The bus is a waste of time and money.

Tuesday - August 21 - Sydney, Nova Scotia
Just a note for future travelers here - there is a note on the shore excursion desk that the Puffins, Seals and Eagles tour (a Bird Island boat tour) has been discontinued for the rest of the season. The last time we were here in 2004 we did an all day tour: the Bras d’Or Lakes Grand tour where we visited a Highland Village, lunch at a hotel in Baddeck, Alexander Graham Bell Museum among some of our stops. This time we chose to just do our own thing. There is a Shuttle that costs $5 that you drop you off in one of three locations: town, the Sheraton Casino or the shopping mall. The Sheraton Casino and the shopping mall are not within walking distance of the ship. The tickets are good for all day - you can use the shuttle as often as you like. The shuttle is an old white school bus and there is only one - takes about ½ hour to make the complete round trip. We decided to take the shuttle out to the mall just to see what it was like. Doesn’t take long to see everything there. They have a Sobey’s super market (really big) at one end, Smittey’s Restaurant (drop off and get on area for the shuttle), a few clothing stores, a luggage store, 2 barber shops, a drug store, a Hallmark and Zellers (which is similar to Wal-Mart). After a half hour, we caught the shuttle, along with several others to go into town. Wasn’t worth the time to go out there.

We walked up and down Charlotte Street. There are a few stores there, a drug store, a couple of gift shops. Since very few ships stop here, the town is not geared for tourists. Many buildings are empty. Since it is just a few blocks back to the ship we chose to walk rather than wait for the bus. It is about a 10 minute walk from the center of town. We chose to return to the ship via Esplanade Street. Back at the terminal on the ground level there is a large craft area inside the main pavillion. There are also some internet phones which cost $2 for 20 minutes. Next to the internet area is a coffee and pastry shop. Also on the first level is a two story light house which is the video center. On the second level is the Cape Breton Island Tourism Exhibition - takes about ½ to and to hour tour all the exhibits. The exhibit features local wildlife, Scottish native dress(first Europeans to settle were Scots). and some information on the island sections and parks. Also on the second level is the Ceilidh Fiddle Bar. There are tables inside and on a small patio. But if you want a drink, you have to go downstairs to the coffee shop and order it. Someone from there will come upstairs and prepare your drinks. They are open only until 4 PM. Outside of the terminal is a two story fiddle that plays recorded music all day long. Should you choose to walk into town, there are banners on the poles with fiddles on them indicating the correct path to take.

We spent part of the morning walking around the various streets, visiting The Jost Museum, Cossit House and St George’s Church. Before returning back to the ship, we stopped at the Governor’s Pub and Eatery. It wasn’t bad. We got a ½ liter of white wine to share and we each had the lobster roll ($11.95 each). These were a little different. The lobster mixture which consisted of chunks of lobster meat mixed with a little celery and mayo was placed on a warm and buttered ciabatta bread. They were excellent and they are two times larger than those in Bar Harbor. The fisherman’s chowder was made with chunks of cod, haddock, and salmon in a crème base. They also had a salmon salad. All the prices were very reasonable.

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