Off to Baddeck, via New Glasgow, Arisaig, and Antigonish.

The next few days involved more driving. After four nights we checked out of the hotel in Bedford, saying see you later, with the Cabot Trail Motel in Baddeck our planned destination for the night.

We had lots of time, as our driving time would have been around 4 hours, and we weren't scheduled to check in until 3 p.m. Though the Pomquet Beach outside Antigonish was on the spreadsheet, it was a cool, cloudy day with rain in the forecast, so we decided to forgo the beach day and find other spots to visit along the way.

But first of all, here are a few photos of the scenery along the highway. I can't tell you exactly where we were, but do know the photos were taken before we reached New Glasgow.

D did some research on the "Google machine" and came up with a historical house in New Glasgow, the Carmichael-Stewart House Museum. Built in 1880, the house was a wedding gift to James Matheson Carmichael and his bride, Christian Matheson from his parents. His eldest daughter, Maria Carmichael inherited the property. She married Robert Bruce Stewart. The couple had no children and on their passing, the house was bequeathed to the Town of New Glasgow. Maria passed away in 1959, Robert in 1962.

We happened to arrive on the day the museum officially opened for the 2025 season. The staff were busy setting up for the event which included the renaming of the property as the Pictou County History Museum.

We were welcomed in, admission was by donation. One of the staff shared some information with us about the history, and provided a quick tour of the main floor. In addition, she told us they were having a scavenger hunt, and we happily agreed to take part. We were provided a sheet of paper with clues as to where to find the rocks that had pictures attached and off we went to explore. 

The museum holds artifacts including household furniture, glassware, tools, toys, tools, and guns. Eli found a pair of wooden swords in the children's bedroom and was told to go ahead and play with them. (That surprised me). We found most of the rocks inside the house, and then headed outdoors to the garden and yard to find even more of them. When we returned indoors, the staff member was kind enough to point us in the direction of the last one or two we were missing. Eli was presented with a prize for being the first to complete the scavenger hunt. It was a fun stop and I think we all enjoyed it.

Leaving New Glasgow we started on our way to Antigonish. Again D did a little research and found a unique option, the Arisaig Lobster Interpretive Marine Life Centre. The centre offers touch tanks, a scaled down lobster fishing boat, and lots of information about the lobster fishing industry. There were two young men working the day we arrived. One, was the grandson of a man who built many of the boats that were used in the area for lobster fishing. His father recently sold his fishing license as this young man plans to go to university to become an engineer. The second young man had just graduated two days prior from highschool and was planning to go to university in the fall as well. 

The biggest draw was the lobsters in the touch tank. They were various colours, blue, green, and brown. (I didn't think to ask why. Their claws were banded shut, but the critters were still aggressive towards one another. Sadly, neither D nor I got a decent photo of the tank. The best I can offer is the mounted lobster. According to the note, it weighed about 20 pounds, and was thought to be about 40 years old.

Nearby was the Arisaig replica lighthouse. The original burned down in 1939, but was rebuilt by local volunteers in 2007. It contains an ice cream shop on the lower level. Had it been a warmer day, we might have enjoyed a cone. We did, however, enjoy the views from the shoreline.

Leaving Arisaig, we continued on to Antigonish where we stopped at the Peace by Chocolate store. Originally from Syria, the Hadhad family lost their chocolate factory in Damascus in a bombing in 2012. They originally fled to Lebanon, later found their way to Canada, where they built their business in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. If you ever have the opportunity to taste their chocolate, I can assure you it is delicious. We bought a couple of bars to bring home with us, and each picked out a single chocolate to enjoy in the car as a treat.

Since we were planning to stay one night in Antigonish a couple of days later, we decided to wait to do more exploring then. We headed for the main highway, and I did an oopsie mistake, taking the wrong exit. We were off course for probably 15 minutes or so before our GPS maps gave us a reasonable option to return to the highway. (There were a couple of roads it suggested we turn on that looked a wee bit suspect to me).

We arrived at the motel mid-afternoon and were ready to get out of the car. Our room was up on the hill above the main office and restaurant. The view of Bras D'or Lake was lovely. The lake has a connection to the Atlantic Ocean, but also has fresh water inflows - we learned the water is called brackish. Before we left the following day, D and Eli crossed the highway to put their toes in the water.

The motel did have a restaurant on site, but we had passed by the Red Barn Gift shop and restaurant, a few minutes away. The meal was memorable, not only for the meal, but for D's interactions with several other guests. A couple came in shortly after we did, having ridden in on a motorcycle. They were from Quebec and spoke just a little English. D is functionally bilingual and was able to assist the couple and the waitress with their order. Later another group was trying to order dessert, and she assisted with that request as well. Back to our meal, would it surprise you if I said I ordered fish and chips? Both D and Eli had French fries a well, and we all agreed they were the best we'd had on the trip. After a brief stop in the gift shop, we headed back to the motel for a good night's sleep.

We had big plans for the next day!