6 August 2019, Tuesday
We drive from Whycocomagh Provincial Park north and west to the Margaree Valley and the southern portion of the Cabot Trail which circumnavigates Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Buddy MacMaster’s fiddle tunes are playing in Vincent as we travel. He was a pre-eminent Cape Breton fiddler. We soon arrive at the Normaway Inn which I booked because of their Wednesday night Ceilidh featuring music and dance. We make a reservation for dinner tonight and learn a musician will be playing in the living room from 8-9:30. The Inn is very cozy and comfortable. Luckily I’ve become proficient at hopping up stairs with my crutches. Our room is on the second floor. O has to replace one of my crutch tips today as I’ve already worn through the first on gravel paths and beaches. I’m glad to have it replaced – bare metal tips are quite slippery and also can scratch the polished wooden floors here.
As we return to our room after an excellent dinner, O discovers our room’s fire escape. It’s a knotted thick rope near the window. Let’s hope there are no fires! At eight o’clock we return to the living room where musician Neil McDaniel is about to perform. The audience is guests of the inn, one of whom asks him how many instruments he plays. “Eight on a good day,” he replies. Neil chats with us and warns us to watch for moose on the road. He describes points of interest in the area, and takes us all in with a story of how the creator of the first crossword puzzle is buried at a nearby cemetery. Once you walk in the gate it’s 7 down and 5 across to find him! Neil plays the low whistle (a larger cousin of the tin whistle,) guitar, mandolin, and piano for us tonight. On a few songs he invites us to sing along. As usual, music makes the time go by very quickly. Time for bed.
