The weather has been horrible here with periods of heavy rain for hours followed by drizzle and fog so for the second day we scratched plans to travel the Cabot Trail around the northeast end of the
Island.
We opted to drive into North Sydney and do final grocery shopping before leaving for
Newfoundland and saw our ferry which
was in on the
passage before ours. We also stopped by the Arm of Gold Campground in North Sydney to hook up with Ken and Betty
Schwenke, friends from
Florida we traveled to
Mexico with two years ago. They are in training to work for Adventure Caravans as
tailgunners and finished up a caravan here today. We will get together tomorrow for socializing and dinner.
The Brewers and we decided to drive back to
Baddeck for Lobster Dinners and a
Gaelic music custom called
Ceilidhs, (Kay Lees) A
Ceilidh is Scottish fiddling and folk singing accompanied by dancing and storytelling.
The
Baddeck Ceilidh is held in the Parish Hall seven nights a week with different artists playing. The artists were a
Breton Island folk singer and composer accompanied by a 19 year-old fiddle player who attends Cape Breton college studying
Gaelic history and culture. She absolutely entranced the audience as she really got going playing jigs
and lively fiddle music, and taking requests for a
Cape Breton
ballard.
Scottish custom is not to clap during a performance until you are ready for the musicians to stop playing and then to applaud them for stopping. Audiences show their enthusiasm by tapping (stomping) their feet and the
floor was shaking in the hall! We were there for aver two hours and by the end of the night were absolutely delighted with the show. A great evening!
We best could describe a Cape Breton
Ceilidh as a hoedown in the
Smokey Mountains with a few Scottish and Canadian customs thrown in. The fiddle playing is almost indistinguishable to novices like us.
The weather has been horrible here with periods of heavy rain for hours followed by drizzle and fog so for the second day we scratched plans to travel the Cabot Trail around the northeast end of the 
The Brewers and we decided to drive back to Baddeck for Lobster Dinners and a Gaelic music custom called Ceilidhs, (Kay Lees) A Ceilidh is Scottish fiddling and folk singing accompanied by dancing and storytelling. 
The Baddeck Ceilidh is held in the Parish Hall seven nights a week with different artists playing. The artists were a Breton Island folk singer and composer accompanied by a 19 year-old fiddle player who attends Cape Breton college studying Gaelic history and culture. She absolutely entranced the audience as she really got going playing jigs and lively fiddle music, and taking requests for a 
Scottish custom is not to clap during a performance until you are ready for the musicians to stop playing and then to applaud them for stopping. Audiences show their enthusiasm by tapping (stomping) their feet and the floor was shaking in the hall! We were there for aver two hours and by the end of the night were absolutely delighted with the show. A great evening!
