It's Been a While, Route 19

I love every part of Cape Breton Island but there are certain parts of the island I love more than others. For example, I love the west coast of the island and I spend a lot of time in Margaree, Inverness and Cheticamp.  However, I rarely head further south to Mabou, Port Hood or Judique because it is such a long drive and these days, with work and what not, I just don't have the free time that I used to have to travel that far.  The last time I did the whole Route 19, which starts in Port Hastings and ends near Margaree, was about ten years ago.  And that's a shame because I just love that drive!

Just recently, I had the chance to drive that route again.  It was a last minute decision.  I had a day off and all the time in the world to go wherever I wanted.  I was going to go around the Cabot Trail but since I am doing that later in the fall, I decided I would go somewhere I haven't been in a long time.  

I left early that morning and drove along Route 4 to St. Peters and instead of going across via Dundee and coming out on the Trans Canada Highway on the other side, I just kept going through St. Peter's and ended up in Port Hawkesbury.  Instead of backtracking and taking the same route back, I kept going through Port Hastings and onto the Ceilidh Trail, or Route 19 as it's commonly known. 

It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining bright in the sky when I pulled into Christy's Lookoff in Craigmore.  Shining so bright that the sea sparkled like blue diamonds. I stopped there for a while and ate my lunch while watching a distant pod of pilot whales passing by. 

In Judique I stopped at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre.  I knew in a little over a week's time, I would be stopping here to attend an event hosted by the Celtic Colours International Music Festival so it was nice to know where I would need to go beforehand. 

In Port Hood, I explored the beaches.  I knew there were two beaches in the town but I discovered two others that I didn't know about.  The water there is known to be the warmest on the island but on that day, I dipped my toes in and pulled them right back out because the water was abnormally cold. 

I was going to stop at the thrift store in Mabou after seeing signs advertising it along the road but it was closed when I passed through the little village so I continued onto Inverness.

I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked in Inverness this summer.  I didn't get to see one of those sunsets I love so much!  But I love being on that beach any time of year.  It truly is my happy place any time of year, any time of day!  I stopped to admire it's beauty, and walked along the sand a bit and along the boardwalk to that gazebo with the views of the whole beach and Margaree Island.  

I left Inverness later in the day and headed home through the Margaree Valley and onto the 105 Trans Canada Highway.  Hard to believe I will get to do that trip all over again later in the week!