Today we descend upon Cape Breton Island – a very scenic island that is part of Nova Scotia, but is east of the main island (where Halifax is). Cape Breton is home to the world-famous Cabot Trail, Cape Breton National Park, the ferry to Newfoundland and countless other things.
We really bonded with the Five Islands area and were a bit sad to leave. As we were getting ready to leave the camp host stopped by to ask us if we had an OK time and to thank us for staying with them. Can you see why we are sad to leave Five Islands? Scenic beauty and great hospitality – what is not to love?
Nonetheless, we are Cape Breton bound. What excitement when we saw this sign indicating we made it!
We headed for the west part of the island. In the little town of Mabou they have a farmer’s market from 11-2 on Sundays. We arrived in Mabou at around noon.
As we were driving down the street toward the market we weren’t sure if we had made a good decision as there was a huge line of traffic waiting to get back on to the highway from the market, the nearby parking lots were full, and both sides of the street were lined with parked cars. Given that there was only one way in and out we knew we were committed so we persevered and found a parking spot. As soon as we walked in we were so glad that we were there. The market was teeming with Nova Scotians (I know they were Nova Scotians by their license plates – we were the only non-locals) intermingling with the many food and arts and crafts vendors
Luckily Tom and I were hungry and we settled on Indian food for lunch. We found a leather vendor who custom fits belts so Tom bought a new black belt. Here is the vendor punching the holes from Tom’s belt.
I was amused when I saw this sign in his booth.
The traffic gods were with us on leaving! The logjam to get back on to the highway had cleared. We are now headed for the Glenmora single-malt whiskey distillery.
Glenmora is basically a swank estate – an inn, a gift shop, a pub, and a distillery (pictured below).
At the pub so we did some single malt tasting and decide what to purchase. We sampled the 14 year old “Battle of the Glens”, and the 23 year old” Pour Your Own”. They were both yummy so we went to the gift shop to decide what to buy. The 23 year-old single malt was our favorite. It is a Pour Your Own because they leave it in the oak casket and have bottles nearby that you can pour a bottle and purchase it. By leaving it in the casket, the single malt continues to age and gather flavor. Our enthusiasm for purchasing it was dampened when we realized it is $350/bottle. It was NOT that much better than the 14 year-old Battle of the Glens. So…we are now equipped with some 14 year old – Canadian single malt. I am sure there will be pictures when we first open that bottle on this trip. Cheers readers!
North Atlantic Canada 2019 