East Coast Tour
Part 5
Ingonish to Moncton
The time had come for us to bid goodbye to our friends in Ingonish and their ‘Happy Days’ cottage. We will miss this place, but new adventures await down the road.
From Ingonish we headed north to complete the loop around the main island, following the Cabot Trail and stopped at the Bean Barn Café for breakfast. It’s a wonderful little spot with great coffee, friendly service and reasonable prices. The larger and more popular Coastal Waters restaurant further up the road, lacks the atmosphere and café style food for breakfast and is better suited for evenings.
This mo
rning was very sunny and the views along the way were stunning so it is no wonder that the Cabot Trail attracts so many tourists every summer. At the north end of the island are the famous mountains forming the ‘highlands’ of Cape Breton. The road is under construction in a few places but because this was a Saturday, the crew was not on duty so we encountered no real delays. There are many spots to stop as you cross the mountains and you will recognize many of the scenes from the iconic C
ape Breton postcards and calendar shots.
A stop at the Rusty Anchor restaurant for a snack is almost mandatory on every trip around the north shore. There were several bikes in the parking lot and quite a few cars. We decided to just grab a coffee and go and sit at one of the picnic tables. As we walked toward the tables a big biker spotted us and moved around the table to free up space. We sat at the space offered and struck up a conversation with him and his mates. This was their third trip in the past 5 years to Cape Breton from Woodstock, NB. And as always, it is amazing. They were on their second day on the island, travelling clockwise this trip. They had travelled counter-clockwise on their previous 2 trips and decided a change was in order. Like most frequent riders of the Trail, none can agree on which direction offers the best ride; its all good. They had stopped at Margaree Harbour last night staying at the same motel we had stayed on our previous trip in 2015.
A little further down the road is the town of Cheticamp. Most of the western shore of Cape Breton is French speaking, but they are still Cape Bretoners, happy and friendly. There are many small shops and curious places to stop along here but if you enjoy country music or just want to hear a sample of typical east coast music, stop at Charlie’s
Country Music store. Their collection of local artists is awesome.
The cuisine is slightly different on this shore due to their French heritage and we decided to stop for a quick lunch. W
e picked Le Gabriel this trip, but almost any of the family run cafes and taverns would offer a similar menu. Le Gabriel is a rather large tavern that features a big stage with very lively entertainment each evening. Be prepared to enjoy yourself, ‘Coaster’ style if you are fortunate enough to find yourself within walking distance of this venue. And I mean walking distance, I have been told that the local constables look for out of town patrons leaving the establishment. On this trip we were here at lunch time, so just a cup of tea as we shared a chicken pot pie and poutine. Yummy. And apple pie for dessert. The best.
The next stretch of roadway is one where I always stop several times to take more than a few photos. It is just so East Coast with that magnificently meandering road along
the ocean. Its an image you will want to add to your memory banks. We stayed on the main roadway, made the turn at Margaree Harbour, turned right at Margaree Forks and right again at West Margaree and then pulled into the park area in Inverness for a break.
Inverness is a beautiful vacation village with many shops and cafes and a long, sandy beach. There is a Links-style golf course here overlooking the ocean that is a small, tight course suitable for the average golfer, but watch out for the sand traps and tall fescue grasses. A sand dune and boardwalk separate the golf course from the ocean and on a nice sunny day like this the beach was full of sun seekers and families just enjoying the water and sand. I walked down to the other end of the beach where I found a small hut serving typical beach foods, hot dogs and ice cream, but there was a line up of anxious kids and I decided to pass. When I returned to the parking lot, Roz was engaged in a conversation with a coupl
e that had parked their Harleys beside us. They were on their almost annual trip around Cape Breton from their home in Halifax. They were also travelling clockwise this time.
Back on Hwy 19 and south to Mabou, home to the Rankin family, the famous singing family who run the Red Shoe Café on main street. We were not hungry so didn’t go in, but an ice cream at ‘The Rolling Cones’ caravan across the street was just too much to pass on. After the ice cream we went exploring a little and found an absolutely fantastic old church on the hill around the corner. I am not a religious person but there is something magical about the architecture of an old church on a hill.
We continued on down Hwy 19 and into the old town of Port Hood. This is one of those places that looks like it was perhaps modelled after a Hollywood set of what someone thought an old port town should look like. Or perhaps this is the place that some set builder from Hollywood visited before they designed a slightly run down, once prosperous, main port and fishing village. Or maybe its just me, but that’s what I think everytime I pass thru.
Next stop, Port Hawksbury. This time we were lucky enough to book the Econo-Lodge, MacPuffin Inn. We have stayed here several times because it is a less expensive, small, clean, friendly and family run inn. They also own the restaurant and motel across the street (good for a $5 discount on breakfast). We took a quick dip in the indoor pool, went for dinner at Papa’s Pub in downtown Post Hawkesbury, then sat on the deck chatting with our neighbours. A fitting end to this beautiful day.
The next morning promised nothing but sunshine for the day and we decided to ride the Sunrise Trail enroute to Moncton. We had prebooked the Sheraton again on points, so all was good. The MacPuffin restaurant was packed, it was Sunday morning; so we settled for the A&W. They actually serve a very nice breakfast and its cheap.
We crossed the causeway and stayed on hwy 104 until Hwy 106 and then up to Pictou. If you have time, get off at Antigonish and take rte 337 up to Cape George then along the coastal hwy. Very beautiful. But we didn’t have time on this trip for both that and the Sunrise. Alternatively you could take the ferry from Pictou to PEI. But again no time on this trip.
After we cro
ssed the causeway on hwy 106 into Pictou we grabbed rte 6 and headed off toward the cape region and the famed Sunrise Trail. Just a few miles outside Pictou, I spotted a roadside cafe that served ice cream. Gotta stop. It was one of those quaint little family run places with Grandpa behind the counter, Mom at the till and 2 teenagers waiting tables. We ordered ice cream and headed outside to join the locals at the picnic tables. And as happens all too often, the conversation was about Roz and her Spyder. ‘You rode that all the way from Toronto? Amazing’. We rarely ever get comments about my Harley Ultra. Hmmmm.
This roadway follows along the edge of the Northumberland Strait separating PEI from the mainland. If you like ocean views, small villages and rolling farmland; you will love this road. We stopped at the Chowder House on Main Street in Tatamagouche for lunch. The seafood chowder was quite tasty and with a fresh baked scone, very filling. This little town is the largest along this famed roadway and is quite picturesque.
We turned right onto Fox Harbour Road at Wallace. It is a smaller less travelled road but equally scenic. I pulled over at the Gulf Shores Camping ground for a break and walked down to the shore, took off my shoes and walked a bit in the cool waters. Very relaxing. Nice spot. We joined back up to rte 6 at Pugwash and stopped at the corner gas station to fuel up. A trio of bikers pulled in beside us and asked what was down that road. We were happy to tell them, more of the same with a wonderful little park.
Just past Port Howe we pulled onto rte 366 then around a loop and onto Hwy 16 toward Moncton. We arrived at th
e Sheraton about 5pm and decided not to submit ourselves to the over-priced menu at the in-house restaurant. It was a beautiful evening and we decided to just head out see what we could find. We ended up in Shediac and a small Mexican place overlooking the local waterway. The owners were actually from South America and suggested an authentic fish dish. It was delicious. The DosEquus was cold and the atmosphere very pleasant.
We arrived back at the Sheridan about 9pm and took advantage of the free drink offered before heading up to our room. Into bed by 10:30 after a very full day.