McLobster, McDonald's, Antigonish, NS

Gord had it in his head that he wanted to try a McLobster sandwich ... we can't get them in Toronto. They only sell them in New England and Atlantic Canada.

Wacky considering he's not even a fan of lobster.

We stopped for lunch today at the McDonald's in Antigonish (we were passing through on our way to the airport in Halifax).


Here he is with his sandwich.




He said it was bland. He couldn't taste lobster ... mainly what he tasted was mayo and lettuce. But he was happy he tried it.

Just after we got there, a busload of travelers arrived from the States. Most of them ordered McLobsters ... I wonder how they liked it.

The Glenora Inn & Distillery, Glenville, NS

After Gord and I drove around the Cabot Trail yesterday, we went to the Glenora Inn where we spent the night. There is also a whisky distillery on site.

Here is our room.

We met Sister Sarah and Joey there. They had spent the day visiting with some of her friends in Sydney before driving to the inn (they took the short way ... about two hours).

We had supper in the pub onsite. There was a fella playing the piano and another playing a fiddle for two hours.

Gord started with the Maritime Seafood Chowder (leeks sautéed in Glen Breton whisky butter top off our creamy chowder with fresh haddock, scallops and salmon).

Then he had the Mushroom and Pesto Chicken Linguini (sautéed mushrooms and chicken, tossed with pesto and linguini in our white wine cream sauce).

He said both were good.

I had the Fish And Chips (two pieces of beer battered Atlantic haddock, golden fried spuds and tartar sauce). I didn't feel like having fries so substituted them with mashed potatoes.

They were delicious!

And here we are ... Joey, Sister Sarah, me and Gord.

Here are Sister Sarah and I.

And here are Gord and Joey.

Later on, the musicians switched instruments and a woman got up stepdancing. Very cool!

The pub closed at 10pm. It had been a long day so we went back to our rooms.

After we checked out this morning, Gord and I took a walk around the grounds.

This is the distillery.

A bridge crosses the stream that separates the distillery from the inn.

Here's the inn and the restaurant and pub.

Our room was on the ground floor.

It's a nice place to stay. You can't see them because of the fog but there are hills behind the inn that I imagine would be great for hiking.

Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, NS

Gord and I left Sydney this morning about 10:30am to drive around the Cabot Trail.

The route measures 298 km (185 mi) in length and completes a loop around the northern tip of the island, passing along and through the scenic Cape Breton Highlands. It is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497, although most historians agree his landfall likely took place in Newfoundland and not Cape Breton Island. Construction of the initial route was completed in 1932.

The northern section of the Cabot Trail passes through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The western and eastern sections follow the rugged coastline, providing spectacular views of the ocean. The southwestern section passes through the Margaree River valley before passing along Bras d'Or Lake.

We had head back over Kelly's Mountain ... St. Ann's Lookoff looked a lot different today than Thursday! It was rainy and foggy throughout our drive.

We had to take the Englishtown Ferry across St. Ann's Harbour.

While we were waiting for the ferry, I noticed Auld Cemetery.

Giant MacAskill is buried there.

Angus Mòr MacAskill, frequently referred to as Giant MacAskill or Black Angus (1825 – August 8, 1863), was a Scottish-Canadian Giant, and is the world's largest "true" giant (a man of normal proportions, suffering no growth abnormalities). The 1981 Guinness Book of World Records posits Angus as the tallest natural giant who ever lived, and as a result the strongest man who ever lived, as well as being the man with the largest chest measurements of any non-obese man (80 inches, or 2,000 mm).

The first mountain we came to was Cape Smokey.

We stopped at the lookout at the top. Hard to see it but the Atlantic Ocean is out there.

The fog rolled in around us within minutes.

There are lots and lots of lookoffs and we stopped at most of them.

We stopped at the Coastal Waters Restaurant & Pub in Ingonish for lunch.

Heading down the mountains was treacherous. It was foggy and rainy and the roads are really windy.

The leaves were changing colours and were gorgeous!

This is the first time I've done the whole trail and it was an awesome drive! Great views but not for the faint of heart if you have a fear of heights since at times all that is separating you from the cliff straight down to the ocean is a guardrail.

If you drive without stopping, it takes about 4.5 hours. It took us a lot longer because we stopped at the lookoffs, we had lunch and I drove slower at times because of the rain and fog.

Coastal Waters Restaurant & Pub, Ingonish, NS

While Gord and I were driving around the Cabot Trail, we stopped for lunch at the Coastal Waters Restaurant & Pub in Ingonish.


Inside it looks like a family-style restaurant which was in contrast to the biker info on the sign outside. I liked it.

There was a band setting up while we were there.

Gord ordered fish and chips.


He said they were good.

I ordered the Coastal Ringer burger and fries.


It was a good burger! It will be featured on You Gotta Eat Here, a show on the Food Network, in the spring.

Both came with a ton of fries.

Our servers took good care of us and were very friendly.

Delta Hotel, Sydney, NS

Gord and I spent a couple days in Sydney, Cape Breton.

Here was our room ...

It was nice.

And here's our view of Sydney Harbour when we checked in.

There are less expensive hotels a couple kms away on Kings Road but we wanted to stay downtown.

WIFI is free as is parking.

There are two restaurants in the hotel ... the Crown & Moose Pub (we had supper there last night) and the Highland Mermaid (we had breakfast there this morning ... it was okay but pricy).

There was a cruise ship in dock yesterday ... we could see it from our room. Here it is last night before it left. When cruise ships come into town, there are lots of shops next to it that open if you are looking for local crafts.

This was a nice hotel. We booked online and got a rate of $134 which was good for a Delta. I'd stayed here again.