Eating Looking Cape Breton part 2

Don’t get the idea that Wentworth Perk is the only cafe in town. There are others. By far the most popular is The Bean Bank on Charlotte Street. I stopped by for coffee – strong & smooth – the place was packed, busy – people on laptops enjoying the wireless. several different spaces for sitting, though all were taken when  I was there – a front patio, an inner patio, and at least two others room as well. I was there around 11:30 & no muffins left – opted for an oat cake. Tasty but, to be honest, I like Tim Ho’s oat cakes better 🙂

Visited the Sydney Historical Society to enjoy an exhibit about the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Church and had a long talk with Megan, one of the guides, about my book. She’s creating a theatre project which, at the moment, has the working title “Steel and Coal: Work and Protest.” We are researching similar territory.

There was also some talk about the number of churches closing in the area – at least three in the past year and more to shut their doors over the next year. I thought why don’t they invest in wireless – congregations could meet to commune in a more spiritual atmosphere. Even the Tim Ho’s in Sydney has WiFi – time for the parishes to get with the program.

Was into the Bonnie Prince for the first time. It started out in the Isle Royal Hotel. Before I came out it had a reputation for having a ‘gay’ area – two stools at the back, I suppose – but then I was too fearful to go near it. The Isle Royal has since been torn torn. Now the Prince is a standard tavern/diner. Breakfast wraps were not in steelworkers lunch boxes.

For my birthday my sister found a spot for sea food chowder – Dock Y’ur Dory – about an hour’s drive along the coast. Tourist quaint that works – glass top tables with different displays under each table – toys in one, boats in another, dinner ware in another – the chowder was outstanding, the view was great, even picked up a few books in the gift shop. Worth the drive.

That was my last day there so didn’t get to do all I had planned – leaving something for my next visit. I won’t wait so long before my next visit. (2019 note – I did wait 7 years before visiting again.) I would have stayed longer but I had to get back to TO for my Pride gig & needed at least two days of rest to face that crowd. Population of Sydney maybe 32,000, number of people at Toronto Pride over 320,000 at any given hour.

Here’s another of the Montaigne prompt pieces

Not to Communicate A Man’s Honour [41]

he did no wrong

what’s the news in that

he didn’t cheat on his wife

he didn’t hide his sex life

he was clear and direct

he got no secrets

no one cared what he thought

no one reported what he said

he did his job with no fanfare

called no attention to himself

was brave when needed

got things done with little or no fuss

so who cares

if only he had

gotten away with murder

or at least plotted one

never stole when he had the chance

never swore in public

always kept his hands clean

and now

we can’t even remember his name