September 2023
I left home early on Saturday, September 23, arriving in Saint John, New Brunswick in time for brunch at the delightful Cask & Kettle restaurant. It’s a lovely little brewpub. Brunch is delicious. I had fish cakes Benedict (never say no to fish cakes in New Brunswick!) with home fries and a Bloody Caesar - that’s like a Bloody Mary but with Clamato instead of tomato juice. So perfect! I shopped a bit at the wonderful Saint John City Market, the oldest public market in Canada. Glorious!
Then I proceeded beyond Moncton to a little town near the coast to pick up an order from Baked Candles. It’s a fantastic small business making soy candles and nontoxic cotton wicks with natural fragrances like baked goods. My favorite is Maple Pancakes which smells exactly like maple pancakes. You can find them in shops throughout Atlantic Canada.
I came back towards Saint John and stayed at the Amsterdam Inn in Sussex. It’s a really nice motel just off the TransCanada, very comfortable and reasonable in price. It is a chain of motels and, from this experience, strongly recommended. Unfortunately, there were really no restaurants open in Sussex! I went to the local grocery store and got a meal to heat up in the motel’s microwave - they don’t serve meals other than breakfast but the dining space is available all day. Thank goodness!
The next day, I got up early and drove to Fredericton for one reason - breakfast at Claudine’s! (IYKYK). It’s incredible. Big menu, excellent service, delicious food and drink. I had lobster Benedict, home fries and a Bloody Caesar with ridiculous and wonderful garnishes - lobster claw, fried chicken tender, maple bacon, fried dill pickle. Most highly recommended.
After that, I visited the McAdam Train Station - a historic, beautifully restored Canadian Pacific train station. I had a tour because it’s fascinating, though I’ve been there several times. In the summer, they have “McAdam Pie Sundays.” You reserve in advance, giving your choice among a number of kinds of pie, and it’s served in the fabulous old dining room. The pie (lemon meringue for me) and coffee served on old railroad china are great and the setting is really (maybe actually) magical. I bemoaned the fact that I was born too late for the golden age of train travel. Sigh.
The rest of the trip was, unfortunately, less wonderful.
I’ve stayed at a number of rentals over the years and almost all have e been excellent. There was a big condo in
Montreal that was cheap and clean but so sterile. Ugh.
And then there was the camper in Douglas, just outside of Fredericton.
Very difficult to find, parked on a really steep hillside, no cooking facilities inside, just a broken old gas grill at the picnic table. The “bed” was probably 30” wide and hard as a rock. There was no WiFi and no cell signal. It was late September and pretty cold. There was a fan and air conditioner. I drove back to Fredericton and picked up supper at the A&W. There was heater to be seen, no directions to use one and since I had no way to contact the owner - who wasn’t at home - my dog Renny and I spent a very chilly, uncomfortable night, under all of the available blankets.
I left as early as I could the next morning.
It was mostly a delightful trip but if you use a rental service -AirBnB or VRBO - read the site very carefully. This one had almost universally glowing reviews except one. I should have paid attention to that one. Caveat emptor.
