Nova Scotia is a large sausage-shaped island that runs diagonally from the southwest to the northeast. Off the northeast coast by several hundred miles is Sable Island, a largely uninhabited sand bar (six people live there year round), that is mostly made famous in movies like The Perfect Storm, where it is referenced as the furthest most point of land before you go out to brave the Grand Banks on your way towards the bleak waters of the North Atlantic. Today we covered the northeast coastline of Nova Scotia from Halifax up to the base of Cape Breton Island, the gatekeeper to the Saint Lawrence Seaway that takes you to Quebec City, Montreal and eventually to the start of the Great Lakes at Lake Ontario. Only five hundred years ago, this was thought to be the start of the fabled Northwest Passage, the route that Europeans hoped would take them through to the treasures of the Far East (good luck with that!). John Cabot, a guy who was from the adventurous seafaring city of Venice, but who lived in England, first discovered this route and has left his name all over Cape Breton Island, specifically in a circular path around the island called The Cabot Trail. We are now at the base of Cape Breton Island at a place called Port Hawkesbury. Our objective for the day is to circumnavigate the northwest portion of the island (actually, its an archipelago of islands that masquerades as one big island).
The ride up the length of Nova Scotia was pretty much as you would have expected. We traveled up on Route 7, which zigs and zags its way up along and around all of the small inlets and harbors that make this craggy coastline picturesque. It’s not as dramatic as what we will probably see today and in the other famous coastal spots we will visit, but is was a pleasant way to start our journey around the province. We are four guys riding motorcycles followed by three women laughing and scratching along in a following large SUV. The only place to rent motorcycles that I could find in Nova Scotia was from an ex-helicopter pilot who rents bikes out of his home on the northern side of the island. We rented a Honda NC750X (my ride), two Kawasaki Versys 650 LTs and a Yamaha FJ-09. These are smaller bikes than what any of us usually ride, but they get the job done. The only problem is that between our advancing ages and relatively less fit and supple asses, we are all a bit less comfortable on these bikes for extended times than we generally prefer to be on a long ride. Nevertheless, we are moving apace and we are all good enough riders still that we are making good progress up the road. Luckily for us, Nigel Brooks, who owns Brookspeed Motorcycle Rentals, has made sure that these bikes are fully loaded with all the travel paraphernalia we could want, including full touring bags and RAM X mounts for our phones. I am using Apple Maps for the most part to lead the way and it all works just fine as a GPS. We literally had no misguided moments with the exception of avoiding one gravel road short-cut, which just didn’t look all that inviting from the saddle.
We set the town of Sherbrooke as the logical lunch stopping place, but hadn’t preselected a lunch spot, preferring the use of local knowledge to make a command decision. One ask of a local woman led us to Bennie’s Bistro, which ended up being a fine choice. We were either all very hungry or the food at Bennie’s is simply good food. We all had one form of sandwich or another on ciabatta bread and with a side of really excellent cole slaw. Another unique offering was Italian sodas that were hand-mixed by their resident barista. Kim and I had a blackberry vanilla soda with whipped cream to give it a real creamsicle feel to it. Very nice lunch spot.
The rest of the ride took us across a land bridge at Fort Hastings and then on into Port Hawkesbury and the Maritime Inn. Fortunately for our slightly sore butts, the best restaurant in town was Miller’s Pub, right on the lower level of the hotel. So we went down and ate our fill of lobster rolls, crab dips, Thai Nachos (actually very good) and various stir fry’s. The menu leads me to believe that like so many places in Canada, a country that has actively promoted sensible legal immigration, especially to the people of Asia that wanted to get out ahead of whatever overcrowding in Asia might occur, Port Hawkesbury has played host to some of these Asians that have lent their culinary skills to the more traditional menu items.
These motorcycle rides over the years have taken us to many foreign lands and have exposed us to many great sceneries, but what we seem to like the most about them is the commaraderie of breaking bread with one another and telling tall tales in every direction imaginable. We are usually of a wide range of political minds with what is usually a fairly evenly distributed collection of sentiments. This trip is a little different this time. We are seven participants and I think its safe to suggest that at least six of us lean heavily to the left. And yet none of that has so far come to the surface and has certainly not created any issues. The truth is that the right, as it has taken shape under Donald Trump, is harder and harder for anyone with a degree of reason to stand behind. I read this morning that more and more notable Republicans who served in the George W. Bush, the George H.W. Bush and the Reagan administrations have come out and declared that Donald Trump is simply too chaotic and inappropriate to lead this country again. It was bound to happen at some point or another, the only surprising thing being how long it has taken. Actually, it has been happening from the very start of his candidacy in 2015, so I best say that it is surprising that the inside criticism has been quashed so effectively over and over and is only now finally coming permanently to the surface. And here’s the biggest thing about that growing sentiment, it is no longer that these people are choosing to not vote for Trump and to voice their displeasure through abstention, but rather that they a re coming our more strongly by saying that they endorse and must vote for Kamala Harris. This is very encouraging.
As we ride the Cabot Trail today and end our day day on Ingonish Beach, I will marvel at the beauty of the land and seascape and think good thoughts about what is supposed to be a widening (4% now) advantage for Kamala over Donald in the key places like Pennsylvania. Added signs of economic strength and the Fed’s half point interest rate drop yesterday add fuel to the fire that the Biden/harris economy is hard to deny. It should be a good day both outside and inside my helmet.