Baddeck, NS was fabulous, the Cabot Trail… stunning…the Cabot Trail Motel…relaxing…but it’s time to bid all that farewell…and where are we headed to? Why Tatamagouche, NS of course! Yeah, I hadn’t heard of it either, but now…love it! Come ride with us!
One last sunrise, in Baddeck, don’t get dramatic! and one last walk to the water from the Cabot Trail Motel, that view! We loaded up the bikes and headed into Baddeck for one last meal in this town.
We went to another place on my list, the High Wheeler Cafe & Bakery, it wasn’t open early enough yesterday…resort towns, I tell ya! What a charming and tasty place to have breakfast! Good bagels, made in house, and being from NYC, I am a bit of a bagel snob, I’m ok admitting it! I had a very good chai tea latte and also ordered some of their specialty cookies, oat cakes with peanut butter, covered in chocolate…someone in the line raved about them, so of course, we needed some! We had a lovely breakfast, good conversation, route discussions, looking at photos from the day before and then…it’s time to hit the road.
We ride for a bit on the Cabot Trail and then we are on other roads. It’s a beautiful day, we’ve got some sun, warmth, cool breezes, it feels great. After a few hundred miles, we are in Tatamagouche! Ok, now it’s toasty! but we are at our destination, the Tatamagouche Brewing Company, perfect! It’s an open space, very dog friendly, they have tables made from barrels from Glenora Distillery, how cool is that. They have drinks, food, stickers, and magnets, what more do you want?! We chat with other bikers hanging at the brewery and then it’s time to get back on the bikes for the very long 3 minute trek to the hotel!
We are staying at the Train Station Inn, rooms available May through October, it was meant to be! The 5th most unique hotel in the world really is! It was built in 1887, in 1950 it was a bustling hub, in 1974 Jimmie LeFresne saved the train station from demolition, he had loved the station as a kid, worked there when he got older and bought it in 1974, in 1989 the Train Station Inn opened and it’s still running today!
This place transports you when you roll onto the property, you’re at a train station, and we get to stay here?! I would say all the little touches, and there are, but it’s the bones that make it. The 9 train cars, the lounge car, and the dining car, the greenery, the garden, the signposts, every detail!
There are nine train cars you can stay in, some sleep 2, some sleep 4, some sleep 8, the options are endless! We were in Caboose #10, we had a living room with a fold-out sofa, a kitchenette, a loft area with a table, a decent sized bathroom, and an enormous bedroom with a king sized bed, I think it was actually California King! We rolled and rolled and rolled and never touched each other! ha ha, the bed was huge! I can’t wait to sleep in it tonight!
But it’s not time to get in bed, there is exploring to do! The cafe with breakfast, lunch, baked goods, and beverages, the gift shop, the train memorabilia, the outdoor bar and seating area, play area for the kids, everywhere you look there is a trinket or treat to grab your attention!
We met in the lounge/conservatory car, chatted for a bit about the day and the hotel, and tried our peanut butter-oat cake-chocolate goodness, they had melted in the saddle bag, go figure, but I had put them in the freezer so they were a treat! We also shared them with some kids who were in the lounge with us.
We were able to go into the dining car a little earlier than our reservation, and settled in for a treat! Drinks, starters, a wonderful salad with goat cheese and edible flowers for me, dessert, and great conversation with us and then the people sitting behind us, who were celebrating their friend getting married. It’s nice to talk to someone in your same age group who’s getting married, we don’t meet that many people in that situation, it was fun!
We left the dining car, everyone else went to the bar to get some drinks while it was still open, I went to the cafe and got myself an evening chai latte, and PBP went to get his tin of Left-Right-Center, we were in for a fun evening!
LCR, I know it’s Left-Right-Center, but when you abbreviate, it seems to work better for LCR! PSM and I learned to play last year on the bike trip, we haven’t played since, it’s a lot of fun! It’s a dice game, we played with $3 for each person, you roll the dice and follow what the outcome is. L > give the person on your left $1, R > give the person on your right $1, C > put $1 in the center pot and if you get a dot…you don’t have to do anything. Now… you might have nothing left and someone rolls the die and you end up with something!
We were having a great time! PSM and I both said we’ve never won and guess what… PSM won a round and O M G! I won 4 rounds! I couldn’t believe it! It was fun, when I won one round, if someone needed the $3 to start, I gave them the $3, then each round was like that, it was so goofy and when it was over, I won the pot! We can’t say we never win anymore! Looking forward to the next time!
And now friends…it’s been a very long day and tomorrow…we say adieu to Nova Scotia, leaving one province for another, New Brunswick, here we come! So to you, my friends, I say g’night!
Peaches Prattlings 