Neil's Harbor - Nova Scotia

 Neil's Harbour is a small village located on the north-eastern most part of Cape Breton Island.  If you are driving the Cabot Trail, it makes a great spot to stop for lunch and enjoy looking at the sea and the rugged shoreline here.  With a population of approximately 300 people, there is not a lot in town, but the restaurant is well known for its chowder and is on both the Chowder Trail and the Lobster Trail. When you are done eating you can walk across the parking lot and visit Neil's Harbor lighthouse.

The restaurant is simply named Chowder House.  You order at the counter, get your drinks and pick your spot at one of the tables where they will brin you your food.  We had to try the chowder which was full of lots of seafood.  The soup is not overly thick for a chowder but had excellent flavor.

In addition to the chowder I also wanted to get the lobster stamp for this restaurant so I ordered a lobster roll.  The lobster roll was fresh and had nice flavor.  It was full of lobster meat and the bread was very good as well.  The restaurant staff works hard and could probably need a little more help.  We enjoyed getting a nice hot lunch before stepping outside into the wind to check out the scenery.

If you walk across the large grassy area outside the restaurant you will reach the rocky shorefront.  It is nice to enjoy the waves hitting the shore.  The wind was blowing out to sea, so the waves were not very large and crashing onto the shore.

The Neil's Harbor Lighthouse was built here in 1899 and is a standard square construction standing 34 feet high, making it 75 feet above water level.  It is well taken care of with a great red and white paint job.  Unique to other lighthouses, it proudly displays two maple leaves on the top part of the house.  The house is currently the home to an ice cream shop.  We did not try the ice cream, but if you are looking for a sweet treat after your lunch, just head over to the light.