Day 13 -- to St. Peter's, NS

We woke up this morning on a mission to get on the road as soon as possible. We wanted to get to the campsite this afternoon in time to relax and spend time with Corey, Emily and the girls. To that end, we packed up quickly (no tent to put away today!) and headed down the road to a strange little diner called the Mic Mac** Cafe. Apparently the Atkins craze has hit the Mic Mac: The breakfast menu featured ham & eggs, bacon & eggs, sausage & eggs or bologna & eggs. Much to Natalie's shock and horror, there were no pancakes, no french toast, no muffins. At all. She ended up having a hot dog and fries for breakfast (are we bad parents?) while the rest of us had (meat of choice) & eggs and might as well have just injected the cholesterol right into our arteries. Charlie had no fewer than six hot-dog-sized sausages on his plate, and he kept raving about how this was the best food he's ever tasted. Yikes.

(**The restaurant is not the only establishment around here named "Mic Mac." Aha! We figured out why. The native people who have lived in what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for thousands of years are the Mi'Kmaq. Pronounced Mic Mac, I guess.)

So we got on the TransCanada Highway, watched most of Nova Scotia streak past our windows again, and headed for St. Peter's on Cape Breton Island, about an hour south of Sydney. As we drove farther north, the gently rolling, grassy fields gave way to hillsides covered in spruce and birch. It's so green and pretty. And as soon as we crossed onto Cape Breton Island we noticed the landscape get distinctly more rugged.

Here we are at Battery Park Provincial Park, a former French fort (later a British stronghold) perched high on a hillside overlooking the town of St. Peter's, the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the giant inland sea, Bras d'Or Lakes, on the other. It's a beautiful park, with some of the most spacious sites I have ever seen, each one with a broad view of the ocean. How great is this?


We were first to arrive, so we set up and had time to take a little hike down to the shore.


We found dozens of glistening, purple-ish pancake-sized blobs on the rocks, and could only conclude that they were jellyfish? Anyone? We'll have to ask the rangers.

Corey, Emily and the girls, along with Corey's parents, Fred and Sharon, arrived about two hours after we did, and they set up their trailer next-door to us. The kids played while we all got supper ready, and then all eleven of us enjoyed the meal together, squeezed around our picnic table. After we put the kids to bed, we spent time around the campfire with bottles of beer and boxes of wine.


Keith and I couldn't be happier for the chance to spend this time with our good, good friends. We are so thrilled that we could meet up here in Nova Scotia, even if it is for only one night. Tonight, once again, we are grateful for friendship.