From the Observation Deck

Have you ever gone on a trip and seen an ad for some tourist attraction that just seemed super silly? I have. It was Joe’s scarecrow village on Cape Breton. My parents were probably thinking, “Why does she want to stop there?” I don’t blame them, but I couldn’t resist and I’m glad we did. Here’s the back story. Joe had a plot of land a couple miles from his house and wanted to grow some vegetables on it. Neighbors told him the crows (not us) would get to it all so he put up a whole bunch of scarecrows. One day he went up to the garden and saw a bus full of tourists. They must have stopped to look thinking it was something interesting. And so it began.

Joe ended up ditching the garden and now puts out about 100 scarecrows dressed in various types of clothing and masks and asks for donations to keep them dressed each year. One year they had a scarecrow massacre. All the scarecrows but one died a violent death at the hands of some hoodlums. Only Rory survived.

Next to the “village” there’s also Ethel’s take out but that was closed. It was all definitely good for laughs and you can see the talent and creativity that went into it. Or the craziness. Kind of one in the same. The guy on the tractor (Joe maybe?) in one of the photos is NOT a scarecrow. I say that because it’s not all that clear.

Next time you’re on the Cabot Trail just south of Cheticamp, stop by Joe’s and check it out. If you happen to be someone who doesn’t like clowns or creepy things like fake people made up of stuffing with masks and clothes on, then you may want to skip it. It’s quite possible Joe is hiding his dead Aunt in there somewhere.

The next few days of our trip to Nova Scotia were spent driving and hiking around Cape Breton. During the past few days we had been making fun of some of the marketing imagery that led us to Nova Scotia but with respect to the beauty of Cape Breton, it truly was breathtaking.

On our first day in the highlands we drove up to the Margaree Bay area and checked into the Whale Cove Cottages. The photos on the brochure were nice and I will say the beach across the road was soft and inviting. The lady checking us in was the most clueless of woman I have ever met. After a slew of what I thought were easy questions that she could not answer—where is there a restaurant, for example—I got into the car and made fun of her then asked God for forgiveness because God loves all of us—even those of us who can’t tie our shoelaces without help. The cabin was hideous. That’s all I’ll say. But dinner was yummy and the sunset was magnificent. You can see it below in the photos. And take a look at the basketball court at this place. I’ve heard of tennis being played on grass but not b-ball. 

Up next was the whale watching tour. I was so excited about this. Supposedly this area is teaming with whales and they are everywhere. I wouldn’t know about that since after 2 ½ hours on rough waters we saw a total of zero whales. I’ll leave it at that and move on.

In the afternoon we stopped along the trail and did some hiking. There was a lovely path leading up to a waterfall. Much of the land in this area is protected and the government has carved out a number of trails—some long and some short—to keep the animals and plants from being destroyed. There were plenty of road signs warning of moose crossing, but alas, they were hiding from us.

But, the silver lining was that the sky was crystal clear and beautiful and the air was clean, and the views were very dramatic everywhere we went. The photos don’t do it justice but I’ll share anyway.

Continuing on with the Nova Scotia trip was our excursion up through the Glooscap Trail. First stop was the wildlife provincial park. Upon entering the park we spotted a beautiful peacock. He had plenty of friends scattered around the park and they communicated by bellowing loudly to each other. Then we passed the cougars—hyper things these creatures are. They pace back and forth continuously like they have ADD or something. Other impressive animals included the moose—the only ones we saw on the entire trip even though the locals boast of seeing them everywhere—and bears, bobcats, owls, and a horse (not really defined as wild) that had an itch. I found it comical to watch it scratch its behind on the fence we were standing in front of. Maybe he was looking for an assist.

Our trip continued with a drive past the 50-foot Mastodon located at the midway point from the equator to the pole. I thought it was the 49^th parallel until my dad pointed out it was the 45^th parallel. After thinking about the math for a moment I told him to shut it. (Just kidding.) Just up the road was the Glooscap Heritage Center. This was where we learned all about the history and culture of the native Indian tribe—the Mi’kmaqs. Their mythical legendary hero (for want of a better description) was a massive creature who took the form of a man and could pretty much create mountains and rivers and conduct other miraculous feats. There was statue of him you can see for a distance down the highway.

Next stop was the Joggins fossil cliffs—way up the trail near New Brunswick. This was very cool. Due to the nature of the tides and how the land had formed from swamps, glaciers, etc., there were tons and tons of fossils from plants and animals dating back 350 million years. We took a tour and went down to the beach where you can see fossilized trunks from trees right in the side of the cliffs. The cliffs get worn away each day so the scientists there continue to discover new findings all the time. As we walked on the beach, we picked up rock after rock just sitting there that had markings on them. The biology geek in me was fascinated.

After leaving the fossil cliffs we made our way down the Sunrise Trail and stopped off at Jost vineyards. We took a quick tour of the facility and of course shopped for some wonderful local wine. Not much more to say on that.

From there we stopped over night at the slanted house in Pictou and then took off the next day toward the highlands. One last stop before crossing the causeway was at Antigonish for the Highland Games. Unfortunately like so much on this trip, we missed the actually games but got to walk the town during the festival. There were cute girls dancing in costumes, local singers entertaining the crowds, and a few extremely large gentlemen dressed in kilts who demonstrated a few of the contests for us. They had a very heavy metal ball that I could hardly pick up which they told me they toss over their heads as far as it can go. I could only imagine the warriors of the 15^th century and how they must have looked like these guys but only dirtier and with bad teeth.

Well that’s it for now. Our adventure continues with a tour of the Cabot Trail in the highlands of Nova Scotia.