Like peoples lives, the Algonquin Resort, born of history and authentic charm, given age
and weathering, fell into dire need of rejuvenation & revivification ... tah dah! After $50M renovation in 2014, a signature piece of bespoke resort emerged ...better than ever! Coincidentally, it was 20 years ago, in 1996 at a 'Black & Gold' themed conference, that brought us our first visit to this landmark NB resort overlooking Passamaquoddy Bay of
St. Andrews by-the-Sea.
Inspired in the Tudor Victorian style and located by a quiet seaside escape, the 'autograph collection' renov project created the addition of this second level chic balcony which saw this year's conference kick off a Maritime musical meet and greet.
As we stroll downhill to Water St... a corner estate house of Scottish roots just oozing of old world charm. On the drive out, a taste of Cape Breton's coastal scenery beacons - Katy's Cove, Ministers Island's 8km walking trails
A tour Kingbrae Garden was a happy discovery after an evening's tented dinner
The garden is large - give yourself a good 3-4 hrs as it is comprised of 27 acres interspersed with art and sculptures ... and a working 1/3 scale Dutch windmill,
ponds, ducks, streams, a maze and woodland trails :)
1st place winner 2016 (right) "On Guard" by D.Di Guglielmo & my personal favorite (below) The Lost Stone by Dave Hind 2014 winner
A shotgun golf tournament day at the Algonquin ... a seaside gem...followed by late afternoon reception & dinner by Brandy Cove...idyllic
Our flight landed in Saint John's Nova Scotia, lunched by the market square and munched on the locally produced Dulse - dried seaweed grown at low tide which takes root on the rocks. After ~90 min drive, arrived at St. Andrews by-the-sea First night patio dinner @ Harbour Front restaurant
After a brief stop at Reversing Rapids ( a unique phenomenon created by the collision of the Bay of Fundy & Saint John's river), we arrived at Hopewell Rocks at low tide ... donned thongs for a walkabout of grainy pebble filled basin
These reddish cliffs were first formed millions of years ago as a massive mountain range, older than the Appalachians and larger than the Cdn Rockies.
Erosions over the years slowly and persistently caused mud, pebbles to be washed down the mountains into the valley. Overtime, these deep layers of sediment compressed into solid rock, forming the basis of the 'flowerpot ' formations
The tidal action of the Bay of Fundy was nature's sculptor, creating intriguing shapes which over the years lent themselves to be named ie. Elephant Rock, Dinosaur, E.T., Turtle, Lover's Arch, Castle, Cathedral ..etc.
We joined a park ranger for tour of the Park and Sea Caves. If you run your fingers over the red sandstone you'll discover how porous it is as the sand just rubs off. Walking along the oceans's floor you can see vertical cracks and telltale high tide marks along the cliffs. Due to its enormous size, immense depth & unique funnel shape, the high tides can be as high as > 50ft. Can thus kayak by the rocks!
Plan your visits by consulting the published tide charts - twice everyday the bay fills and empties of a billion tonnes of water during each tide cycle - said to be more than the flow of all the world's fresh water rivers combined!
Arriving in Baddeck to start our Cabot Trail road tour, we stayed overnight at Dunlop Inn by the Bras D'Or lakeside and located a convenient 5 min walk to
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. The Scottish born inventor, scientist, engineer, innovator & teacher of sound elocution for the deaf ( due to his mother's developing deafness)
We drove the famous Cape Breton Cabot trail counter clockwise - luckily a beautiful sunny day to take in the highland scenery - Igonish with its pink colourful rocks made us want to
linger to take in the gorgeous views.
onwards, later to Neils Harbour, Pleasant Bay, Cheticamp, with dotted French Acadian villages
we also stopped in rural fishing village, ie. Meat Cove & hiked an uphill gravel path to the northern tip of this peninsula. Meat Cove got its funny name from its early history, as the area was used as a popular location for hunters to dress animal carcass - Okay!? lol...
... to Belle Cote and Margaree Harbour - finally stopping at Island Sunset Restaurant for Lobster dinner as the evening waned
We stayed at the Cabot Links resort at Inverness, as our base to take in the sights
and hikes for a few days.
Driving through Cape Breton...looking for a good place to lunch... well there's the Dancing Moose, the Grovy Goat, the Knot Bad and the Clucking Hen...we pulling in here at the Rusty Anchor for a wonderful seafood lunch with expansive backyard views of Pleasant Bay - trying in vein to spot whales.
On the Cabot trail on top of French Mountain is the Skyline trail - a 7 km loop trail with dramatic eagle's view atop cliff overlooks of the rugged coast
Boardwalk section of the trail, French Mtn on the left and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the right. It got so windy here that you're being propelled along the boardwalk in a fast clip...best to turn around so you don't end up being pushed off the edge...lol
Some of the sights seemed reminiscent of the California coastline
Stopping again as the sunset views at this Harbour Restaurant in Cheticamp looked especially promising...well, the views were fabulous, but we recommend
Rusty Anchors or Island Sunset seafare more
Cabot links' minimalistic styled golf resort.
Inverness Beach stretches along the Ceilidh Trail on the west coast of Cape Breton. Long grass and dunes undulate amongst the carved golf ranges. Once a coal mining town now turned to a service center for the fishing and farming communities.
Encountered an avid collector of sea glass and learned an earful of the art of jewelry concocted from this medium. Made by man, refined by nature, its kinda an addictive past time for some locals. Apparently, depending on the color ( purple, chartreuse, lavender), amount of frost, size and shape of the sea glass, they can fetch upwards of $100
Loved this boardwalk ..its about 2 km long and has various entry points down to the sandy shores where several passerby busily hunt for elusive sea glass
Tom golfing Cabot Cliffs, a course built in the Scottish heritage. Rated as the 19th finest course in the world & 2015's best new course in North America by Golf Digest
Thrilling chance to play - how does it rank vis a vis Pebble Beach or Spanish Bay? Hummm.. that requires further comparative analysis probably..lol
ponds, ducks, streams, a maze and woodland trails :)
1st place winner 2016 (right) "On Guard" by D.Di Guglielmo & my personal favorite (below) The Lost Stone by Dave Hind 2014 winner
Our flight landed in Saint John's Nova Scotia, lunched by the market square and munched on the locally produced Dulse - dried seaweed grown at low tide which takes root on the rocks. After ~90 min drive, arrived at St. Andrews by-the-sea First night patio dinner @ Harbour Front restaurant
We drove the famous Cape Breton Cabot trail counter clockwise - luckily a beautiful sunny day to take in the highland scenery - Igonish with its pink colourful rocks made us want to
Some of the sights seemed reminiscent of the California coastline
