Where my Father Was Standing

Photo of the Week September 27, 2013

The Cape Breton Living Photo of the Week for September 27, 2013 is of where my father might have been standing when he was in Cape Breton back in 1942-43 during WW2. All I know is that he came over from Mulgrave on the ferry to Port Hawkesbury for a visit and that the photo was taken nearby where the ferry came in with the automobiles. As the years went by and with the opening of the Canso Causeway, the area has changed, like the background and along the railroad tracks. Looking at the photo (Photo of the Week photo), I’m thinking that the old photo might have been taken further south along the train tracks with maybe Point Tupper in the background? The next photo is where I think might be the right place.

Another photo from the same visit is of him posing in front of a large sign saying “PORT HAWKESBURY WELCOMES YOU TO CAPE BRETON ISLAND”.  This sign was set in front of the Baptist Church on Granville Street for the tourists arriving on the island by the automobile ferries until the opening of the Canso Causeway on May 20th, 1955.  

Soon after this day visit, my father returned home to Aylmer Quebec to later get married and raise a family in Ottawa. Looking back, I know my father never knew that decades later he would come back to this lovely island to visit a daughter of his who met and married a Cape Bretoner and later made this island her home…

Road Trip - Cabot Trail

Every summer, usually sometime in August, there is one thing that’s on my to-do list and that is to go on a road trip around the Cabot Trail. The past 4-5 years we would rent a van so that the whole family could make the trek together, all of us in one vehicle. This year however, we had less people tagging along, so our trusting Nissan Sentra was able to take the four of us around the Trail. Before heading out, we checked the weather updates, got ourselves ready, packed a lunch and with our cameras fully charged we managed to leave the house by 8:00am. First stop was The Country Kitchen Restaurant in Port Hastings for a hearty breakfast to keep us going until lunch.  Leaving the restaurant, we got on the Trans-Canada Highway 105 and stopped in at The Red Barn Gift Shop then onto the Cabot Trail through the Margarees. Along the way we stopped every so often to stretch our legs and admire the beauty that was surrounding us. The wind was crazy that day and the waves were crashing on the shores with a loud roar sounding like thunder. It felt very refreshing (without actually having to go in)! I couldn’t pass through Chéticamp without stopping at Le Petit Chady Convenience store to say hello and meet in person a fellow Instagrammer.  It was such a pleasure to meet her, I could have spent all morning chatting.  Carl, Julie and Maeghan were back at the car ready to continue on, so Denise’s daughter took a quick snapshot of the two of us before I ran off back to the car. Soon after leaving Chéticamp, we enter the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and drove along the coastline to the MacIntosh Brook Park for lunch. We spent a little over half an hour in the picnic area where we found and set up a picnic table to eat our lunch and then spent a few minutes down by the brook before getting back in the car to head for the Beulach Ban Falls then Meat Cove and Bay St Lawrence.  By the time we arrived at the Englishtown Ferry it was 7pm. There we only had a couple of minutes wait time before getting on the ferry and it takes a couple of minutes to cross St Anns Bay. Coming off the ferry we headed for Sydney where we had a bite to eat then onto the old Highway 4 to home. So here we are at the end of another great day spent with wonderful people and being so thankful for living in such a beautiful place…