As we sit in the Romeo LeBlanc Airport in Dieppe, New Brunswick, waiting to board our flight to Toronto, I thought I might as well write our final post for this trip. We are here quite early as we completed today's itinerary earlier than expected and didn't know what else to do in the time we had left. Shopping was out of the question as our luggage was already packed and I didn't want to have to repack again. It's also very hot here today so Danica was requesting air conditioning.
Anyways, before we talk about our accomplishments of the day, I feel like I should talk about our accommodations last night. We had planned on staying in the Dorchester Jail B&B but it got cancelled on us last week. Luckily, I stumbled upon this other place, which was half the price and available. It was located in Harvey, NB, about 20 minutes from the Hopewell Rocks. The owners, Santos and Melanie, were so welcoming and happy to share the history of the house.
The house was built in 1847 and was apparently left vacant for 40 years before they bought it. They had been living in Montreal but found it difficult there as Anglophones and wanted to move out of the city. They spent a year and a half making the house habitable again and evicting the weasel who had moved in. They are still renovating and likely will be for years. Our room was the old servants living quarters, which they had heavily renovated. It was huge and beautiful. Danica enjoyed running and playing in the gardens, wood shed/former carriage house, and woods with 4 of their 5 kids. She even learned the names of their 11 hens and 1 rooster!
Just after leaving our AirBnB, we found the Sawmill Creek Covered Bridge, one of only 62 covered bridges that remain in New Brunswick. Apparently there were speed limits on these bridges, hence the sign that made us chuckle.
On our way back to Moncton, we stopped at the Albert County Museum. Danica's favourite buildings were the Courthouse and the Gaol. I was interested to learn that only 1 of our Prime Ministers has ever come from New Brunswick and it was Richard Bennett from Albert County. I, perhaps shamefully, didn't even recognize his name. It was also interesting to learn that Albert County had the greatest percentage of men fight in WWI. Did any of you know that Tom Collins (I only knew of the alcoholic drink by the same name) was an axe murderer, the reason for our double jeopardy laws and the only man hung in the Albert County Gaol.
From there, we made a stop at the New Brunswick Railway Museum. Danica was pretty grossed out by the railcars but climbing on them and balancing on the rails was fun. I was quite fond of the ultra deluxe class of rail travel.
Practically next door was a yummy and adorable cafe where we had lunch. We may or may not have also bought a couple of their famous cinnamon buns to go for an airplane snack. It's not our fault Air Canada doesn't even give out peanuts any more!
Our final stop before the airport was Magnetic Hill and the Magnetic Wharf in Moncton. No one warned me how quickly the car would coast in reverse! It was cool but vaguely terrifying. It wasn't lost on me that they didn't send any other cars down either time we were coasting up. We then, as per Danica's insistence, had one last ice cream before leaving the East Coast.
As we topped off the gas tank before returning our rental car, I was intrigued by this scratch ticket. I didn't win $10,000 or poutine for life, but I got my $2.00 back!
And assuming we have an uneventful trip home and Robert and Duncan are at the airport to pick us up as planned, we have nothing else exciting to share. It's been a great trip and I know we've made lots of memories.
I almost forgot - one of our favourite things is seeing how colourful everything is out here. At home, all the houses seem to be grey, white, beige or brick. Here, that's the exception. Houses are red, purple, yellow, blue, green, pink. It's so cheery!
Now I feel like I should try to explore a different province every year....
