Wednesday, 12 July — Whycocomagh

I got up just before 10h and found a mild (+23 (73)), somewhat muggy, day with bright sun piercing through grey rain clouds overhead, but with some blue sky to the south. As soon as I got to the car, I checked the tire pressure again; no change from last night, though the low pressure light remained on. I stopped at the Esso station in Whycocomagh and told them about the leak in the other tire, but they said I should take it to Port Hawkesbury. Accordingly, I headed south on the Trans-Canada Highway, just missing the green light at the Skye River bridge and having a good wait there, as it remains one-lane traffic. New asphalt had very recently been laid from the bridge to Iron Mines and I experienced another long delay just before Exit 4, where one lane traffic was forced by asphalt being laid down on the southbound lane (the northbound line already gotten its new coating). I turned onto Riverside Road in Kingsville and took it to Cleveland and Highway 4 to Port Hawkesbury, an always lovely drive with very little traffic, even in high summer.

As directed, I went to Seaboard Tire, where they held out no hope that patching a tire that already had three puncture patches would be very effective or long lasting, so I purchased a brand new tire and had it put on, moving the spare back to the trunk. I could see no point in trying to make do with the damaged one and the spare, given I had a lot of driving ahead of me in the coming week. Their service was prompt and quick and I was soon on my way with the tire pressure light blessedly off once more (apparently the sensor on the spare was not working properly). I drove out to Point Tupper for some photos and then took care of an errand in Port Hawkesbury. By then, it was lunchtime, so I stopped off at the Fleur-de-Lis in Port Hawkesbury, where I had their wonderful maple nut salad, one of my favourite dishes on the Island, and the corned beef dinner (very generous and tasty helpings of cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnip, and corned beef).

I had errands to run in Port Hood and Mabou, so I headed north on Highway 19, stopping off at the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail parking area at Troy Station and at Christy’s Look-off to enjoy the views. It had become a pretty greyish day, with haze over the water, so I took no photos. I ran into a friend in Mabou and we had a good impromptu chat. I made inquiries for a friend in Boston about the new glow-in-the-dark coins in honour of Canada 150 both at the credit union and at the post office, to which I was directed from the credit union: it seems that the post office does not have them in stock and will handle orders for them, but advises that it is best to order them directly from the Mint’s web page, which does accept American orders. Then I drove out through West Mabou and up Rocky Ridge to leave off a card and gift for my dear friend’s birthday next week and to also leave my bear spray with them; since they were away, I continued on my way as soon as I had dropped those items off. Since I had some time to spare, I took a slow backcountry ramble out the Upper Southwest Mabou Road to Glencoe Station, where I turned onto the Mabou Road, and drove to Highway 19 in Judique Intervale, continuing on to the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique.

Donna-Marie DeWolfe on fiddle and Allan Dewar on keyboard provided the music for the suppertime cèilidh. Emerald Rae, who was in attendance and used to play with Allan some time ago in the “Boston States”, played a set to relieve Donna-Marie, after which Donna-Marie returned to finish out the cèilidh. Grand music and a fine, though light, supper as I was still full from the large servings at lunch.

After the cèilidh was over, I drove back over the backcountry to Whycocomagh, and then went to the Whycocomagh Waterfront Centre, where a family square dance was in progress, with music by Shelly Campbell on fiddle and Campbell Hart on keyboard. Most of the dancers were youngsters and Shelly sometimes prompted for the figures as she played. One of the square sets had different figures, which was interesting to see. A dozen or so youngsters gave us a Gaelic song and Shelly played some tunes during a break in the dancing. Towards the end of the evening, Harvey MacKinnon and Burton MacIntyre step danced, as did a young lady whose name I do not know. The music was fantastic and the dancers enthusiastic; it was a great evening and a bit different from the usual dances. It is always great to see the culture actively being passed on to the younger generation.

I returned to the motel and read and relaxed a bit, retiring about 0h.