Wednesday, 14 June — Calais to Whycocomagh¹

I left the motel in Calais at 6h10 ADT under a clear blue sky and a refreshing +14 (57), a delight after yesterday’s +30’s. I crossed the border and found Carman’s diner in St Stephen closed, so I continued on to the Irving Big Stop just before Exit 137 east of St John. The temperature had dropped one degree to +13 (55), but it was the nicest day I'd ever seen in St John, which is usually foggy or overcast—only rarely have I passed through on a sunny day and none so fine as this. One lane was closed on the eastbound side of the bridge over the St John River, making for a huge slowdown in the morning traffic, but once across all the cars disappeared. I had orange juice, a delicious fruit salad, and the Big Stop omelette, truly huge and delicious, stuffed with bacon and all manner of veggies, and leaving me so stuffed I skipped lunch. My next stop was at the Nova Scotia Welcome Centre at the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The skies began collecting puffy white clouds from Sussex east and the sky was now ⅔ covered with them, some greyer and looking like rain clouds, though the sun was still out and warm. It was +15 (59) as I passed through Moncton and was +16 (61) with a strong fresh breeze at the Nova Scotia border. I stopped again in Lower South River to make a motel reservation for Friday and filled the car with gas. A brief construction delay east of Antigonish slowed me down but I crossed the Canso Causeway Bridge at 13h50. There were some patches of blue sky east of Antigonish and a few occasional sun bursts, but it was mostly cloudy in Port Hawkesbury and down to +13 again with a very strong breeze.

I took care of two errands in Port Hawkesbury and, because it was still early, decided to take my first tour, so I drove out Highway 4 to Cleveland, where I had a choice of two routes, both very pretty drives. I chose the right fork and drove the County Line Road to West Bay and took the Marble Mountain Road there. It is a nice new road from West Bay to Lime Hill (the inspiration for a beloved Dan R MacDonald tune), where a sign announces a 22 km (13.5 mi) “rough stretch”. The western part of that segment wasn’t too bad, but the eastern part and into Marble Mountain is very poor with multiply patched patches and very rough and bumpy going indeed. Even though the skies remained quite cloudy and it was hazy over the water (as it was at the Strait of Canso too), occasional sunny breaks lit up the landscape, so I stopped for photos as I passed through Marble Mountain. The road improves slightly east of the look-off in Marble Mountain, but remains unsuitable for a part of a provincially designated tourist trail, the Bras d’Or Lakes Scenic Drive. The gravel portion from Malagawatch to Valley Mills was in much better shape than the last time I drove it, having been newly graded, gravelled, and even given a top coat of fine crushed stone in places. Crowdis Bridge at Valley Mills is now open again following repairs required by an accident a year ago or more; the picturesque old green truss bridge was fortunately not replaced—they are becoming rarer with the passing of the years. Work is being done on the Skye River bridge between Waycobah and Whycocomagh on the Trans-Canada Highway, reducing travel on it to one lane controlled by a traffic light.

¹ Posted on Friday, 16 June, for Wednesday, 14 June. The three Marble Mountain photos were actually posted on 15 June, but they were taken on the 14th and logically belong here.↩

I arrived at the Fair Isle Motel in Whycocomagh and had a good chat with my hostess and with one of the ladies who works there. I then went to dinner at Charlene's, where I had the turkey soup and a biscuit and the seafood penne pasta, chock-a-block with lobster, scallops, and big and little shrimp; the meal was both delicious and filling—I was stuffed!

I drove on to Glendale for the cèilidh there this evening. Heavy grey clouds hung over the mountains, but the sun remained out; the temperature was now +9 (48) and the wind felt cool. The cèilidh, emceed by Maureen MacIntyre in a freshly painted and redecorated room, for which she thanked those who had done the work, had rather more vocal (country or folk and no Gaelic) than fiddle music, but three fine traditional sets by Donna-Marie DeWolfe accompanied by Mac Morin; a set when Donna-Marie and Johnny MacDonald played for Mac to step dance; a fabulous march/strathspey/reel set by Shelly Campbell accompanied by Mac; a keyboard solo by Mac; and the grand finale with Shelly and Donna-Marie on dual fiddles, Johnny on keyboard, and Marcellin Chiasson and another guy whose name I didn’t get on guitars, during which Mac and a young lad of tender years step danced in turn, were what I went to hear. Many of the songs I didn’t recognize and my hearing being what it is these days, the words were mainly a jumble, so I can’t report more than You’ll Forget Me Not, Fields of Athenrye, Early Morning Rain, and A Daisy a Day nor the names of any of the other performers. A lovely tea was served afterwards, but I was so full from dinner I had no room. I chatted with a few folks I knew and, tired out from the long day, drove back to the motel, where I was soon in bed and fast asleep.