Cape Breton Island - Prince Edward Island

Monday, August 4 - At 7:45 am, we left Truro and Scotia Pine Campground. We drove on Route 102, 104, and 105, Trans Canada Highways. We arrived at our park named Bras'dor Lakes in Beddeck on Cape Breton Island around 11-am. We had trouble locating our site in the park because the 50-amp service sites above the lower sites were grassy and mud where other RVs had dug in to get out that morning. Ray checked the sites and decided to go down to the lower sites and take 30-amp service. The site we have is filled with gravel and quite dry in comparison. We knew it would be raining during our seven night stay, and we had a terrible thunderstorm hit this area for about two hours around 11-pm. We were so happy with our choice to be on a dryer site. Baddeck’s (Be’dec) is celebrating their 100th Anniversary. We chose to stay in Baddeck because it is centrally located in the heart of Cape Breton Island. It boasts of over


600 rooms, yet it retains the essence of a quaint village and is quite diverse with 5-star suites to campgrounds.
Tuesday we drove into Baddeck to see what is available to us since the weather is not conducive for long drives up and down the mountains on Cabot Trail. It rained or misted all day long. However, we did have fun going out to the Government Wharf where they have the Baddeck Yacht Club.
The temperature never got above 63 degrees, and with the wind on the










large pier, it was time for our foul weather gear. Ray wanted to wait and see if the boats in the Regatta would bring up their sails as they left the harbor. Some did and some didn’t. They also had about twenty prams awaiting the go to run their race.
We also took time to see Alexander Graham Bell’s National Historic site. It is truly amazing what he accomplished. His pioneering spirit heralded Canada’s age of aviation in Baddeck with the successful flight of the Silver Dart airplane in 1909. They have fantastic hands-on activities for children to enjoy learning the amazing facts. We also enjoyed a slide presentation by one of the guides. Bell chose Baddeck for his summer residence.
Wednesday, August 06 - Although the weather looked less than promising, we started out about 9-am to drive the famous Cabot Trail.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada “Where the mountains meet the sea”.

The park is dominated by a highland plateau or flat-topped mountain, deeply cut by steep-walled river canyons. One-third of the Cabot Trail runs through the national park along its coasts and over its mountains.

The Cabot Trail is undoubtedly one of the most scenic coastal drives in the world.

Thursday, August 07 - Weather is just the same or worse. Overcast skies with dark rain clouds everywhere and fog across the lake. We will stay local today and decide if we want to leave early.

Friday, August 8 - Olympics begin today. We left Baddeck, Cape Breton Island three days early due to the weather forecast for more rain. The park is still very wet and there is a constant fog bank. Took roads 105/104/102/16/1/2/ and 16 that were mostly good except 1, 2, and 16. It was a long six-hour drive from Cape Breton to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Crossed over the Charlottetown Confederation Bridge.

Our park is located north of Charlottetown at Brackley Beach, Vacationland RV Park. We were escorted to a very large grassy site with an awesome view of the lake and estuary. We have satellite (yeah) to watch the Olympics. Wifi is only at the office, so we took a drive daily to get our email. Cell phones were working.
PEI is blessed with miles of sandy shoreline, fringing the garden province with colorful stretches of white, champagne, pink and red beaches.
Ray spotted an eagle soaring the sky and landing on a tall fir tree on the other side of the estuary.

Saturday, August 9 - We should have taken pictures of the park yesterday. It started to rain here last night. This is a large park with lots of families with small trailers and they were very noisy last night around their campfires. Mitzy kept us up barking at the strange noises. Most parks do NOT allow noise after 10:00 pm. The satellite is down due to the weather.
We drove into Charlottetown to see the waterfront and historic downtown area. Downtown Charlottetown stands St Dunstan's Basilica, built at the end of the 19th c. in the Neo-Gothic style, the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of the province. It is one of the largest buildings of its kind in eastern Canada and famed for its altar with its beautiful Italian carving and a superb rose window.

It was a beautiful afternoon with most people walking around in summer clothes enjoying the moment. Summer in PEI is so short you have to indulge yourself every minute in July and August. The rains are unusual for the area, but found out PEI had a stretch of over thirty days without the rains, which is also very unusual.

We do not regret leaving Cape Breton early since this park site is so much more favorable. This park has over 300 sites and very family oriented. We decided to stop and grab a bite of dinner at a local restaurant. Turns out there is quite a history at the local Irish pub we selected. Tucked away on a side street, it is on the second floor of a handsomely restored building - upstairs from the Claddagh Oyster House. Great food and great atmosphere.

Sunday, August 10 - Woke up to a beautiful picture with the lake flat calm and the fog clearing and then returning. Saw the sun trying to break through over the forest across the lake. The picturesque view from our front window is by far the most beautiful yet and feel bad we only had five nights here.

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