TOURISM IN RICHMOND COUNTY

The tourism season is definitely under way with every day seeing an increase in the number of visitors passing through St. Peter’s. Canada Day celebrations drew the attention of many visitors who decided to stay and take part in the festivities. Five members of the Brown family, including 12month old Oscar, traveling from Australia doing a sightseeing tour of Canada and making their way from the east coast to BC, were among those who stopped and decided to celebrate with the locals at Battery Park. They had a great time listening to the music and watching the dancers, as Oscar enjoyed romping on the grass and watching the children running around under the watchful eyes of Grandma, Mom and his aunts. The Biehles, a couple from Switzerland stayed in the village for Canada Day and enjoyed talking to some of the residents at the fireworks display who conveyed to them the history of the village and the railway in St. Peter’s and showed where the old railway bed, which is now a walking trail along the Bay, was located. Later the couple enjoyed a stroll along the trail where the old engines would have carried freight long ago. They said they had a wonderful experience.
A group from the USA, who were traveling in Richmond on July 6th, shared an experience with me at the VIC. They were traveling around Isle Madame and checking out all the beautiful scenery, when they came across a local gentleman with a strong Scottish accent fishing off one of the bridges. They stopped to talk to him and asked what type of fish he was catching. The gentlemen informed them he was catching mackerel so the local asked if they like fish and of course they said yes, so the man proceeded to fillet the mackerel and gave it to the visitors to take back and cook. Then along came another man who was friends of the first local and asked if they would like to try their luck at fishing and with the help of a borrowed rod the visitor said that every time he cast out the line within a minute he would have a bite. He ended up catching 15 fish and told me he had the filleted mackerel for breakfast. He was just so overjoyed at the generosity of the locals to take the time to let them watch and take part. Definitely an experience he will remember and share with family and friends in America.
Events happening on the Cape Breton Heritage Coast throughout the summer:
The historic walking tours of the St. Peter’s Canal and Nicholas Denys museum take place everyday at 10:30am and 2pm from the Denys St. Look-off. This is a great way to hear about our history.
For all those golfers great news from the Dundee Resort and Golf Club, Twilight Tuesdays you can have your round of golf and cart for $40.00 including taxes and thirty Thursday play a round of golf and cart for $30.00 including taxes.
The Dundee Resort has entertainment scheduled for every night this summer. Sunday through Thursday Jason Williams will entertain at the MacRae’s Dining Room starting at 6pm and Friday and Saturday evenings the entertainment continues at Chanter’s Pub.
The wait is over the very popular weekly Ceilidhs at the Bras d’Or Lakes Inn have begun. This year the Ceilidhs on Wednesday and Thursday nights will be open to all ages and run from 7-9pm. Admission for adults is $8.00, senior and youth $5.00 and children under 5 free.
The Festival on the Lake in Sampsonville is underway and will run until July 18th, with lots of fun filled events scheduled, stop in at the St. Peter’s VIC for a full list of events.
Every Monday there will be an old time square dance held at the St. Peter’s United Church Hall. Dance starts at 6:30pm, for more information on any of these events stop in at the St. Peter’s Visitors Information Center at 10259 Hwy 4, across from the Natural Resources Office.
The Kitchen Rackets will be taking place throughout the summer on Sundays from 2-5pm at the Bras d’Or Lakes Inn, in St. Peter’s.
For the fiddle lovers traveling through our area, Destination Richmond Tourism Cooperative’s Cape Breton Heritage Coast Music Program entertainer Kala Bona will be at the St. Peter’s VIC on July 10th from 1:30-5pm, July 17th from 1:30-5pm, July 19th from 1:30-5pm, July 24th from 2-5pm, July 26th from 1:30-5pm, and July 31st from 9am-12pm. Janelle Boudreau will perform at the Lennox Passage Kiosk on July 9th, July 16th, July23rd, August 6th, August 13th and August 27th, from 9am-12pm each day. Stop in at the St. Peter’s VIC or at the Kiosk and hear some great music.
If you would like to check out the hot spots around Cape Breton Island and see what has been happening in the tourism world go to my new blog tourismspotlight.blogspot.com.
Until next week have fun.