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| Cape Breton 2003 |
| After we dropped off Rob and Louise at their boat, The Puffin, we set about finding a hotel room to stay in. It was midnight. We decided to go down to Port Hawksbury since there didn't seem to be rooms near North Sydney. We drove in the most miserable weather all the way down to Port Hawksbury. Vic called me on the cell phone to let me talk to Jim and Lillian Fidler. Jim told me he had eaten lunch with Sean McCann of Great Big Sea that day at Bridie's and invited him to vacation with them on St. Pierre. Things I didn't know I find out in this phone call - Jim used to be a member of Rankin Street, the forerunner of GBS. And here am I on Cape Breton! The thought of my husband vacationing with the Fidlers AND my favorite bodhran player began to eat my at brain. I almost regretted planning the two weeks at the Gaelic College. But then I figured that things happen for a reason. I got to jam on the bodhran on the ferry. And maybe I would not have been rational enough to vacation with them all. Andi didn't believe me when I told her, I think, and she had to decline when Jim wanted to talk to her on the phone because she was driving. Andi had rented a car for the weeks she was on Cape Breton. She had been staying with Stacy near Paradise, Nova Scotia. She was not having a good time driving in the pouring rain. When we finally did get to the southern end of the island, we discovered there were no hotel rooms down that end either. The kind lady at the reception desk, called to Antigonish to see if there were any there - none. There weren't any in Truro either. The nearest rooms were in Amherst, way over near New Brunswick or in Halifax. We decided to sleep in the parking lot at the Gaelic College. We got there about 4 AM. |
| Sunday, August 10th Sunday arrived with the sun, thank God. I awoke about 8:30 and Andi was still asleep. So I quietly went over to the Gift Shop and asked about registration. The lady told me that no one would be registering until noon. So I walked around a bit, waited till Andi was awake and then we drove to Baddeck for breakfast. But by the time we got there, it was too late for breakfast, so we had lunch instead. Baddeck is my favorite town on Cape Breton. I'd love to retire there. |
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| After breakfast we registered back at the Gaelic College. My schedule begins and ends with bodhran. I think that'll work. Two fiddle classes after breakfast and one after lunch. Andi has fiddle all morning and weaving in the afternoon. After all that, there was barely enough time to shower and dress for the benefit show we had planned to go to that evening in Glace Bay. Mac Morin and Ian MacDougall, a couple of the instructors from the Gaelic College last year were playing at the Savoy. Ian was Andi's favorite fiddle teacher last year. Only 22 years old and he plays so well it's unbelievable! And Mac used to play piano for Natalie MacMaster. He says he quit because he missed his dog! LOL! Mac is the best step dancer, too! We ate at Jasper's on the way to town and went to the Savoy Theater in downtown Glace Bay. The show was a benefit for the Save Our Seas and Shores campaign. They are trying to prevent seismic testing right offshore Cape Breton to test for oil deposits. The local fisherman, Mi'kmaq chief and environmentalists spoke briefly before each act. All of the artists had donated their time and proceeds to do this. Scott MacMillan organized the musicians. I had heard of him before but never HEARD him. Wow! Can he play guitar!!!! He was possessed while playing, and played every genre of music from Beatles to trad tunes. Ian and Mairi Rankin played and Mac and Mairi step-danced. MaryJane Lamond sang both in Gaelic and English. What a gorgeous voice she has! A family of musicians sang and played - the 12 year old daughter had a wonderful voice and was very confident. I had to giggle as it quickly became obvious we were in Cape Breton. The musicians have this "thing" for tapping their feet during all tunes. Well, the audience would tap their collective feet with each tune. It was hilarious! We found out Mac and Ian both have CDs out. Andi bought both, I bought Ian's. The show was wonderful and ended with all on stage singing "We Rise Again," one of my favorite songs. After the show, I asked one of the moderators if they could ask Mac and Ian to come out. I explained that Ian was our first fiddle teacher and how wonderful he was. She got him to come out with Mac. His accent is soooo thick I just love listening to him speak. He was genuinely surprised when we asked for his autograph. Andi had come prepared with Sharpies (she's ALWAYS prepared) and he and Mac signed the CDs and chatted with us for a bit. They both wished us good times at the Gaelic College and said for us to come see them if we got the chance while there and make known our presence. We told them we'd be happy to be their groupies for the next two weeks. We offered to tell Bill Reid about them and maybe try to get them booked at the East of the Hebrides Mid-Winter or Mid-Summer Festivals. |
| Of course we got lost on the way back to the Gaelic College! Ended up at the Newfoundland Ferry again. My vibes are drawing us there I think. Tomorrow will be an adventure for sure when we start classes and we are both a little nervous. |
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| Mac Morin |
| Ian MacDougall |