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.