After a relaxing day at sea, we arrived at our first port, Sydney, Nova Scotia.  This port is best known for the Big Fiddle – which is right on the dock — you can’t miss it.  It is advertised as the largest fiddle in the world.

The terminal in Sydney has some shops and vendors

We booked the 5-hour “Baddeck & St Anns Loop taxi tour from Sydney & Cape Breton Taxi Tours – price $330 CDN – 10% deposit – balance after the tour.  We were in a Toyota RAV 4 with one person in front and 3 people in the back seat.  Here are our tour stops:

At 8:18 am we were cleared to go ashore.  There weren’t any immigration formalities.  I assume that since we all had ARRIVE CAN – we were “cleared” electronically last evening.  Our driver, Nap, was waiting for us with a sign and we were on our way at 8:35 am.

Nap told us that on cruise ship days, almost all the taxis get booked for all-day tours leaving the locals a little miffed as they have to wait much longer than normal to get a taxi for their daily business.

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the scenery as we headed toward the ferry at Englishtown.

We had a brief photo stop at an overlook where we could see the Seal Island Bridge.

Seal Island Bridge

Continuing on, we arrived at the Englishtown ferry.  The ferry ride was only about 10 minutes and we were quickly back on the road and continued to our first stop – the Clucking Hen Café.  This is a popular stop and there was a large tour bus leaving as we arrived.  They sell coffee and pastries and have clean restrooms.  Judy bought a bag of cookies which we all enjoyed.

The Clucking Hen Cafe

The Clucking Hen has clean restrooms and sells a variety of tasty baked goods

Our next stop was The Gaelic College.  There wasn’t much to see here and you could easily pass this on your trip.  There was a gift shop but not much else.

Outside we met 4 cyclists who were riding the 300 KM Cabot Trail – More HERE.

Linda, Ray, Aaron and Neal

Ray and Linda were taking a more leisurely 7 days to complete the loop, while Aaron and Neal were going to finish in 3 days.  They met at The Gaelic College and spent a few minutes catching up helping with a tube repair before they headed off in different directions.

Tourist map showing the Cabot Trail

The Alexander Bell Museum was our next stop.  We didn’t realize that Alexander Bell spent so much time in Nova Scotia.  We only had 30 minutes to explore the museum.  You could easily spend a few hours here.  If you are pressed for time – walk quickly to the far end of the museum and check out the large exhibits, then walk back toward the entrance and stop at those exhibits that catch your eye.

Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck

Outside the museum, you will find a pair of the “Red Chairs” that are in various parks throughout Canada.  More HERE

   Judy and Pete (back) with Brad and Cindy on the Red Chairs in Baddeck

We drove thru Baddeck but didn’t stop due to our schedule.  We did have a few minutes to stop at a sculpture of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel, and take a few pictures.

You can find this park bench on Water Street in Baddeck

Back in Sydney Nap dropped us off at the Governor’s Pub very near the ship.  We got some Fish and Chips, Pulled Pork, and Poutine, which were all very good.

Pulled Pork and Poutine

The Governor’s Pub has a nice outdoor seating area

Pete with our driver, Nap

On the way back to the ship we stopped by the Merchant Marine Memorial and finally the Big Fiddle for some photos.

Sydney was the starting point for many convoys across the Atlantic during WW II.  This is the Merchant Marine Memorial to commemorate the sacrifice of many

This Big Red Chair is right on the dock in Sydney

Chris Pendleton was the featured entertainer tonight.  She does a stand-up comedy routine and plays some humorous arrangements of popular songs.  She played a medley of songs that you could play on a violin, but probably shouldn’t.  Very entertaining.

Chris Pendleton

Chris Pendleton playing the violin