance as well as the the traditional arts and crafts. It is good to see they are passing their cultural traditions on to the next generation. We really enjoyed the music.

Tomorrow we will tour the area known as the Cabot Trail.