It was day one of a whirlwind three day tour of Cape Breton. My husband is one of those drivers who doesn’t like to make pit stops at leisure. As a “cultural explorer”, it is sometimes painful to drive past something worth stopping for (at least in my eyes).
That being said, imagine my astonishment when I said to my husband 5 km outside Baddeck “hey, let’s see the Alexander Graham Bell centre” and he said “yes”. As a kid, I always wanted to visit. Partly because growing up, I remember my parents had coasters with an exterior photo of the centre.
The centre is managed by Parks Canada and it is here where you’ll find artifacts, audio-visual programs and photographs that tell the story of Alexander Graham Bell. This remarkable inventor and humanitarian, Bell taught deaf people to speak, transmitted sound to graphophones, created man-carrying kites, airplanes and the fastest boat in the world. Oh, and he invented the telephone.
Inside the centre, our daughter was handed a Seek and Find activity where you matched items to those in the exhibit and then circled them. After a 25-minute talk about his life and accomplishments, it was clear that this lifelong learner loved children. In fact, the exhibits painted this family-man as one who was inspired by them. On display were early models of phones, kites, the original record-setting hydro-foil boat (HD-4), and original parts of The Silver Dart airplane.
By this time, my son was intrigued. When asked what impressed him he said that he liked how Dr. Bell experimented with air conditioning. My daughter liked the talking tube. My husband and I liked the tectrahedron (a triangle) that Bell considered the perfect structure. Bell used this shape in his kites and there was an area in the exhibit where kids could make their very own tetrahedron.
Across the Bras d’Or Lake, is Dr. Bell’s family estate “Beinn Bhreagh” meaning “beautiful mountain”, it was here where Dr. Bell and his wife Mabel spent much of his last 37 years.
Back in the car we went, after stopping for ice cream (our daughter was handed a coupon when she passed in her Seek and Find activity). Next stop, Louisbourg.
Isn’t it fun to pronounce? Besides that, they are also fun to look at. When you are driving along the Lighthouse Route between Mahone Bay and Chester, you can’t help but notice the flurry of whirligig’s at The Whirlygig Factory. So many that they’ll make your head spin.
Wikipedia describes a whirligig as “wind-powered hanging art”- big contrast for what they were used for in ancient times as spinning torture devices. Now these lawn and garden ornaments is considered folk art. A visit to The Whirlygig Factory is where you can get your fix of these quirky and fun ornaments. 
When I arrived, Barry was the first person I met. Busy in his workshop, he was working on one of his “Tit-il-ating Mermaids”. These lovely ladies make you giggle at first and then you realize that these beauties are works of art. Found throughout the property reading in hammocks or playfully posing in a flower garden. It takes 400 feet of copper wire to make the hair, 5 hours to strip the wire and fashion it to the head. Their jewelery are fashioned from glass beads and sea shells. 
The Turner Collection was inspired by Bunny & Pat Turner of Nova Scotia who wanted an old traditional whirligig reproduced. Barry was then motivated to create their own line of true “folk” whirlygigs, the one pictured here is “Musher”. Also part of the collection is “Harvey the Hunter”, “Wanda the Wash Lady”, “Charlie the Chopper”, “Peggy the Pump Lady” – all wind powered, colourful and entertaining.
It was a glorious Sunday morning. 
As my father, sister, cousin, and friend where walking along the beach, my sister out of the blue said “I’m going in!” We said in shock and horror “where”, she said “there!”, pointing to the water. Before you could say “I dare you” she was running toward the water and jumping in. Clothes and all. You know that happened next? We proceeded to jump one by one into the water as my daughter looked on.
There is a trail behind our house and recently I discovered various patches of Lady’s Slippers. Actually, it was a woman taking a picture of these flowers that first caught my eye.
– growth is slow, and it may take several years to flower
I love my bike. Last summer I even did a tribute to 
There are all kinds of interesting things planned. Like ride your bike to participating small businesses and receive discounts or board any Metro Transit Harbour Ferry or MetroLink bus (certain routes apply) with your bicycle and travel for free during Bike Week. There’s even a Family Picnic on the Commons that’s free from 12:00noon – 2:00pm for people and kids who enjoy cycling in Halifax and those interested in cycling as a family. 
I grew up in a small fishing village along the 
Early spring you can find these tiny pink flowers in many areas but they are very hard to find. It seems like you have to know where to look for them and when you do, you need to move away the foliage to see the flowers. My sister and I always go to the same place where we are guaranteed Mayflowers because it was where our mother went to pick them. 
The name comes from 
The Right Coast Nova Scotia 