The amenable resort and yachting town of BADDECK , some 90km east of
the Canso causeway along Hwy 105, enjoys an attractive lakeside setting
on St Patrick's Channel, an inlet of the Bras d'Or Lake. It is also home
to the fascinating Alexander Graham Bell Museum (daily: June, Sept &
early Oct 9am-6pm; July & Aug 8.30am-7.30pm; mid-Oct to May 9am-5pm;
$4.25), which overlooks the waterfront from a tiny park and whose
excellent exhibits do full justice to the fertility of Bell's mind. The
museum is a mine of general biographical information about Bell and
gives detailed explanations of all his inventions - both successful and
unsuccessful. Most famous for the invention of the telephone, Bell also
made extraordinary advances in techniques for teaching hearing-impaired
children, a lifelong interest inspired by the deafness of his mother,
and undertook pioneering experiments in animal husbandry. He also worked
on aircraft and boats, and his nautical adventures culminated in 1919
with the launch of the world's first hydrofoil, the HD-4 (of which
there's a full-scale replica in the museum), which reached a speed of
70mph on the lake right in front of town. Bell (1847-1922) spent his
last 37 years in Baddeck, working away at Beinn Bhreagh (no public
access), the family mansion that still stands amongst the trees just
across the bay from town. The museum is Baddeck's only significant sight,
but the town's waterfront makes for an enjoyable stroll and in July and
August the local Lion's Club runs a free shuttle-boat service from the
municipal jetty to Kidston Island , a couple of hundred metres offshore,
where you can take a walk in the woods.
Baddeck is on the main Acadian Lines bus route between Halifax and
Sydney, with one bus daily in each direction stopping at the Irving
petrol station 3.5km west of town on Hwy 105 (Exit 8). The tourist
office (June-Oct daily 9am-7pm; tel 295-1911) has lots of useful local
information and sits by the side of the resort's main intersection - at
Shore Road and the top of the short main drag, Chebucto Street. Baddeck
is a popular holiday spot, so there's a wide range of accommodation ,
but it fills up fast in the height of the season. Downtown choices
include the delightful Duffus House Inn (tel 295-2172; $80-100; mid-May
to late Oct), which occupies two attractively renovated Victorian town
houses by the lake on Water Street, and Heidi's B&B (tel 295-1301;
$40-60; June-Oct), in a pleasant old timber building with a terrace
about 400m from the tourist office at 64 Old Margaree Rd. The former has
seven en-suite rooms, the latter two with shared bath. In addition,
several smart resort-hotels line up along Shore Road, west of the town
centre. These include the Silver Dart Lodge (tel 295-2340 or
1-888/662-7484; $80-100; May-Oct), whose spacious chalets spread over a
hillside in view of the lake; Auberge Gisele's Country Inn (tel 295-2849
or 1-800/304-0466; $80-100; May-Oct), where the sixty commodious
bedrooms are decked out in modern style; and, best of the lot, the
Inverary Resort (tel 295-3500 or 1-800/565-5660), an extensive and
immaculately maintained complex that spreads from Shore Road down to the
bay. The Inverary offers rooms in the main lodge ($100-125) and in
several different types of cottage (from $125-175). If your budget
doesn't stretch that far, the Restawyle B&B (tel 295-3253; $40-60; mid-May
to mid-Oct), also on Shore Road, occupies a good-looking Edwardian house
set in its own grounds. This B&B has four comfortable guestrooms, two
with shared bath. The nearest campsite is the Bras d'Or Lakes (tel
295-2329; June-Sept), about 6km west on Hwy 105.
With regard to food , most visitors eat where they sleep because Baddeck
is surprisingly short on cafés and restaurants. The best café in town is
the High Wheeler , on Chebucto Street, which serves up a reasonable
range of wholefood snacks and cakes, whilst the Bell Buoy (tel
295-2581), further down Chebucto Street, is OK for steaks and seafood.
If you're without your own transport, Bannockburn Tours (tel 295-3310 or
1-888/577-4747) run day-long excursions along the Cabot Trail through
the Cape Breton Highlands National Park during the summer at $55 per
person. Bannockburn Tours also operates a shuttle minibus service to
Louisbourg costing $40 for the return trip. Car hire is available in
Baddeck with Macaulay's, 404 Shore Rd (tel 295-2500).
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