Thursday, July 25th – Cabot Trail in Reverse.

Because we can’t get enough of a good thing.

After slurping some coffee, we headed left up Ca Rt 30 toward the Cabot Trail to ride it counter-clockwise today. (Anti-clockwise in the Kings English.) The weather was perfect, about 75F, sunny and clear. Visibility had to be 20 miles or better.

We were stopped for construction with this as our view.

We stopped for breakfast about 45 miles along at a great family owned cafe called

… wait for it …

The Clucking Hen. With a name like that, it better be good, right?

It was. Our meal choices were pretty standard eggs and whatnot, but we were encouraged (bullied?) to order the porridge/oatmeal bread toast by our server, Marybeth. This tasty bread is made locally and really is delicious. As were all the vittles we were served. And a really pretty view of the North Atlantic.

Thus fueled up, we continued our way north to the Highlands on Cape North to just past Dingwall which we visited yesterday. Our goal was Meat Cove, a little village overlooking the Bay of St. Lawrence.

If you look closely, Meat Cove is visible.

The 18 mile ride from the Cabot Trail was pretty exciting: the paved road was fairly narrow with multiple switchbacks, and the last 5 miles were largely unpaved. Fun, though it felt a bit hairy at times.

The view was spectacular, with the ocean that kind of forever blue that artists strive for but never quite achieve.

Meat Cove got its name, we are told, from the large number of hunters in days gone by who came for the abundant game. Our source is Patti, an eighth generation resident of the cove whose pride would sound familiar to so many Americans who live at the edge of the grid. She and her sisters run a camp ground and a coffee shop and a food truck advertising Lawless Lobsters. Awesome place. And we thanked Patti for sharing a bit of lore.

The ride back to the main road was every bit as exciting as the ride in. More so, actually, with folks bouncing along in 40 foot RV’s. Fun and exciting!

Our return run to Baddeck was a somewhat sedate. We were traveling late afternoon so we hit rush hour. Gads! Meeting as many as five or even seven cars along the way. We scooted when we could but mostly glided with the flow, arriving tired but relaxed from the day.