A Link to Cabot

Posted on July 19, 2014 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Cabot Links Golf Club

 

 

Coming from the mainland, you exit the Causeway and make a sweeping left turn onto Route 19.  It is one of the most scenic drives in the entire province in any season not starting with the letter “w”.   Before you have reached top speed (90 KPH), you pass through Troy.  I have often thought I should pull over and look for Helen and the horse.  Creignish, Long Point, Judique and Port Hood are all potential stops along the way, each steeped in tradition and some of the best tea and biscuits that one can find.

The beautiful village of Mabou can easily be mistaken for Brigadoon if you arrive there early on a misty morning.  I have to fasten my seat belt securely while passing the Mull restaurant, lest I leap out on the fly for a piece of warmed chocolate pudding cake, with a dollop of whipped cream on top.  I am ever hopeful that they serve this in heaven.

Once I see the Strathlorne Nursery I know I am getting close.

For some unknown reason, I have probably spent more time in Inverness than any single community on the Island.  The romance began in the early 1970’s.

A number of my classmates at St. F.X. were from Cape Breton, and a handful hailed from Inverness.  I had passed through the town many times over the years on my way around the Cabot Trail but never had reason to pause for more than a pit stop.

That is, until I encountered the Ryan clan.

I accepted an invitation to come down for a weekend retreat.  No, not that kind of retreat.  This getaway consisted of booze, beaches and broads …. Broad Cove, that is.  We pondered the mysteries of life at one of the Ryan cottages, perched high on a hill.  I remember it being windy and I believe that this is where I heard the expression “three sheets to the wind” for the first time.  So windy, in fact, that we tacked to a neighbor’s cabin when the beer started to run low.

I always thought that the beach in Inverness was one of the finest in the province … and still do.  It now forms the backdrop to one of the most famous golf courses in the world: Cabot Links.  I’m not sure if John Cabot saw the enormous potential of this tract of land when he travelled to the new world in 1497.  But Ben Cowan-Dewar certainly did.  He and his team have created one masterpiece of a golf course with a second to open soon.  Could be a cliff hanger!

My in-laws, Dr. John and Toni, spent a decade in Inverness and that was a period when our trips up Route 19 became more frequent.  Our girls sang at the Crab Fest and we attended many parties on Lower Railroad Street.  We met some of the most pleasant and interesting people you can imagine and it still feels a bit like home anytime we happen to be passing through town.

I remember one party in particular.  There was a great singsong going on and I was playing my guitar.  A young man appeared with his parents and a few moments later I discovered what real talent looks like.   Matthew MacLennan, from just around the corner (Chimney Corner, to be precise,) dazzled me and everyone else in the room with his exquisite singing and playing.

I played Cabot Links last year.  I hadn’t golfed in eight years and it showed.  But I didn’t care much about the quality of my game.  I was more interested in seeing a little slice (or hook!) of paradise, right in my back yard.  Everybody who works at this facility exudes warmth.  While they may not have been experts in the golf and hospitality industries initially, that is something that can be learned.  You can’t teach people to be personable.  That’s “bred in the bone”.

I wish I could say that my knowledge base is expanding as rapidly as my waistline.  One too many burgers at the Coal Miner’s Café.

Beautiful beaches, great golf and wonderful people.  A perfect cocktail for the summer.