*Kinderdijk, Netherlands. Discovery Bicycle Tours is offering a $500 pp savings for bookings on its Bruges-Amsterdam boat-bike tour through Dec. 15 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

Lock in your 2024 vacation and turn travel dreams into actual dates at incredible discounts by taking advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Travel Tuesday deals and perks from scores of travel companies. Here’s just a sampling of what is available:

Cruise Deals

Holland America Line’s passengers can take advantage of its Black Friday Sale, Nov. 17-Dec. 1 on more than 800 departures, from December 2023 through select 2025 cruises. Value of gratuities ranges from $112 for a seven-day cruise to $688 for a 43-day sailing, per person. Reduced cruise fares of up to 30% off are available on itineraries spanning Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, South America and Antarctica. The reduced fare also applies to the cruise portion of an Alaska Cruisetour, combining an Alaska cruise with an overland tour to Denali and the Yukon. Guests who book the Have It All premium fare receive even more amenities included in their booking. (www.hollandamerica.com).

Other major cruise lines offering Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals include: MSC, Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. Also check luxury, river, and expedition cruise lines for their incentives. See more deals at CruiseBooking.com: https://www.cruisebooking.com/cruise-deals/black-friday.

Booking.com is now also booking cruises on 30 lines and 10,000 routes with a 110% best price guarantee, and is offering Black Friday savings on several lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises. You can get up to $100, $200, $500 up to $2000 to spend at sea by booking a cruise before Nov. 30.

Quark Expeditions, a leaders in polar cruising, is offering up to 50% off select Antarctic 2023/24 departures; 40% off select Arctic 2024 voyages; free cabin upgrades on select Antarctic 2024/25 bookings; an additional 10% off all Arctic 2024 and Antarctic 2024/25 voyages when paid in full at time of booking and as much as 30% on all other seasons for Black Friday sale bookings Nov. 13-27 (limited cabins available). [email protected], 833-435-1900, www.QuarkExpeditions.com.

***European Waterways*** *is offering a Black Friday Special of 25% off on whole boat charters on two of its popular hotel barge cruises in France © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

European Waterways is offering a Black Friday Special of 25% off on whole boat charters on two of its popular hotel barge cruises in France. Book Nov. 24-Dec. 1 for the April 7, 2024 departure of the 12-passenger La Belle Epoque in Burgundy and the March 31, 2024 departure of the eight-passenger Enchanté on the Canal du Midi. With the Black Friday Special, the charter price for La Belle Epoque is $54,375, a saving of $18,125 off the original $72,500 price. The charter price for Enchanté is $42,375, a saving of $14,125 off the original price of $56,500. Barge cruises are all-inclusive and include gastronomic meals with wine pairing, luxury accommodations, and wine tasting excursions. visit www.europeanwaterways.com.

Piloting Le Boat on a canal in France, getting ready to go through a lock. Le Boat, a leader in self-piloted boat rental experiences in Europe and its newest destination, Canada, is offering “Let’s Go Boating in 2024” deals © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Le Boat, a leader in self-piloted boat rental experiences in Europe and its newest destination, Canada, is offering “Let’s Go Boating in 2024” deals. Valid for new bookings made Nov. 16-28, 2023 for rentals for 7 or more nights for travel in 2024, get savings of 20-25% depending on boat type, duration of travel and destination: in France, save 25% on select budget and comfort boats; save 20% in Canada on the Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway boat rentals on Horizon 3, 4 and 5. Call 1-800-734-5491 or visit www.leboat.com/deals/

Erie Canal Adventures has a fleet of 11 self-piloted canalboats (easy to pilot, like an RV on the water), based out of Erie Macedon Landing to explore New York State’s magnificent Erie Canal on your own. Take advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday savings of 10% off the boat rental. Besides saving up to $550, booking early gives you your pick of dates and boat layouts before they sell out. Use Promo Code ERIENOW10 when booking, 315-986-3011, info@eriecanaladventures, https://eriecanaladventures.com/

*Eric Canal Adventures is offering up to $550savings on self-piloted canalboat on the Erie Canal in upstate New York © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Save on Tours

CIE Tours is offering savings of up to $600 this Black Friday on more than 20 popular guided vacations to Ireland, Britain, Iceland, and Italy. Book Nov. 19- 25 for all 2024 departures with no blackout dates. Examples: Jewels of Ireland, Icelandic Explorer, Highlights of Britain, Tuscan Treasures with Cinque Terre. Book here: https://www.cietours.com/black-friday-2023. For Cyber Week bookings online, Nov. 26-Dec. 2, save up to 15% per couple for travel from June 1 through August 31, 2024. . Book here: https://www.cietours.com/cyber-week-2023

*Rome at night. Perillo Tours is offering $250 off per person for new bookings made Nov. 20 -27 for tours in Italy, Hawaii, Spain, and Greece © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Perillo Tours is offering $250 off per person for new bookings made Nov. 20 -27 for tours in Italy, Hawaii, Spain, and Greece. Book online at https://www.perillotours.com/. Additionally, travelers booking Italy Custom Trips can receive $150 off per person with the promo code BFITALY23.

Discovery Bicycle Tours is offering $500 off per person on bookings of two of its stellar cycling holidays booked by Dec. 15: Bike & Barge Bruges to Amsterdam (https://discoverybicycletours.com/bike-barge-bruges-to-amsterdam), a delightful trip that maximizes relaxation with sensational, scenic cycling; and E-bike New Zealand Trails, mostly off-road, car-free cycling through the spectacular scenery on the South Island (https://discoverybicycletours.com/e-bike-new-zealand-trails-bike-tour). Mention “Holiday Sale 2023” in your online reservation comments, or when you call 800-257-2226.

Escape Adventures is offering a Black Friday discount of 25% off $1099 regular price ($824) on this 4-day White Rim Mountain Biking Tour in Utah. Book at https://escapeadventures.com/tour/utah-white-rim-mountain-bike-tour/, with code WR25.

Ride & Seek is offering $1,000 off its France cycling tour from the culinary capital of Lyon to the wine mecca of Bordeaux as a Black Friday special. The price of the 20-day tour before the discount is $10,471.
https://rideandseek.com/tour/cro-magnon-lyon-to-bordeaux

Resort Stays

Club Med, a pioneer of the all-inclusive resort holiday, is offering 50% off plus up to $500 Instant Credit when booking a getaway to favorites like the 5-star eco-chic Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda, and the Club Med Québec, its only North American mountain resort for an all-inclusive ski holiday. PLUS: kids under 4 stay free and no single supplement. Book Nov. 16-29, 2023, for travel Dec. 2, 2023-June 28, 2024.

*Club is offering 50% off plus up to $500 Instant Credit when booking a getaway to one Club Med’s all-inclusive favorites like the 5-star eco-chic Club Med Miches Playa Esmeralda.*

Saint Lucia resorts are going all out for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, with every offer on the island listed on a dedicated page at www.stlucia.org (click Specials), and at www.stlucia.org/offers-black-friday-cyber-monday-2023. Two dozen properties, from family resorts to ultra luxe boutique hotels, are taking up to 76% off, and adding perks. Among the top deals: BodyHoliday (up to 40% off this wellness mecca); Caille Blanc Villa & Hotel (up to 40% off plus $150 dining credit), Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa (save 65% on this family favorite), East Winds Resort (a charming waterfront resort 30% off) SoCo House Saint Lucia ($400 all-inclusive rate for two guests at one of Saint Lucia’s newest hotels), Stonefield Villa Resort (20% off a locally-owned upscale hidden gem), Ti Kaye Resort and Spa (up to 45% off, plus perks like 30% off massages, a best-kept luxury secret) and Zoetry Marigot Bay, St. Lucia (up to 76% off this newly launched luxury all-inclusive resort).

*Fairmont Banff Springsis offering a 15% off bookings made Nov. 13-27, 2023 for stays through June 30, 2024 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is offering up to 30% off stays through June 30,2024 booked by Nov. 27, 2023 to unlock savings of up to 30% off your stays through June 30, 2024 at participating properties. Fairmont is part of ALL Accor Live Limitless, Accor’s loyalty program. Join and enjoy an additional discount up to 10% with the Members’ Rate, among other perks & benefits. Book: https://www.fairmont.com/offers/black-friday/

Velas Resorts in Mexico is offering discounts and perks for stays through 2024 for bookings made Nov. 22-26: Save up to 20% on nightly rates, complimentary stays for kids, 50% off for teens, airport transfers, unlimited access to the spa’s hydrotherapy, suite upgrades. The new Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos, opening in December, sweetens the deal with a $100 credit for romantic experiences. Mar del Cabo by Velas Resorts includes daily breakfast and 2-for-1 offers on select Cabo Adventure activities. Visit https://blackfriday.velasresorts.com/ or call 1-877-418-3059.

Canopy by Hilton Cancun La Isla, Cancun, Mexico. Book Nov. 23-27 for special room rate of $190 including breakfast for two (20% off) for travel from Dec. 1, 2023-June 30,2024 (blackout dates apply)

Atlantis Paradise Island is offering a Cyber Week Sale, Nov. 22-Dec. 1 in The Coral, The Royal, The Cove, and The Reef Towers. For stays from Jan. 2 through April 30, 2024, get the 5th night free PLUS a $500+ in Resort Credit. For stays from May 1 through Nov. 30, 2024, get the 4th night free PLUS a $400+ in Resort Credit. For every $100 purchased in Beverage Marine Adventure Experience Credits, $20 is added. Book with flexible payment options and cancellation policies by visiting atlantisbahamas.com or calling 1-800-ATLANTIS.

SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites in Mendoza, Argentina is offering 30% off its new Nature, Wine & Art Experience (starts at $4,235 pp/double before discount), when booked Nov. 23-27, 2023 for travel in January 2024. Guests at this boutique estate from Argentina’s first female winemaker start enjoy a 50-minute in-suite massage upon arrival and in-room spa amenities and nightly in-suite aromatherapy and private garden; Chef’s Table dinner at La Vida restaurant featuring bold Argentinian cuisine paired with Susana Balbo’s wines; immersive winery tour and private lunch overlooking vineyards at the foot of the Andes. Art enthusiasts can craft their own ceramic pieces at a local studio before a dinner at renowned artist Sergio Roggerone home. A day in Potrerillos offers water activities and glamping. Visit https://www.susanabalbohotels.com/sb-winemakers-house-spa-suites-en/ or call: +54 9 261 417 1144

Aqua-Aston Hospitality, which manages more than 25 hotels and resorts on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Island is offering 20% off for bookings Nov. 21-28, 2023 for travel Nov. 21, 2023-Dec. 20, 2024. Enjoy condo-style properties with resort amenities at Aston Kaanapali Shores, Aston Waikiki Beach Tower, and Aston at the Whaler on Kaanapali Beach. Book at aquaaston.com using Promo Code CCYBERSALE..

The Meritage Collection is offering 30% off best available rate and a $30 daily resort credit for bookings made through Nov 30, 2023, for travel through Nov. 30, 2024 (blackout dates apply) at its properties: Koʻa Kea Resort on Poʻipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii’s closest hotel accommodations to the waterfront, with views of Poʻipu Beach, intimate guestrooms, and renowned Red Salt restaurant led by Kauai native and Executive Chef Noelani Planas. Paséa Hotel & Spa, Huntington Beach, California, in a vibrant coastal community, with 250 rooms and suites (most are ocean-facing),iconic Ninth Island Pool perched over the Pacific Ocean, Balinese-inspired Aarna Spa and 1,100 square-foot Paw-séa Pup Play Park. Book at paseahotel.com or koakea.com using promo code PROCYB.

The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club, Waikiki, offers a quintessential Hawaii experience, lounging in vintage-inspired rooms with mid-century aesthetic and the swoon worthy “Wish You Were Here” pool. Indulge in award-wining cuisine at the onsite Mahina & Sun’s. Deal: 21% savings off 1-Room Bungalow, 1-Room Bedroom, & 2-Room Bedroom; Book Nov 17-30 for travel Nov 17, 2023-Dec. 31, 2024 (subject to blackouts). Book at surfjack.com and use code CYBER2023

ADERO Scottsdale Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona,a modern desert sanctuary located in one of 60 Dark Sky Communities in the world, is known for exceptional stargazing, hiking and biking trails and wellness amenities including on-site spa and pickleball Save 25% in addition to $50 resort credit (rates start at $179/night before discount); book thru Dec. 10 for travel through Jan. 21, 2024. Book: aderoscottsdale.com

The Virginian Lodge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming provides easy access to
Grand Teton National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Virginian Lodge, Jackson Hole, WY is offering up to 30% off the best available rate for bookings made now through Dec. 1, 2023 for travel now through September 2024 (72 hr-7 day cancellation policy applies). The dog-friendly property features two hot tubs, seven built-in fire pits, an all-season pool, the iconic Virginian Saloon, and over 4,000 square feet of event space. The Virginian Lodge is the ideal base camp for access to world-class national parks (Grand Teton, Yellowstone), wildlife refuges, museums, hot springs, local distilleries and wineries, and authentic dude ranches. Book: https://be.synxis.com/?Hotel=31645&Chain=5173&promo=CYBER23

Limelight Hotels in Aspen, Snowmass and Denver, CO and Ketchum, ID is offering up to 30% off best available retail rate booked Nov. 24-29, 2023 for stays through March 31, 2024 (blackout dates apply): he Mountain Town Getaway Deal offers up to 25% off on a four-night stay at any mountain destination properties – Aspen and Snowmass, Colorado or Ketchum, Idaho, subject to availability for deluxe rooms and higher. Limelight’s newest property, Limelight Hotel Denver is offering up to 30% off BAR). Book: www.limelighthotels.com using code CYBER23.

Outbound Mammoth, Mammoth Lakes, CA is offering up to 30% off the best available retail rate for bookings made now through Dec. 1, 2023, for stays now through September 2024 (48 hr cancellation; blackout dates apply). Outbound Mammoth is a six-acre respite with convenient access to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Mammoth Lakes Hiking Trails, and the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite National Park. Outbound Hotels has reimagined this Mammoth Lakes icon with fully renovated rooms and chalets plus 10 new cabins and 20 villas, a new pool area, on-site restaurant, steam room, dry sauna, fire pits and offerings for pets. In the winter, the snow-covered slopes call to ski and snowboarding enthusiasts; in the summer, Mammoth Lake beckons with fishing, swimming, hiking, biking, hot springs and boating. Book: https://be.synxis.com/?Hotel=36561&Chain=5173&promo=CYBER23

*Brewery Gulch Inn, a charming, luxurious inn in Mendocino California is offering 30 percent savings for Black Friday/Cyber Monday © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Brewery Gulch Inn, a charming, luxurious inn on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino California, is offering 30% off new bookings made Nov. 24-27, for travel through May 24, 2024; and 35% off reservations Dec.1-21 (minimum two nights, blackout dates include holidays). www.brewerygulchinn.com.

Southernmost Beach Resort in Key West, Florida is offering 50% off bookings made Nov. 24- Dec. 1 for stays through Dec. 31, 2024. Boasting three palm-fringed pools with private cabanas, a signature restaurant, and three bars, full-service spa, group fitness classes, live entertainment, and unique programming including cocktail tastings and painting classes, this oceanfront oasis sets the tone for a tranquil stay in Key West’s Historic District. Book: www.southernmostbeachresort.com/black-friday-cyber-monday.

*Watching the sunset is always a highlight of travel to the Florida Keys © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hawks Cay Resort, the Florida Keys, offers fishing excursions, dolphin encounters, and snorkel trips on-site. The new Pilar Bar hosts rum tastings and cigar pairings inspired by longtime Keys resident Ernest Hemingway. Deal: up to 45% off accommodations and $50 resort credit, plus daily breakfast for two during stays booked Nov 14-29 with code CYBERW, for a 2-night minimum stay at the hotel and a 3-night minimum stay at its villas (subject to availability, blackout dates apply).

Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, FL, an all-suite resort catering a stones throw from DisneyWorld and other top theme parks, just underwent a $140 million renovation. It offers 1,215 one-bedroom suites (sleep up to5) and 120 two-bedroom villas (sleep up to 6), seven on-site culinary venues, family friendly activities including outdoor pool with 75 foot waterslide, catch-and-release fishing, kiddie splashpool and playground, and outdoor movie program. Deal: 30% off with $25 nightly F&B credit when booking direct for 2 consecutive nights or more, booked Nov. 16-29 for travel Nov. 16, 2023-Dec. 31, 2024. Book at www.cariberoyale.com

Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, Hollywood, Florida a family-friendly tropical escape with 369-rooms, eight bar and restaurant concepts, two pools, FlowRider surfing simulator, year-round live entertainment, the St. Somewhere Spa, kid’s club, paddle boarding and kayaking. Deal: Save up to 20% when booking Nov. 20-28, 2023 for stays Nov. 21, 20223-June 30, 2024. www.margaritavillehollywoodbeachresort.com/holiday-activities.

Sanderling Resort, Duck, NC is offering up to 40% off the best available retail rate for bookings made Nov. 9-29, 2023 for travel Nov. 9, 2023-August 31, 2024 (blackout dates apply. The AAA Four-Diamond full-service resort on North Carolina’s Outer Banks spans 13 acres between the Atlantic Ocean and serene Currituck Sound. Enjoy three pools, oversized fire pits, dining at the Lifesaving Station and the on-site Spa at Sanderling with award-winning services. Book: https://www.sanderling-resort.com/vacations-specials/

The Art of Living Retreat Center, Boone, North Carolina, a wellness experience in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is offering 25% off Signature Retreats (Happiness, Stepping Into Silence, Meditation) and R+R Retreats, booked Nov. 17-27 for stays from Dec. 2023-March 2024. To book: www.artoflivingretreatcenter.org with code BLACKFRIDAY2023.

Rock Springs Retreat Center, located 45 minutes from Nashville, Tennessee, offers transformative retreats focused on holistic wellness, combining fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle to help individuals achieve sustainable, long-term results. Deal: From Nov. 20 – Dec. 1, book one week and get the second week at 60% off the weekly rate for stays through Feb. 29, 2024 (based on availability and blackout dates apply). To book: call Rock Springs Retreat Center at 615-437-6524.

Makeready Hotels, a Dallas based experience-driven hospitality company, operates an independent and diverse collection of restaurant, retail and hotel brands across the US such as Dallas, Nashville, Charleston, Denver, Savannah GA, Charleston SC, Cape Neddick ME, Nashville TN, Columbus OH. Deal: This collection wide Cyber Sale, Nov. 17-29, offers guests up to 24% off guest rooms, $24 dining credit and 24% off retail. Book: Visit the offers webpage of any Makeready Hotel, the full list of properties can be found at https://makereadyexperience.com/hotels

Three Charlestown Hotels properties in Charleston, S.C. are offering deals of 23 to 25% off on bookings made Nov. 28-Dec. 3 for travel by Dec. 31, 2024:

HarbourView Inn, Charleston’s intimate, 52-room waterfront retreat in the heart of the Historic District From customized gourmet artisanal breakfast delivered in-room to complimentary afternoon wine and cheese hour on the hotel’s private rooftop (the only remaining in downtown Charleston) the hotel emulates warm Southern hospitality. (Rates start at $289/night before discount). To Book: www.harbourviewcharleston.com.

The Spectator Hotel, Charleston, is offering 23% off stays. With 41 residential-style rooms, this Holy City high-design, Art Deco boutique property is the only hotel in Charleston with personal butler service for coordinating anything from developing itineraries and making hard-to-get reservations to dream restaurants to drawing candlelit rose petal baths and delivering handcrafted cocktails from The Bar, the hotel’s Prohibition-era themed cocktail lounge (rates start at $299/night before discount). Book at www.thespectartorhotel.com.

French Quarter Inn, a 50-room luxury boutique hotel (Charleston’s most awarded hotel), showcases the southern charm the city is known for with a comfortable upscale design, famous locally sourced artisanal breakfast and refined turndown service complete with complimentary port wine, freshly baked cookies with milk, locally handcrafted chocolates or “sleepy tea” and curated pillow menu (seven options for all types of sleepers). (Rates start at $289/night before discount). Book at https://fqicharleston.com/.

The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa, Manchester, VT is offering up to 40% off best available rate for bookings made now through Nov. 29, 2023 for travel now through August 31, 2024 (blackout dates apply). Nestled in the Green Mountain National Forest in historic Manchester, VT, The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa has welcomed guests for over 250 years, including four U.S. presidents. The expansive resort features over 195 guestrooms with several suite categories; a full-service spa, 75-foot indoor pool and fitness classes; five dining outlets, including the fabled Marsh Tavern (a destination since 1769) and an award-winning par-71, 18-hole championship golf course. The Equinox Resort is a year-round playground for lovers of the outdoors with something for everyone, delicious dining, history, four seasons of adventure & of course spectacular skiing with easy access to Bromley & Stratton mountains. Book: https://www.equinoxresort.com/offers/equ-cyber-sale-2023/

The Wentworth, in Jackson, NH, is offering 30% off the Dinner and Breakfast Package which includes accommodations, breakfast, and a four-course meal in the 1869 Room for 2024 bookings made Nov. 23-29 using the code BLACKFRIDAY (full payment required, non-refundable, blackout dates apply). (https://www.thewentworth.com/).

The Menhaden in Greenport, NY offers 25% savings and a bottle of local red wine for new bookings made Nov. 24-Dec. 1. Travelers enjoy a special discount of 25% off and a hand-selected bottle of local red wine, for stays Nov. 24, 2023-Feb. 1, 2024. Use code CYBER to book at https://hotels.cloudbeds.com/reservation/YcpeiX#promo=CYBER&checkin=2023-11-06&checkout=2023-11-07.

Campspot, a camping and outdoor adventures platform, has Black Friday/Cyber Monday Camping Deals for up to 50% off* on some of the top campgrounds. Here’s a sampling: Broad River Campground (Mooresboro, NC)- 40% off: escape winter in your own heated cabin or dome with an outdoor fire pit at this pet-friendly campground, which offers various activities and nearby hiking, biking, and horse trails. Wild Fox Cabins & Campground (Lakeville, ME)- 40% off: Snuggle up in a cozy cabin and enjoy the spectacular woodland and lake surroundings at this campground perched along the legendary ‘chain of lakes. Lake Hemet Campground (Mountain Center, CA)- 30% off: This award-winning campground offers stunning mountain views and is a top spot for camping, fishing, and wildlife viewing. Riverbend RV Park & Cabins (Montrose, CO)- 20% off: Enjoy riverfront living at this campground, which offers cabins and RV sites perfect for floating and fly fishing adventures.

Booking.com is inviting subscribers to get notices of deals worth 30% or more off stays in their inbox, for booking between Nov. 16-29, 2023 for stays anytime until Dec. 31, 2024 (free cancellation and flexible payment options).

Spafinder.com is offering 20% off $150 gift cards purchased through Nov. 30 (use promo code HOLIDAY23).

Coming up: Gift of Travel

____________________________

© 2023 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/KarenBRubin

around-the-world travel, Gift of Travel, luxury travel, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, Resorts & Hotels

Travel Tuesday Deals Put Bucket List Destinations, Experiences Within Reach

November 4, 2023 krubin723

Death Valley National Park. Being able to stay within the park lets you take advantage of amazing sunsets and sunrises. *Xanterra is offering discount at the luxury Oasis and family-friendly Ranch* © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

Travel companies – airlines, cruiselines, hotels and resorts, tour companies – are going big for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, putting bucket list destinations and experiences within reach. We’ve gathered some of the deals to provide a snapshot of what you can expect – it can be a discount on the package price, upgrade, or special features added on. But if you don’t see a travel company you are interested in, search for the website and “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday” deals to find offers and get any necessary code. Here’s a taste of the goodies to snatch:

Xanterra Travel Collection® “Thankful for Travel Sale”

From Nov. 21-Dec. 1, 2023, save up to 30% on national park stays, luxury, yacht-style cruises, a historic train ride to the Grand Canyon, walking and biking tours in Europe, and legendary resorts. Xanterra owns or operates the lodges in Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, Glacier National Park, and Grand Canyon, South Rim; Windstar Cruises, the Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel, The Oasis at Death Valley, Holiday Vacations, Country Walkers and VBT Bicycling Vacations. The affiliated legendary Five-Star, Five-Diamond Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs and the longest-running Five-Star award-winning Sea Island resort in Georgia are also participating in the sale. (Visit xanterra.com/thankful). Highlights include:

National Parks

View of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim at sunset. Xanterra’s ”Thankful for Travel” sale includes special offers on National Park stays, including Grand Canyon’s South Rim hotels © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Oasis at Death Valley – Save 30% on hotel stays at the beautifully renovated and historic AAA Four-Diamond Inn at Death Valley and the newly revitalized, family-friendly Ranch at Death Valley, including new, cozy cottages, spring fed pools and the lowest elevation golf course. Valid for select overnight stays between Dec 2023 and Feb 2024.
Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel – Save 30% on roundtrip train tickets on an entertaining journey in fully restored historic train cars to the Grand Canyon’s fabled South Rim when booking a two-night Thankful for Travel package for select travel dates January-March 7, 2024.
Grand Canyon South Rim – Save 30% on in-park lodging at Maswik Lodge, Kachina Lodge, and Bright Angel Lodge and 20% at the historic El Tovar Hotel for stays between December 2, 2023, and March 7, 2024. All lodges are in the Historic Grand Canyon Village within walking distance of the rim of the Grand Canyon, Lookout Studio and Hopi House. Take advantage of the secret season at Grand Canyon, South Rim and enjoy the park without the crowds.
The Grand Hotel – Save 30% at the only AAA Three-Diamond hotel near the Grand Canyon in Tusayan (just one mile from the South Rim entrance) on select dates Dec 2, 2023- March 7, 2024.
Zion National Park – Save 30% on overnight stays inside the park at Zion National Park Lodge on select dates between Dec 2023 and Feb 2024.
Cedar Creek Lodge, at the gateway to Glacier National Park – Save 30% on rooms for select dates between Dec 2023 and April 2024.
Yellowstone – Save 30% on select room types at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel from Dec 15 –21, 2023 and Jan 2 – Mar 3, 2024, and at Old Faithful Snow Lodge from Dec 16 –22, 2023, and Jan 2 – Mar 2, 2024. Save this spring at Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel on stays between April 26 – May 9, 2024, and save at Lake Yellowstone Hotel May 10 – 22, 2024.

The Grand Prismatic, Yellowstone National Park. Take advantage of Xanterra Travel Collection’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday national park hotel sales to put your family in the picture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Luxury Hotels

Sea Island – Book between November 24-November 28, 2023, to receive: up to 25% off standard rate at the Cloister or The Lodge for stay s Jan-Mar, Sept-Dec 21, 2024; 15% off for stays Apr-Aug; 10% off stays at Cottages Jan-Dec 21, 2024; $250 resort credit per stay at The Cloister and The Lodge and $100 resort credit per Cottage stay.
The Broadmoor – 15% off all-inclusive Wilderness Experience stays for select dates in the 2024 season (April-October); Broadmoor exclusive of $269 nightly rates & suites available at 25% off of published rates valid for select dates in January through April 2024. Book between Nov 14 – Dec 1, 2023. More details and booking information here.
- Situated at the gateway to the Colorado Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, The Broadmoor and its Wilderness Experience properties – The Ranch at Emerald Valley, Cloud Camp and the Orvis-endorsed Fly Fishing Camp – encompass 5,000 acres. The resort campus has 784 rooms, suites and cottages. It includes two championship golf courses, an award-winning spa and fitness center, a nationally recognized tennis staff and program, 20 retail boutiques, plus 20 diverse restaurants, cafes and lounges. Other activities include falconry, mountain biking, hiking, rock-climbing tours, fly-fishing, Wild West Experiences and more.
- The Broadmoor Wilderness Experience properties are three all-inclusive boutique facilities that highlight an authentic Colorado experience while offering mountain rustic luxury along with The Broadmoor’s legendary service: an upscale dude ranch, a fly fishing mecca, and a relaxing and glamorous Western mountaintop camp. Open May-October.

*The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, grand, historic resort*

Guided Travel/Tours

Bicycling Tours (VBT) – Book any 2024 departure of a Guided Biking tour to France with an Air Package and save $250.
Walking Adventures (Country Walkers)– Book any 2024 departure of a Guided Walking tour to Italy with an Air Package and save $250.
Holiday Vacations – Join a Hawaii Three Island Holiday tour on either Feb 24 or March 2, 2024 to save $300 pp

Cruising

Windstar Cruises – Pick Your Perk! Select one: free pre- or post-cruise hotel nights, up to $1,000 onboard credit, OR premium suite guests may select a free upgrade to an All-Inclusive Fare featuring Wi-Fi; unlimited beer, wine & cocktails; and all gratuities. PLUS reduced deposits of just 5%.

Tour Operator Specials

EF Go Ahead Tours, a premier provider of education-based group travel experiences, has been offering a month of deals, that climax with Black Friday/Cyber Monday. The sales, which include select discounts of up to 20% and lightning deals of up to $1,000 off per traveler, coincide with a record increase in consumer demand for immersive travel beyond historically-favorite destinations. Week 4: Nov. 17-22: Save up to $600/$1,200 per couple on Bucket List destinations (Africa, Asia, Latin America, like Bali & Java: Culture & Landscapes of Indonesia, priced from $3,039). Black Friday: major savings on all destinations plus an extra $100 off on all tours and special Lightning deals and extras such as free excursions. Cyber Monday: Buy more, save more & get an extra $50 off when booking online. Flexible Travel Policies. Book & Rebook with Confidence. AutoPay financial planning with $99 down and interest-free payment plans. Visit www.goaheadtours.com.

*Biking through Custer State Park, South Dakota, where the buffalo roam, on Wilderness Voyageurs’ Badlands and Black Hills inn-to-inn bike tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Wilderness Voyageurs, which operates fully supported, inn-to-inn bicycle tours across the United States, is offering savings of $75 off 3-day tours, $100 pp off 4-day tours, $125 off 5-day tours and $150 off 6-day tours for any bike tour booked by Dec. 14. (800-272-4141, https://wilderness-voyageurs.com/)

G Adventures’ Cyber Sale, through November 30, provides 30% off per person on guaranteed departures of small-group tours, for select dates departing before April 30, 2024. To book: https://www.gadventures.com/travel-deals/cyber-sale/

Resorts Around the World

*Club Med, a pioneer of the all-inclusive resort, offers deals, discounts, specials all year long. Check out the all-inclusive deals to ski resorts and beach destinations (photo from Club Med).*

Club Med: Book by Jan. 8, 2024 for travel by June 28, 2024 to get an extra 10% off all-inclusive beach and mountain getaways. Get up to 40% off plus: Up to $200 additional instant credit per person; Kids under 4 stay FREE; Bundle with air & save 10% extra. For solo travelers, the Single Supplement is waived on select dates. Visit: https://www.clubmed.us/o/best-all-inclusive-vacation-deals

Borgo San Vincenzo, Montepulciano, Italy: Tuscany’s newest luxury boutique hotel, , is a reimagined 18th-century borgo named for the patron saint of winemaking, offering sophisticated wine-driven experiences inviting guests to immerse in the region’s vibrant culture, breathtaking views, historic wine scene and culinary excellence. Located in the heart of Montepulciano, Italy, in the Vino Nobile vineyards, Borgo San Vincenzo offers 21 luxury studios and suites and personalized experiences like tours of the region by foot, horse, e-bike, Vespa, or hot air balloon, cooking classes in a winery, truffle hunting and olive oil tasting, among others. Borgo San Vincenzo’s Escape to Tuscany specials from Nov. 23-27 include 20% off on all suites in any season (4-night minimum stay), daily breakfast for two, complimentary e-bike rental for two days and €100 euros ($106) food & beverage credit. The hotel can also be booked for exclusive use €30,000 euros ($31,857) for a 4-night stay (excluding May-September) including 1 night of exclusive use of the Il Ciuchino restaurant $2,654 value). Direct bookings only, mention Black Friday Specials/Escape to Tuscany. Book at https://borgosanvincenzo.com/contact/.

Cayo Espanto, Belize, located three miles off the coast of San Pedro, Belize, is home to seven villas, helipad, private yacht, and endless opportunities to enjoy a barefoot luxury escape in a naturally beautiful setting. The private island resort is offering guests a free airfare credit (up to $750 per person) with the booking of a 4-7 night stay this Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Travelers looking to take advantage of this offer must complete their reservation online at aprivateisland.com Nov 24 – 27. Use the codes for FREEAIR outlined in the booking calendar when making a reservation. Blackout dates apply.

Sonesta Resorts St. Maarten, St. Maarten is a duo of stunning oceanfront, all-inclusive resorts in the Dutch Caribbean, comprised of the family-friendly Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino & Spa and five-star, adults-only Sonesta Ocean Point Resort. Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino and Spa is a 420-room fun-for-all ages resort, while Sonesta Ocean Point Resort is a spectacular adults-only 130 suite “resort within a resort” featuring all-access to the adjacent all-ages Maho Beach Resort. From Black Friday, Nov. 24 through Cyber Monday, Nov. 27, take 50% off standard room rate for future stays between Dec. 1, 2023-Dec. 21, 2024 (three-night minimum; blackout dates) when booking with code BLACKFRIDAY online at sonestastmaarten.com.

Ocean Club Resorts, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos, two all-suite resorts located along the pristine Grace Bay Beach, provide spacious accommodations, full kitchen or kitchenette, screened-in patio, and onsite activities including complimentary bikes, tennis, kayaks, SUP boards, beach/pool loungers. Book a six-night stay at Ocean Club Resorts (East or West location) this Black Friday through Cyber Monday and receive the seventh night free for stays April 1 – 30, 2024. Valid on accommodations ranging from Studio to One-Bedroom Suites. Reservations are based on availability, blackout dates apply. The promotional offer must be booked here online, use promo code BFCM. Offer cannot be combined with any other promotion.

Andaz Mexico City Condesa, in Mexico City’s trendy Condesa neighborhood, has emerged as a chic urban enclave since opening in January 2023. Book Nov. 16-29, 2023 to get 25% off on all stays from November 16, 2023 to August 31, 2024. The city’s newest lifestyle hotel boasts 213 distinctly designed rooms and suites, the neighborhood’s tallest rooftop pool on the 17th floor, three distinct dining venues, including signature restaurant Cabuya Rooftop and pet-friendly Wooftop Beer Garden & Canine Club with its brand new Bulldog Sports Bar,as well as Pasana Spa and Wellness that offers relaxing massage services and beauty treatments.

Fairmont Mayakoba, nestled in the heart of Mexico’s Riviera Maya, is a newly renovated, 401-room AAA Five Diamond resort set on 45 acres within a private luxury community. Surrounded by a lush mangrove forest intersected by water canals, the property offers 46,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor meeting space, an energizing Fairmont Spa and El Camaleón Golf Course. Now through March 29, 2024, take 20% off stays through April 30, 2024 booking directly on Fairmont Mayakoba’s website, HERE.

Casa Kimberly, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, once the love nest of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, is a luxurious nine-suite boutique hotel in the heart of Puerto Vallarta with stunning views of Banderas Bay and the red clay rooftops that dot the Sierra Madre Mountains. Originally Burton’s gift to Taylor for her 32nd birthday, the hotel consists of two gorgeous casitas, connected by the Bridge of Love, where the star-crossed Hollywood icons could escape the paparazzi in the streets below. Today the carefully preserved hotel consists of a fine dining restaurant and tequila bar, original azure-tiled pool and elaborate, individually designed suites with expansive terraces with outdoor private Jacuzzis. Lovers are welcome to ignite their passion while draped in the historic luxury of old Hollywood. Book Nov. 24-27 to save 50% off suites for stays between December 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024 (blackout dates apply). Use code CYBERCK to reserve at the discounted rate. Visit here to book.

The renovated Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort occupies six-acres of beachfront property in the historic capital of Willemstad. Located outside of the hurricane belt, the island is safe from the tropical storms and delivers 300 days of sun per year. Curacao is now more popular and accessible than ever as a result of new and additional nonstop flights from New York, Miami, Charlotte and Atlanta (coming soon). The resort presents an ideal combination of active adventure and luxurious relaxation, with direct beach access, two pools, four dining concepts, meetings and events spaces and recently opened an on-site dive shop, Goby Divers, where guests can learn to scuba and earn PADI certification or dive based on their experience level. Deal: Save up to 30% off for 4 nights or 35% off for 7 nights (rates start at $234/night before discount). Book Nov. 24-27, 2023 for travel Jan. 2-Oct. 31, 2024 (blackout dates apply). Book Via Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort’s page on Marriott.com, Expedia, or Booking.com during the booking window.

Botánika Osa Peninsula, Curio Collection by Hilton, Costa Rica is a newly opened eco-resort offering luxurious accommodations and world-class excursions and wildlife adventures in the rainforests of the Osa, led by certified guides. Deal: Four-night getaway for two in one bedroom suite, complimentary breakfast, welcome cocktails and spa credit (rates start at $184/night before the discount), minimum 4-night length of stay; children under 12 stay free; Additional nights can be booked for $199+ tax and fees). Book Nov. 20-27, 2023 for travel Nov. 20, 2023 to May 31, 2024. To book: visit https://botanikaresort.com/

Vakkaru Maldives, located in the heart of Baa Atoll on a secluded reef island with idyllic ocean views, powder-soft white sand and marine biodiversity, is a timeless resort sanctuary. Deal: Book direct Nov. 15-Dec. 6 for stays from Nov. 15, 2023 to May 15, 2024 (black out dates Dec. 23, 2023-Jan. 10, 2024, Mar 23-Apr 7, 2024) to get resort credit of $100 per villa or $200 per residence; 30% off Merana Spa treatments; 40% off on Ayurveda treatments and packages; 20% off on selected watersports including Jetski, Seabob & Jetboard; Sunset champagne and Canapés on the beach for two. To book: here or email [email protected],use offer code BLACK

Sun Siyam Resorts’Siyam World (https://www.sunsiyam.com/siyam-world/offers/) and Olhuveli Resorts (https://www.sunsiyam.com/sun-siyam-olhuveli/offers/) in the Maldives are offering up to 40% savings, plus discounts on activities, diving, 50% off room upgrade charges, and stay a minimum of five nights for a one-way complimentary airport transfer for two.

See more deals: IT’S THE BEST TIME OF YEAR – FOR SNATCHING SAVINGS ON VACATION TRAVEL IN 2024

Coming: Gift of Travel

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Arts & Entertainment, Festivals and Events, New York City travel

NYC Village Halloween Parade Marks 50 Years with ‘Upside Down’: Photo Highlights

November 1, 2023 krubin723

*The Village Halloween Parade in New York City is celebrating 50 years with this year’s theme, UPSIDE/DOWN © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Village Halloween Parade, celebrating 50 years since it began as a small neighborhood “promenade” and has become one of the largest Halloween events in the world, was themed UPSIDE/DOWN, reflecting the tumult of the last few years, and inviting self-reflection.

“The Halloween Parade has always been a night of transformation, but this topsy turvy year feels even more-so in terms of realizing a dream, being who you are most authentically in your imagination,” said Jeanne Fleming, Artistic and Producing Director.

*The Village Halloween Parade, celebrating 50 years, gives New Yorkers an opportunity to show off their creativity, artistry and humor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hundreds of thousands of spectators packed the streets along the mile-long parade route from Canal Street to 16^th Street along Sixth Avenue, to thrill at hundreds of puppets, 50 bands representing music from around the world, dancers, artists, and thousands of other New Yorkers in costumes of their own creation in the nation’s most wildly creative public participatory event in the greatest city in the world – the biggest crowds since 2019.

“I’m astonished by how many people are here,” said a justifiably proud and delighted Fleming. “We invite people to come out and they did!”

*Village Halloween Parade Director Jeanne Fleming was delighted with a huge turnout of costumed parade goers and spectators © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Spectators thrilled at seeing hundreds of puppets, 50 bands and dancers representing music from around the world and New York’s melting pot, and tens of thousands of New Yorkers in costumes of their own creation, in the nation’s most wildly creative public participatory event in the greatest city in the world.

Started by Greenwich Village mask maker and puppeteer Ralph Lee in 1973, the Parade began as a walk from house to house in his neighborhood for his children and their friends.

After the second year of this local promenade, Theater for the New City stepped in and produced the event on a larger scale as part of their City in the Streets program.

*Fogo Azul NYC, an all-women Brazilian drumline, is one of about 50 bands joining the Village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Today the Parade is the largest celebration of its kind in the world and has been picked by Festivals International as “The Best Event in the World” for October 31.

Now, 50 years later, the Parade draws more than 70,000 costumed participants and some 2 million spectators, including television-viewing audience, live on NY1 beginning at 8 pm.

*Parade marchers really interact with the spectators, to everyone’s delight © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In 1994, the Mayor of the City of New York issued a Proclamation honoring the Village Halloween Parade for 20 years of bringing everyone in the City together in a joyful and creative way and being a boon to the economic life of the City. “New York is the world’s capital of creativity and entertainment. The Village Halloween Parade presents the single greatest opportunity for all New Yorkers to exhibit their creativity in an event that is one-of-a-kind, unique and memorable every year. New Yorkers of all ages love Halloween, and this delightful event enables them to enjoy it every year and join in with their own special contributions. The Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village is a true cultural treasure.”

The irony is that while Halloween is about taking on a completely different persona, at the Village Halloween Parade, we see New Yorkers’ true selves.

And that’s true to the Upside/Down-Inside/Out theme.

Here are more photo highlights:

*The Village Halloween Parade in New York City marks 50 years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Giant puppets are a hallmark of the New York City’s Village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Village Halloween Parade marchers enjoy interacting with spectators much to their delight © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*All you need to march in the Village Halloween Parade – the people’s parade – is a costume © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Village Halloween Parade showcases the many cultures of New York’s melting pot © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Grand Marshal of the Village Halloween Parade Laurie Anderson © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*L Train Brass Band brings its joyful music to the Village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Thriller at the Village Halloween Parade* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Village Halloween Parade features some of the best bands in New York City© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Music is in the air at the village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Costumed Village Halloween Parade enjoy interacting with spectators much to their delight © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The Village Halloween Parade in New York City is celebrating 50 years with the theme, UPSIDE/DOWN © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

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Attractions, Biking Tours, Cultural travel, Culture, Heritage Travel, Historic Places, Places of History, Road Trip

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Exploring French Acadia’s Culture, Heritage by Bike!

October 11, 2023 krubin723

*Biking the beautiful boardwalk in Shippagan, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman & Laini Miranda

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our New Brunswick roadtrip that has so enthralled us with the natural wonders of the Bay of Fundy, now takes us to the Acadien Peninsula, where its French heritage is most pronounced and you really feel you are in another country. We are also excited to explore a portion of a marvelous new cycling trail, the Veloroute Peninsule Acadeienne, which opened in 2019, consisting of 14 cycling circuits, totaling 379 miles, that go through 14 coastal French fishing villages and communities.

Because the Veloroute is so new, it seems, it is not well set up for a supported, self-guided multi-day trip, so we stitch together our own, with the help of Neil Hodge at New Brunswick Tourism. Neil arranges a multi-day bike rental for us from the Villegiature Deux Rivieres Resort (more geared for day rental), and an itinerary that follows the C15 circuit. Fortunately, Laini prefers to spend the day painting, so volunteers to drive the car to the next stop and then take my bike for a shorter ride with Dave at the end of the day. And we have to ferry the bike back to the rental shop (not really difficult, it is less than one hour’s drive back to Tracadie, and we’ve prepared by taking our bike rack). It is exciting to feel like we are pioneering a new biking destination.

This is an opportunity to take advantage of what is best about cycling (and clearly, this is an extremely popular activity throughout New Brunswick and Quebec): you ride at a perfect pace through local communities, small villages, see where and how people live. And there is such freedom during the day, to stop and explore, and really be immersed in a place.

*Biking the New Brunswick’s new cycling trail, the Veloroute Peninsule Acadeienne, from Tracadie to Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This first day, we bike on the trail 22 miles from Tracadie at one end of the circuit, to Shippagan, riding mainly through woods and then along marshes, arriving at Shippagan at about 2:30. We have a delightful late-lunch in a Mediterranean-style restaurant, Chez Aicha (197 Bd J. D. Gauthier, +1 506-336-8989), then Dave and I continue exploring Shippagan, picturesquely set between Saint-Simon Bay and the Chaleur Bay inlet that goes into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, stopping at its most popular beach, Le Goulet.

*Shippagan, New Brunswick’s beautiful boardwalk © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We discover the boardwalk along Shippagan’s waterfront, and that we can bike all the way to Point Brule, the road that leads us to the cottage Laini has booked for two nights on Airbnb. We calculate we cycled 40 miles for the day.

*Our charming Airbnb cottage on Point Brule, Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Dave and I are giddy with delight when we see the sweet, cozy aquamarine-colored cottage and how it is poised on the tip of Point Brule, perched on a ridge with our own ladder to the beach into the bay.

Who can resist? We quickly change and play in the water (surprisingly not too cold), then set out to watch the sunset on Miscou Island, which sits between the Bay of Chaleur and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at its magnificent historic lighthouse.

*The picturesque Miscou Lighthouse © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We reach the Miscou Island Lighthouse on the northeastern tip of the island, just before sunset. The lighthouse was built in 1856 and designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1974.

It is surprising how long (how far) Miscou Island actually is (24 km long by 16 km wide – small for an island but a good distance by bike), because this is the route we are supposed to bike tomorrow. Even on our itinerary, the route is 26 miles each way, hilly, on a two-lane, windy road. But Miscou is fabulous to explore – for birds and wildlife (we see a family of foxes), peat bogs, and not to be missed.

*Steve of the popular Terasse a Steve restaurant on Miscou Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our plan is to have dinner at Terasse à Steve a fun, rustic place so beautifully set overlooking the Miscou wharf that is legendary in the community, but when we pull up, we discover Steve has closed early (for mosquitoes!).

That means we have to race back to Shippagan before the restaurants close (at 8:30 pm). We’ve called ahead to Pinokkio’s who tell us to just get there by 9 pm. We race back, arriving at 9 pm on the dot, and sure enough, they seat us. The wood-fired pizzas (fungi pizza, margarita), with the freshest, most flavorful ingredients, are fantastic. ((Pinokkio Pizzeria Resto-Bar, 121 16e rue, Shippagan, 506-336-0051, www.pinokkio.ca).

*Sunset from our cottage on Point Brule, Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Instead of biking back to Miscou Island (Veloroute map shows the Miscou route as 41 km just on the island), Dave and I decide to explore Lameque Island, which is in between Shippagan and Miscou (so glad we toured by car).

We set out again from the cottage on the road that leads to the entrance to the beautiful wooden boardwalk and connects to our biking routes, winding passed the colorful marina, then over the bridge to Lameque.

*Biking around Lameque, on the Acadian Peninsula, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We first find a lovely bike trail in the woods that parallels the busy Route 113, cross another small bridge, and then find a beautiful, if short, trail along the water. But when that ends, we ride on the shoulder of Route 113, which serves as a bike path. We come upon an eco-park on Lameque, and explore that before continuing our cycling,

*Enjoying a meal at Steve’s Terrasse on Miscou © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are determined to dine at Steve’s Terrasse on Miscou, which is just on the other side of the (high) bridge from Lameque. Laini pulls away from her painting and meets us there for a late lunch – a sensational meal of lobster with spaghetti, pesto and parmesan; steamed clams; and a whole lobster (9650 route 113, Miscou, +1 506-344-7000)

Biking back to Lameque (back again over the steep bridge!), we follow a route that takes us along the eastern side of the island along the road (with ups and downs, unlike the bikeway) – it is marked in purple on the map – that give us some lovely views of the water as we ride through neighborhoods. (Amazingly, we don’t find actual stores or restaurants, absolutely nothing for the people to do except for some churches).

Each day, our ride begins and ends on the Shippagan boardwalk, my favorite part of the ride.

*Enjoying a second dinner in a row at Pinokkio, Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By the time Dave and I get back to our cottage in Shippagan, we calculate we’ve biked 45 miles. But now we have to race back into town to find a restaurant. The recommended places we call are all booked solid (it’s graduation day), so we (happily) call again to Pinokkio, and sure enough, they are booked too, but make room for us. The mushroom risotto is sensational. (Pinokkio Pizzeria Resto-Bar, serving up wood-fired pizzeria, appetizers, salads, pasta, seafood, steak, international cuisine, wine list, selection of domestic and imported beers, and decadent desserts, 121 16e rue, Shippagan, 506-336-0051, www.pinokkio.ca).

*Biking Shippagan, New Brunswick’s beautiful boardwalk © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We really have to pull ourselves away from Shippagan (regrettably we don’t have time to visit the Aquarium which we keep passing on the boardwalk, 100 Aquarium St., Shippagan, 506-336-3013, [email protected], aquariumnb.ca).

(Shippagan, https://tourismepeninsuleacadienne.ca/en/region-shippagan/, 506.336.3900).

Caraquet

*Biking the new cycling trail, the Veloroute Peninsule Acadeienne, along New Brunswick, Canada’’s Acadian Peninsula, from Shippagan © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Today’s ride takes us back onto the delightful Veloroute to Caraquet, 20 miles on the trail. Basically we back track from Shippagan 10 miles to a fork in the trail and then back up 10 miles to Caraquet, most of it in the trees (so refreshing).

We find our way to a charming waterfront village of cute shops, a small artist’s collective, eateries and a picturesque wharf and marina, where we have lunch.

*An artisan village within Caraquet © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We consider biking back the 20 miles from Caraquet to Tracadie to return the bikes, but realize we would be doubling back 20 miles on the trail we had already taken, and prefer instead to spend the afternoon exploring the rest of the trail, 7 miles further along Caraquet Bay to where it ends at Bertrand.

*Biking along the shore from Caraquet* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is the best choice! This part of the trail is particularly scenic, hugging the coast along Caraquet Bay (an inlet of Chaleur Bay), passing some gorgeous houses and views of the water, adding about 14 miles to our total for the day. We then drive the bikes back Tracadie, racing to get to the rental shop by closing time.

(Veloroute de la Peninsule acadienne, 506-336-4116, [email protected], www.veloroutepa.ca)

Caraquet is an extremely nice place to live, and clearly, very popular for tourists, judging by the string of hotels along the main street.

My hotel is the Super 8 By Wyndham (9 Avenue du Carrefour, 506-727-0888), is ideally located right in the waterfront village, alongside the coastal trail.

Returning the bikes the afternoon before works out superbly for me, because it gives me time to visit Caraquet’s major, not-to-be missed attraction, the Historic Acadian Village, which proves such a highlight of our New Brunswick roadtrip.

“Leave the 21^st Century behind at Historic Acadien Village”

Historic Acadien Village is an open air living history museum with costumed (fully bilingual) interpreters who recreate the roles of real people. What makes this place so extraordinary, though, is that you walk a 2.2 km circuit through 200 years of history – the 40 buildings represent a different time, the oldest from 1773 up to 1895, then, you walk through a covered bridge built in 1900 into the 20^th century village where the buildings date from 1905 to 1949.

As you walk about, you literally feel yourself stepping across the threshold back in time.

Walking through this idyllic village, looking at the goats, the sheep, the cows which supply the milk, meat, fiber for clothes, the fields and streams for fish, you would imagine they had everything they needed, life was tranquil, sustainable. But I soon learn from my conversation with the interpreter in the 1852 Cyr house that it was a daily struggle for survival.

*An idyllic Acadien village masks how hard life would have been like for the Acadiens Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This arises when I watch her sewing and she says she baked 25 loaves yesterday, enough that would have lasted her family of 8 including grandparent and a farmhand, a week (but actually supplies the village restaurants which serve menus appropriate to the time). I suggest that must be a lot of work. She tells me that her children help. Don’t they go to school? “The children don’t go to school, they are needed at home. It’s a question of surviving. We would have been too isolated to go to school in winter, and they are needed in summer.” Homeschool? “We cannot read; we depend on the priest to read any letter that might come.”

On the stove, she is preparing a pie with pork, onion, turnip, potato. “The pot is on legs so it doesn’t burn; we put wood chips on top so the food cooks from the top and bottom.”

This house came from Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, near the St. John River near Maine/Quebec. I observe that it seems quite large. “We’re not rich, but there was enough wood to build.”

What she tells me next seems to explain why the French Acadiens are so fiercely French (and why, as we travel, we see many flags of French Acadia but few of New Brunswick or Canada):

It was during the French and Indian War, when Britain battled France for control of the New World colonies. “In 1755, the British took the French men in one boat and women and children in another – they didn’t want families together. They felt there were too many Acadiens in same place and would be able to fight British. They made the Acadiens sign a contract to be British, not French, and those who refused were sent away. The boat took them far away – they didn’t know where they were going- some were sent to Charleston, South Carolina, to Louisiana.”

*Seeing how life would have been like over 200 years at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, with France giving Great Britain its colonial possessions in North America, except the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland (which remain French colonies even today). In 1764, the British allowed Acadians to return in small isolated groups, but by then as many as 18,000 had been forcibly removed and thousands more killed. (See: https://www.cbc.ca/acadian/timeline.html)

She says that when the French colonists were kicked out of Nova Scotia, they would send word to each other to come “a Cadia” (“to Cadia”), a name derived from an Indian word meaning “the place.”

Indeed, all these buildings were collected from other places in New Brunswick during the mid-1970s, creating a what appears to me to be an idyllic “Pleasantville” community.

I continue my walk through these fascinating homesteads. You also get to visit the chapel (1831), post office, general store (1889), tavern (1880), blacksmith’s shop and forge (1874), all with interpreters demonstrating their crafts.

*The 1867 printing office at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

My personal favorite: the newspaper/printing office (1867), which had been owned by Israel Londry who had five employees putting out 2000 copies of a four-page weekly paper (delivered to the post office), that would cost $1 for a six-month subscription. There are copies you can read.

There is also a one-room schoolhouse (1869), where the teacher tells me that on any day, she might have 20 students or 2, depending upon whether they were needed at home. “Before 1941, there were no mandates to attend school – children stayed home as free labor. It was a matter of survival.”

*The one-room schoolhouse where the teacher could have 2 or 20 children a day depending if they were needed on the farm © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I love seeing the machinery of the 1895 grist mill. Originally it would have milled flour, sawed wood, made cedar shingles, serving a 50-mile radius. The miller would keep 10% of the flour, which he would trade for something else. “There was not much currency,” the miller tells me.. But in 1918, the miller closed the flour mill over a dispute of $125 from a bill for repair parts that went back to 1890, when new repairs were needed in 1914, and the $125 was again added to the bill, he shut it down, but kept the saw mill, carting machine and cedar shingles.

Cross the Kissing Bridge into the 20^th century to visit the Irving Gas Station at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Then you walk across the covered bridge (1900), called “the Kissing Bridge,” and you are in a 20^th century town. There is an Irving Gas Station with antique cars; a saw mill (1949), general store (1924), tinsmith’s shop (1905) where you can buy a stove, cobbler’s shop (1945), a railroad station (1930). The Thomas Cooperage that dated from 1937 actually made barrels until 1980, employing 60 people who made 200 a day, until plastic barrels made the wood ones obsolete.

*The Irving Gas Station at the living history museum, Village Historique Acadien, Bertrand, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You not only visit but can actually book a room to stay at the Hotel Chateau Albert (1910). Albert opened hotel in 1870 but had financial problems from the beginning and was put out of business by Canadian Pacific railroad.. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1955, and restored using the original plans. It now offers 14 rooms (with bathrooms) that you actually can book to stay overnight. (hotelchateaualbert.com, 506-726-2600).

*You can stay over in the Village Historique Acadien, at the Hotel Chateau Albert © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is a really nice café in the (modern) visitor center before you go back in time, plus a restaurant in the historic village serving a menu appropriate to the period.

Plan on staying at least three hours. Open June through mid-September.

Historique Acadien Village, 5 rue du Pont, Bertrand, NB, 1-0877-721-2200, [email protected], villagehistoriqueacadien.com

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: DISCOVERING FUNDY TRAIL PARKWAY, FUNDY NATIONAL PARK, CAPE ENRAGE

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: MESMERIZING HOPEWELL ROCKS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: METEPENAGIAG HERITAGE CENTER HIGHLIGHTS MIRAMICHI VISIT

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Attractions, Cultural travel, Heritage Travel, Historic Places, International Travel, Museums and Exhibits, Road Trip

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Metepenagiag Heritage Center Highlights Miramichi Visit

October 2, 2023 krubin723

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

*Metepenagiag Heritage Center has artifacts that show 3,000 years of habitation of the Mi’kmaq people in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

So often the best travel experiences happen by serendipity. I had left the Bay of Fundy coastal trail behind in Moncton this morning to continue our New Brunswick roadtrip, driving 90 minutes to Miramichi, a small city that’s the gateway to northern New Brunswick, Canada, renowned for hunting and fishing. I meet up with Amanda Craig, from Miramichi’s tourism office who was taking me to hike a mile-long trail to Fall Brook Falls (at 108 feet high is the highest in New Brunswick). It’s located in Irving Woodlands private preserve, but alas, the access road is closed. I had spotted a sign along the highway to the Metepenagiag Heritage Park and was really excited to learn more about New Brunswick’s First Nations history and so we head there.

Metepenagiag is so much more than a museum exhibition – it preserves, documents, honors and resurrects the Mi’kmaq heritage and culture.

Metepenagiag is an active archaeological site and research center where artifacts unearthed have provided proof the Mi’kmaq have been occupying this land for at least 3,000 years. When you first walk into the exhibition building, you can look into the lab where researchers examine artifacts. Some of the items, like a 1200-year old Earthenware pot, arrowheads and other items are on display.

*Earthenware 1200 years old is on display at Metepenagiag Heritage Center, Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The significance of this place is clear when you learn that it was after decades and generations of a national policy to eradicate First Nations’ cultural heritage, when even speaking the language, so critical to passing along its oral history and tradition, was banned and children were forced from their community into residential schools to strip away their native identity, that in the 1970s, a Mi’kmaq member, Joe Augustine, discovered the Augustine Mound and Oxbow.

“When a company was planning to expand its gravel pit in our community, our beloved and respected Elder Joe Augustine remembered being told from his Elders before him of an old burial ground in the area,” state the notes accompanying a photo of Joe Augustine and Yvonne (Paul) Meunier digging at the pit state. “He went to the site they described and found what was to become the Augustine Mound – a cemetery dating back to over 600 BC.

Mi’kmaq Elder Joe Augustine discovered the Augustine Mound and Oxbow archaeological sites in the 1970s which provide evidence of 3,000 years of habitation in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The concept of preserving, protecting and presenting the rich Mi’kmaq culture is expressed by our Elder and lives on in our community.”

In 1977, archaeological work began on another site Elder Joe Augustine uncovered: the Oxbow, a village site situated at the head tide, showing Metepenagiag has had over 3,000 years of continuous settlements right to the present day.

Artifacts uncovered at the Augustine Mound and Oxbow show that for the past three millennia, aboriginal people have repeatedly come to this oxbow in the Miramichi River to fish, hunt and gather plants © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Constructed about 2500 years ago, the circular Augustine Mound is a rare example in the Maratimes of the elaborate burial tradition associated with the Adena culture, which originated in the Ohio River Valley and then spread throughout eastern North America. The rich archaeological record found at the site includes well-preserved textiles and basketry, ornaments of Lake Superior native copper, Ohio fireclay pipes, and distinctive Adena-type stone tools dating back 7000 years.

The types of objects retrieved from the Augustine Mound are exceptional for this area of Canada – copper beads on leather, small pieces of baskets, textiles, animal hides, moose-hair work, porcupine quills, feathers and wooden-handled tools. The salts from thousands of copper beads helped save the raw natural fibers from decomposing.

The earth mound, the types of burials and the artifacts suggest that the Mi’kmaq of Metepenagiag probably carried on complex trading and cultural relations with other Aboriginal societies as distant as central Ohio.

Oxbow is one of the largest pre-contact archeological sites in the Maritimes and remarkable for its rich and deeply stratified record of almost continuous human occupation. The artifacts uncovered show that for the past three millennia, aboriginal people have repeatedly come to this oxbow in the Miramichi River to fish, hunt and gather plants. Seasonal flooding covered their camps with silt, preserving evidence of their everyday life, including stone tools, ceramics, and fire pits.

*Archaeological research is actively underway at Metepenagiag Heritage Center, Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Known today as the Mi’kmaq (from the word nikmaq, meaning my kin-friend), in ancient times they called themselves Lnu’k, The People. The Mi’kmaq are an Eastern Algonkian-speaking people closely related to the Wolastoqiyik, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot and the Eastern and Western Abenaki. Together, these nations formed the Wabanaki Confederacy.

“The findings of these two archeological sites scientifically prove the ancient oral history we have always known, passed down through many generations. This is our legacy and how two national historic sites came to be.”

“Elder Joseph (Joe Mike) Michael Augustine (1911-1995) left an important legacy: the rediscovery of the Mi’kmaq identity and culture as a people and as a nation.” Joe Mike served two terms each as Chief and as a Band Councillor.

*Metepenagiag Heritage Center* *guide Marcus Alexander LaViolette poses with a photo of his great grandfather,* *Mi’kmaq Elder Joe Augustine discovered the Augustine Mound and Oxbow archaeological sites that proved Mi’kmaq habitation for 3,000 years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“This is archaeological proof of living here 3000 years,” says our guide, Marcus Alexander LaViolette, heritage interpreter, a 20-something fellow who turns out to be the great grandson of Joe Augustine, making his remarks all the more poignant.

One room displays how the Mi’kmaq would have lived, season by season (they lived along the river in warm seasons, and moved to the forest in cold).

Mi’kmaq ancestors lived in wikuoms (wigwams), not tipis. Some cone- shaped wigwams could hold up to 30 people; A or V-type usually held large groups, which typically would have been built by women.

Marcus shows us a re-created canoe and the skin of an Atlantic sturgeon, which grew to a size “as long as a canoe.” A main food source for generations, the sturgeon, which could grow over 3 meters long and weigh 400 kilos, are now exceptionally rare – the last one was caught 30 years ago. “Sturgeon are an ancient fish in an ancient river; they haven’t evolved,” Marcus tells us.

*Metepenagiag Heritage Center* *guide Marcus Alexander LaViolette with a canoe and skin of a sturgeon that once provided sustenance to Mi’kmaq, but now is virtually extinct © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The birchbark canoe “was likely the most remarkable Mi’kmaq construction.” It ranged from 3 to 8 meters long; with high ends and raised sides, a uniquely Mi’kmaq design, that kept the canoe from taking on water. Using this type of canoe, the Mi’kmaq ancestors traveled out to sea, up streams and down rapids. The canoe could transport large loads but was light enough so one or two people could easily carry it.

“We lost the tradition of canoe making,” Marcus tells us, “so this is a generic style for birch bark canoe.”

The exhibit hall is a portal to ancient history, he tells us, stressing that it is a point of pride that all the notes are equally translated in English, French, and Mi’kmaq, especially since only 5% of Mi’kmaq people can understand their native language. There are about 200,000 Mi’kmaq in Canada and in Maine.

Marcus notes that there the pots do not have a flat bottom but would be designed to wedge into the ground. They would boil or cook using superheated sand – which would form a crust around bread and not get into the bread. When it was done, they would pat it like a drum so the sand comes off, leaving the bread. “That they can recreate the process shows proof of concept – shows can do it, re-creatable.” (In the “Taste of Metepenagiag” package, guests learn how to make traditional bread.)

*Metepenagiag Heritage Center displays how the Mi’kmaq would have lived, season by season © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The ancient Oxbow village was next to one of the best salmon fishing pools. For centuries the Miramichi River was a river of fish – so many salmon swam up the river that they would keep villagers awake at night as they fell on the water after leaping into the air. The ancestors smoke-dried a lot of the salmon catch for winter or to use in trade.

The Mi’kmaq ancesters knew the names and uses of trees, plants, flowers and herbs. Foods included fiddleheads, cat-tail roots, raspberries and blueberries. The bloodroot plant provided dye. Balsam fir helped to cure wounds. Canoes and containers were made from birchbark, wood and root, and mats from reeds and rushes. Sweetgrass and tobacco are still used in ceremonies.

“We slowed down First Contact,” Marcus says, then adds, “The Mi’kmaq way of life did not last. With the first Europeans came dramatic changes. The ancestors began to spend more time gathering furs to trade for the prized European goods. They became dependent on Europeans for food. European diseases killed whole Mi’kmaq villages. With few people left to pass on tradition, much knowledge and history was lost.” In fact, the British barred them from hunting or fishing.

This place had always been important for trade – there is even evidence of the Vikings having come. European merchant traders set up a commercial fishery on the Miramichi River in the 1760s that destroyed much of the traditional salmon fishery. “The few Mi’kmaq living at Metepenagiag struggled to survive.”

Local women made this re-creation of the magnificent embroidered, beaded coat made in 1841 for British sea captain Henry O’Halloran who was made an honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq, on view at the Metepenagiag Heritage Center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

This is what made a magnificent embroidered, beaded coat that is on exhibit all the more significant, and treasured by the community: it is a re-creation of a fabulous coat, meticulously crafted by local women for a British sea captain, Henry O’Halloran. At a time when the Mi’kmaq were forced onto a reserve and weren’t allowed to hunt or fish, Captain O’Halloran traded with the indigenous people, provided food and formed a close relationship. The coat was made in 1841on the occasion of making him an honorary chief. This one is an exact replica, made by the local women, which if sold, would be valued at $300,000. (Marcus proudly says he got to model it.)

Marcus points to the Treaties of Peace and Friendship, saying, “When our ancestors signed treaties with the British Crown, such as in 1779, they did not give up ownership of our traditional lands. They also kept our rights to fish, hunt, gather and trade.” But these rights were not honored.

In 1994 Metepenagiag signed a historic “loss of land-use” agreement with the government of Canada. But it did not include all of the lands and access to resources that have been taken from our community. Negotiations are continuing in an effort to obtain a fair settlement.” Only recently, each tribal member received $20,000 from the Canadian government as compensation for land.

It is important to note that First Nations people – there are about 2 million in Canada – only received the right to vote without losing their native Indian status in 1960; the last residential school closed as recently as 1995. In 2014, Canada passed the Truth & Reconciliation Act, apologizing for the harm in trying to eradicate indigenous heritage, prompting a policy toward promoting indigenous rights and heritage. Indigenous tourism, a key tool for both economic development and preservation of indigenous heritage and culture, is now Canada’s the fastest growing industry, Amanda says.

At the end of our visit, Marcus says, “First Nations people don’t believe in goodbye – everything is a circle, comes back – even if in next life.”

Metepenagiag Heritage Park has 1800 meters of groomed trails (30 minutes walking time) that let you “walk in the footsteps of our ancestors” to the water.

*You can overnight at the Metepenagiag Heritage Center in a tipi, lodge or cabin and be immersed in Mi’kmaq experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

What is more, you can overnight in a tipi (glamping), cabin or lodge, have a First Nations dining experience, storytelling and be immersed in the 3,000-year heritage around a campfire. Or take part in “A Taste of Metepenagiag” and learn about foods and cooking techniques. New experiences are also being developed.

The Mi’kmaq operate SP First Nations Outdoor Tours, authentic indigenous experiences that begin with a traditional welcome, a river tour by canoe or kayak, storytelling; and authentic First Nations dining and accommodations (56 Shore Road, Red Bank NB, Metepenagiag, 506-626-2718).

Metepenagiag Heritage Park, 2156 Micmac Road, Red Bank NB, 506-836-6118, [email protected] 1-888-380-3555, metpark.ca.

To get to the Metepenagiag Heritage Center, you go through a Mi’kmaq residential community of about 600 people, where you have to be a community member to own the home (but do not own the land). It looks like a typical suburban neighborhood. with its own school (the federal government subsidizes the public school but teachers are paid less than regular school teachers) and shopping center. After the museum was built, the community opened a woman’s shelter, health center. The community also owns Riverside Entertainment (gaming room, restaurant), downtown.

Sportsman’s Paradise

Miramichi is world renowned as a sportsman’s paradise for fishing, hunting, hiking, kayaking, tubing down the rivers, and the longest zipline in New Brunswick (1200 feet). Indeed, the rivers, filled with salmon, and lush wilderness that provided the food and shelter to sustain the Mi’kmaq even 3,000 years ago, continues to sustain Miramichi today.

Miramichi is so prominent for salmon fishing (baseball star Ted Williams used to invite major celebrities including Marilyn Monroe to his family cottage in Blackville), that there is actually an Atlantic Salmon Museum, founded by the local historical society in 1982, that displays 5,000 artifacts “celebrating the artistry of fly tying, the beauty of a well-crafted rod and, above all, the nobility of that ‘king of fish’ the Atlantic salmon.”

*One of John William Keith-King collection of 150 plates on view at the Atlantic Salmon Museum in Doaktown, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Most notably, the museum is the repository for the internationally revered John William Keith-King collection of 150 plates that feature exquisite flies combined with stunning artwork and historic photos, plus artwork, reels, fishing rods, fishing tackle, fish replicas and antique outboard motors. The collection is valued at $500,000 (the plates alone valued at $5,000 each), Believe me, I never thought such a museum could be so fascinating even to someone who has never fished for salmon. This place is pure bliss for fishing enthusiasts. (Admission is free. Check hours. 263 Main St, Doaktown NB, 506-365-7787, www.atlanticsalmonmuseum.com

*The Ledges Inn, a sportsman’s retreat, Doaktown, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

People come from all over for the opportunity to fish and hunt, staying in upscale places like The Ledges Inn, a 4.5-star outfitter with 10-room lodge, picturesquely set on the bank of the Miramichi River, where you can enjoy salmon fishing, upland bird-hunting, four-wheeling, snowmobiling (30 Ledges Inn lane, Doaktown NB, 1-506-365-1820, Ledgesinn.com); and the historic Wilson’s Sporting Camps, family-owned hunting lodge, offering sportsmen retreats since 1855(23 Big Murphy Lane, McNamee NB, 1-877-365-7962, Wilsoncamps.nb.ca).

Another local attraction is the Priceville Footbridge, which, local lore has it, was built in 1938 to unite two lovers who lived in villages separated by the river. At 656 feet, it’s the longest suspension bridge in New Brunswick, was damaged and rebuilt in 1939, then replaced in 1988 (McNamee Road. https://tourismnewbrunswick.ca/listing/priceville-suspension-footbridge).

*Enjoying a plate of mussels at Vera’s at Richie Wharf, Miramichi, as the sun sets © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Back in Miramichi, I spend a pleasant evening at Richie Wharf, a charming waterfront park and historic site, where on Friday nights locals come out for music and dancing, After enjoying this scene, I have a delightful dinner (mussels!) at Vera’s patio with a gorgeous view of the sunset on the river. (84 Norton’s Lane, Miramichi, 506-625-2300)

Other Miramichi highlights: There are loads of historic sites we didn’t have time to visit but sound so interesting: Doak House commemorates Scottish entrepreneur Robert Doak who settled here in the early 1820s (386 Main St. Doaktown, 506-365-2026); Wilson’s Point Historic Site, a provincial historic site, contains the Scottish ancestry of Miramichi, but has archaeological significance for the Mi’kmaq people as well as the French Acadians and Loyalists (8 Enclosure Rd., Derby Junction, www.wilsonspoint.com, 506-627-0162); Miramichi History Museum (182 Wellington St., 506-778-4050); Tabusintac Library & Museum (4490 Rte 11, Tabusintac); and W.S. Loggie House & Cultural Centre, a Victorian home with artifacts from 1850 to 2000 (222 Wellington St., Miramichi, 506-775-4996).

Also: Miramichi River Interpretive Trail (1.4 km long, 158 main Street, Blackville; 90-min, Miramichi River Boat Tours out of Richie Wharf; Gallan’s Miramichi River Tubing (Doyles Brook, miramichirivertubing.com); Escuminac Beach (escuminacbeach.com); Historical Beaverbrook House Haunted Tour.

*Rodd Miramichi River Hotel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I overnight at the Rodd Miramichi River Hotel, picturesquely set in the waterfront village (1809 Water Street, 506-773-3111).

The next morning, I meet up with David and Laini at the Calico Café; they have been exploring Prince Edward Island and Shediac, where they had a fabulous dinner at Le Mogue Tortue, a restaurant with an Alice-in-Wonderland like setting (tea cups,clocks!), and we continue on our roadtrip to French Acadia, where we will bike on the new Veloroute (bikeway) along the coast, through French fishing villages.

Miramichi Tourism, 800-459-3131, discovermiramichi.com.

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: DISCOVERING FUNDY TRAIL PARKWAY, FUNDY NATIONAL PARK, CAPE ENRAGE

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: MESMERIZING HOPEWELL ROCKS

Next: Exploring French Acadia’s culture and heritage by bike!

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Adventure Travel, Ecotourism, Outdoors Adventures

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Mesmerizing Hopewell Rocks

September 26, 2023 krubin723

Walking on the ocean floor at low tide. No place demonstrates the drama, the power of the “highest tides in the world” as at Hopewell Rocks, the stellar attraction of New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

What does it mean that the Bay of Fundy “has the highest tides in the world?” Until you actually walk on the ocean floor one hour, then scurry back to kayak through openings in the sea stacks which have turned into sea caves the next, it is hard to wrap your head around. And no place demonstrates the drama, the power of the “highest tides in the world” as at Hopewell Rocks, the stellar attraction of New Brunswick, Canada.

We have been traveling along the Bay of Fundy Coastal Road, starting in St. Andrews, where the incoming tide nipped at our feet as we stood on breakers; we had to dash off Ministers Island before the sand bridge was submerged; we saw the force of the tide at the Reversing Falls in St. John, boats laying on the ocean floor until the tide returns in Alma; and at Cape Enrage, experienced once again how a rocky beach where we had just been walking, seemingly moments later, was totally submerged. Now at Hopewell Rocks, we see more intensely, what “highest tide in the world” means.

*The picturesque country road from Alma to Hopewell Rocks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Depending on where you are on the Bay, the water level difference between low and high tide can be anywhere from 35 to 56 feet (equivalent to a five-storey building). Compare this to the most parts of world, where the average tidal water differential is 6-8 feet. In Hopewell Rocks, the tidal change is 46 to 56 feet, depending upon the season, moon phase, sun and stars, even asteroids, and stormy weather.

There are two high tides and two low tides every day in the Bay of Fundy, with a tide change every six hours and 12 minutes. It doesn’t come in like a tsunami, but flows in, rising one foot every five minutes which is faster than you realize. Consider this: A six-foot person standing on the beach with the water just up to the edge of their toes will be completely under water 30 minutes later.

The amount of water – 160 million tons – that comes into the Bay of Fundy for one tide change is enough to fill the Grand Canyon twice. With two tide changes each day, that is enough water coming into the bay each day to fill the Grand Canyon four times.

Or consider this: the amount of water that comes into the Bay of Fundy for each tide change is equal to what flows over Niagara Falls in one year and nine months.

With this in mind, we know we have to arrive at Hopewell Rocks by 8:50 am, a 35 minute drive from Alma, in order to have time to literally walk on the ocean floor amid the famous “Flowerpot Rocks” – enormous free-standing rock formations or sea stacks that have trees growing on top – and walk through the openings that have been carved out, before the tide comes in. (“Ripley’s Believe It Or Not dubbed them the Flowerpot Rocks,” Neil Hodge at New Brunswick Tourism, who organized our itinerary, said.)

We meet Johnathan, our guide for an interpretive tour, who takes us for a brief visit in the Interpretive Center which explains the geologic phenomenon, but only briefly before we go down to the ocean floor. We will only have access until 11:15 am.

The first view, from the top of the staircase is dramatic – you see these famous Flowerpot Rocks and sea cliffs, with the people looking so tiny. The beach extends for almost 2 miles.

“The Bay of Fundy is an anomaly – a series of coincidences that have added up to create our miracle,” Johnathan tells us. “The Bay is the perfect length, width, size and shape for this to work, and a perfect storm in the last Ice Age. The glacier formed rock and when it melted, 160 billion tons of salt glacier filled the Bay and over time, pushed the rocks together (conglomerate).

*Walking on the ocean floor among the “Flowerpot” formations of Hopewell Rocks at low tide © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The shape and length of the Bay (the Bay extends 200 miles) is like a bathtub – the water in the bay doesn’t have enough time to level out with the ocean – the only place to move is up. Other places have a slack tide – when the highest and lowest tide stops. [We saw this in St. John, at the Reversing Falls, where the slack tide would last 20 minutes] Here, there is never slack – a micro second at the highest point when the tide pushes back against the ocean.”

You can walk almost 2 miles along the beach at Hopewell Rocks for three hours before and three hours after low tide; “tide sweepers” are there to corral people back © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

You can walk on the beach 3 hours before low tide and three hours after (tourists think they can only cross at one time). The tide flows in at the rate one foot per minute, horizontally, one foot per 4-7 minutes vertically, up to a height averaging 46.2 ft., and as high as 56 ft.

*These colossal rock formations are actually fairly fragile; areas are marked off where there could be rock falls © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The interesting shapes of the sea stacks are because they consist of compacted sedimentary conglomerate that erodes at different rates. “What is inside the conglomerate weighs more on the right than on the left,” which is why it can collapse.

The daily ebb and flow, rush and crush of all this water carves the sea stacks and many seem to precariously balance, likely to collapse within only a matter of a decade or two. Imagine that. These rock formations have been carved over millennia and may be at the end of their life. In fact, we see the crumbling, the cliff face collapse – areas are sectioned off. Geology is an ongoing process, and it isn’t necessarily slow motion over millennia, millions or billions of years, but in a moment.

*The day in, day out twice daily flow of 160 million tons of water has shaped the “Flowerpots” at Hopewell Rocks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are barricades around areas where there have been rockfalls, and we see numerous examples of boulders that have fallen into crevices, and precariously balanced boulders.

Many of these formations have names related to their shape – Elephant (since it split in two, Ella and Phant), Bear, ET, Jay Leno, Dinosaur, Mother-in-Law.

*Lovers Arch is the most famous of the Hopewell Rocks formations, named because of the co-dependency of the two sea stacks – if one falls, both will fall © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The most popular – and famous – formation is Lovers Arch, named because the two formations lean next to each other and if one falls, so will the other; they are only still standing now because of this co-dependency. “It’s the most romantic spot,” Johnathan says, adding that there is at least one proposal a week here, and sometimes weddings.

The beach extends 2.4 km, depending on the tide. We see Tide Sweepers at cut off points, who begin to herd people back off the beach as the tide begins to roll in. There is actually an emergency tower for those who find themselves trapped.

*The fantastical experience of walking on the ocean floor at low tide at Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick’s most famous attraction © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We walk through Castle Cove where there are four caves, Diamond Rock, and come to a skinny Sentinel Rock, which Johnathan tells us, may fall in the next 20 years or perhaps 200 years.

These rock formations are not even that old (at least when we compare to the 350 million year old fossils we found just down the road at Cape Enrage.

*The fragility of the Hopewell Rocks is seen at how many have collapsed, are precariously balanced, or eroding at their base © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hopewell Rocks were formed from glacial action 6000-10,000 years ago. And it seems that even on a daily basis, they are eroded just a little bit more. Johnathan says that some believe this park will last 2000 years, but some of the formations may be gone in just 20, like Sentinel Rock.

Johnathan, one of the Hopewell Rocks guides, points out the rockweed (you can eat the bulbs– delicious!) and the bladder wrack which contains super-rich moisturizer © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Johnathan points out rockweed growing on the rocks – you can eat the bulbs (seed pockets – delicious!). The bladder wrack (seaweed), yields aloe which is the most marvelous moisturizer, with 200 times more collagen than many commercial skin products (we try it).

We see peregrine falcons nesting in the rock faces.

The highest cliffs are 100 feet high. ”Adrenalin –junkie geologist rappel down – so they put up barricade.”

The water is notably brown (not blue) because the motion of the 160 million tons of water, mixing with silt from the mud flats. “The water is brown here but 20 km away, in Moncton, it is blue because of shellfish that filter the soil. You won’t find shells here.

The water off of Hopewell Rocks is brown because the constant tidal action keep churning up the silt. Also, the mudflats have billions of mud shrimp that is food for sandpipers that stop on their migration to South America © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

But the nutrient-rich mud flats produce another amazing sight: Hopewell Rocks is on the flight path of sandpiper birds migrating from the Arctic to South America for winter – hundreds of thousands of sandpipers, 35% of the world’s population– stop to feed in the Bay of Fundy for three weeks in late August/early September each year. The huge mud flat that extends for miles teams with billions of microscopic mud shrimp. The sandpipers feast and double their body weight, then fly 72 hours direct to South America without stopping. “We are heavy into conservation, sustainability so we don’t want kids or anybody to walk in the mudflats, killing the microscopic mud shrimp, the food source for the birds. A size 10 shoe, if they walk on mudflat, imprint would kill 10,000 mud shrimp.”

It’s an extraordinary experience to take Baymount Adventures kayaking tour among the Hopewell Rocks “Flowerpots” where we had only less than 2 hours earlier been walking on the ocean floor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Speaking of food, we rush back to the cafeteria in the Visitors Center to get something for lunch (you can take a shuttle or walk the 15 minutes) before racing over to get to our two-hour sea kayaking tour with Baymount Adventures by 11:50 am, to get outfitted, get oriented, and get to the sea kayaks on the rock beach (everything is very time dependent) for “The Highest Tidal Paddling Experiences on Earth.”

It is the most amazing experience to paddle right up to the giant “flowerpot” rocks, sea cliffs, twisting and turning through small tunnels and narrow passageways in these amazing rock formations which we had just walked around on the ocean floor.

Our guides are concerned about the strong winds today, but as we paddle, a fog picks up over Nova Scotia which dampens the wind, so we have a wonderfully calm time on the water, but we still have to paddle vigorously to get back onto the shore.

A really marvelous adventure, a highlight of our New Brunswick roadtrip, especially pairing the kayaking with the walk on the ocean floor.

Baymount Adventures, 131 Discovery Rd, Hopewell Cape New Brunswick E4H 4Z5, (506) 734-2660, [email protected], https://www.baymountadventures.com/

*Paddling through the Elephant formation at Hopewell Rocks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the 1950s, Hopewell Rocks was a diner and a campground; it was turned into a provincial park in 1996.

Hopewell Rocks is the most famous attraction in New Brunswick, which before COVID, drew 380,000 visitors a year [this year 350,000 are expected] from around the world. There are especially large groups of fans in Japan.

*Truly a highlight of our visit to New Brunswick: walking on the ocean floor, then kayaking through the Hopewell Rocks formations © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“A Japanese textbook has a whole unit on the Bay of Fundy and photo of Lovers Arch. Visitors say it was a ”lifelong dream” to come.

Hopewell Rocks is designed to be a self-guided park but there are helpful Interpretive staff throughout the grounds to answer questions. And the Interpretive Center provides an excellent orientation.

The Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park has three primary access points to the Ocean Floor. Main Deck is a tall metal staircase with a spacious viewing platform, where you descend 99 stairs to the ocean floor and after exploring, A little further towards North Beach you can access by a ramp with benches strategically placed along the incline (the ramp is suitable for wheelchairs, but the ocean floor is not). You can also take Desmoiselle Beach trail from behind the Interpretive Centre.

Hopewell Rocks park admission is valid for two consecutive days to ensure you have the flexibility to see both high and low tides. Sturdy footwear is recommended for exploring the trails and shoreline (they provide places to rinse your shoes/boots). Be sure to check the tide times prior to your visit to see when it will be safe to explore the Ocean Floor.

Hopewell Rocks, 131 Chemin Discovery, Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, 1-877-734-3429, https://www.nbparks.ca/en/parks/33/hopewell-rocks-provincial-park

*A view of Moncton from the lounge at Delta Hotel Beausejour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

When we leave Hopewell Rocks we drive 45 minutes to Moncton, a small city that’s the gateway to Northern New Brunswick (it also has the airport), where we stay at the Delta Hotel Beausejour (750 Main Street, 506-854-4344).

Moncton has a load of great restaurants and we have the best time at the Pump House Brewpub & Restaurant (5 Orange Ln, Moncton, NB E1C 4L6, Canada,+1 506-855-2337, pumphousebrewpub.ca) for its great food and fun ambiance.

Moncton is the end of our Bay of Fundy coastal adventure. Next up: Miramichi, gateway to northern New Brunswick.

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Next: New Brunswick Roadtrip: Miramichi and Metepenagiag

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: DISCOVERING FUNDY TRAIL PARKWAY, FUNDY NATIONAL PARK, CAPE ENRAGE

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Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, Outdoors Adventures, Road Trip

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Discovering Fundy Trail Parkway, Fundy National Park, Cape Enrage

September 20, 2023 krubin723

*Walking the enchanting trail to Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

We set out from Saint John for the 45-minute drive from Saint John to St. Martins. St. Martins, a quaint and charming little village on the Bay of Fundy, is a slow-paced and picturesque community known for sea cliffs, sea caves, two covered bridges and natural beauty. The coastline that starts in St. Martins is one of the last areas of pure coastal wilderness on the eastern seaboard of North America. It’s a popular place to come for cycling, hiking, bird watching, nature walks, rock hounding and sea kayaking.

*St. Martins is one of the picturesque communities on the Bay of Fundy with “two faces” depending upon whether the tide is high or low © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Communities on the Bay of Fundy are places with two faces because they have much different looks depending on whether it’s high or low tide,” Neil Hodge of New Brunswick Tourism has advised. “A trip along the Fundy Coastal Drive is an opportunity to get a feel for ‘The People of the Tides’. The tides impact people’s lives – what they can do when.’’

*The coastline that starts in St. Martins is one of the last areas of pure coastal wilderness on the eastern seaboard of North America © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are scheduled for a 2 ½ hour sea kayaking tour with Bay of Fundy Adventures (415 Main Street in St. Martins, 506-833-2231, bayoffundyadventures.com) and excited to paddle out of this quaint fishing harbor down the rugged coastline next to sea cliffs and sea caves through two UNESCO World Heritage Sites– the Fundy Biosphere Reserve and the Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark. Alas, the company has to cancel because of wind and waves are too great (but we have another sea kayaking experience scheduled, at Hopewell Rocks). We hang out awhile in a small coffee place where some of the “People of the Tides” have also gathered for their morning coffee, even inviting us to come by their house for a better photo of the cliffs.

We walk the beach, already seeing how the tide flows in so swiftly – not tsunami-like as you might expect before actually seeing it – but pretty much swamping the trail before you realize it.

Had we had our kayaking adventure, we would have stopped for lunch at The Caves Restaurant (82 Big Salmon River Road, St. Martins) and had dessert at Octopus Ice Cream (404 Main Street in St. Martins).

We set out on the Fundy Trail Parkway, a slow cliffside drive, from gate to gate, that offers numerous beautiful views of the Bay of Fundy and its long, rocky coastline (great for biking). All along this magnificent route there are delightful pull-ins, lookouts, picnic areas, rest areas, hiking trails. We pack a picnic lunch with us (no restaurants on the Fundy Trail Parkway),

The Fundy Trail Parkway, 19-miles long from gate to gate, is a coastal, multi-use park with has five beaches, four waterfalls, 22 miles of hiking trails, 21 scenic lookouts and 16 observation decks.

*Spectacular views of the Bay of Fundy await along the newly completed Fundy Trail Parkway, a 19-mile long multi-use park that hugs the coastal wilderness © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We learn that the Fundy Escarpment is a 2 km-wide corridor (one km of land and one km into the Bay of Fundy), stretching from Fownes Beach in St. Martins (where we start) to the western boundary of Fundy National Park. The 1 km width is essential because most of the ecosystem dynamics of the Bay of Fundy exist within the area, including the nutrient-rich salt marshes, tidal flats and the dramatic Fundy tides. The Fundy Escarpment is one of the last remaining coastal wilderness areas between Florida and Labrador.

*Taking the cable ladder to Fuller Falls, one of the highlights of the Fundy Trail Parkway © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Traveling from west to east: we stop often to take in the views (there is so much to see and do, thankfully, Hodge at New Brunswick Tourism has given us a list of recommendations): Fox Rock Lookout and Melvin Beach Lookout. We stop to really enjoy Fuller Falls (not to be missed) – this is a gorgeous waterfall that you reach by walking down a cable ladder to a lower deck for the best eye-level view, where David, Laini and Eric are inspired to do yoga.

*Inspired to do yoga at Fuller Falls, on the Fundy Trail Parkway, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We continue on to Pangburn Beach Lookout, Black Point Lookout, and drive in to see The Cookhouse (a lumberjack camp 100 years ago, the workers needed to eat 8,000 calories per day to do the job), but has not yet open for the season. There is also the Big Salmon River Interpretive Centre, where you learn about the logging and shipbuilding history of this once thriving community in the 1840s-early 1900s. (Also not yet open for the season when we visit).

*The Suspension Footbridge on the Fundy Trail Parkway, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From here, we go to Parking Lot 8 (P8) and take the five-minute walk along the river to the 84m Suspension Footbridge. It’s a great view there as you explore the banks of Big Salmon River (once a popular salmon fishing site, the salmon are now protected). From here, we can visit the lookouts at Long Beach (From 2010 until the Parkway opening in 2016, this lookout was the farthest you could drive in the park; the beach showcases a “horizontal tide”, extending 1640 feet at low tide) and Tufts Plateau, and then continue on to Martin Head Lookout and Seeley Beach Lookout, stopping for our picnic lunch with a stunning view.

*Enjoying a picnic with a spectacular view on the Fundy Trail Parkway, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We take an easy 1.5-mile hike from the parking lot through the woods to a viewing platform to see Walton Glen Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of New Brunswick, and the star attraction of the Fundy Trail Parkway. The Gorge is 1,000 feet across, 525 feet deep and 550 million years old, carved during the most recent Ice Age – you can see the path the glacier took to the sea as it melted, and see waterfalls coming down the rock face on the other side of the gorge.

*Walton Glen Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of New Brunswick, is a star attraction of the Fundy Trail Parkway © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is astonishing to learn that The Fundy Trail Parkway actually was only completed in 2020, during the pandemic, after taking 25 years and $100 million to build. It is operated by a non-profit, The Fundy Trail Development Authority Inc., (admission is $11.50/A, $10/S, $6.50/5-18, $36/family, $40/up to 7 people. Open mid-May to mid-October).

Fundy Trail Parkway, 1-506-833-2019 1-866-386-3987, [email protected], www.fundytrailparkway.com

*The Parkway to Alma, New Brunswick Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Leaving the parking lot at Walton Glen Gorge, we follow the sign that says Sussex and five minutes later exit the Fundy Trail Parkway. A little further ahead, we turn right at the sign to Alma and then follow this road which takes us on a scenic 45-minute drive through Fundy National Park to Alma, where we will have two-nights stay to explore Fundy National Park and environs, and have a cozy stay at the Parkland Village Inn in Alma (8601 Main Street, 506-887-2313).

Alma, a charming fishing village, is home to Molly Kool, who made history as the first female sea captain in North America. Kool is the nautical equivalent of Amelia Earhart, the American who was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Molly Kool also broke ground for women at a time when females weren’t allowed to be sea captain. (I regret we didn’t have time to stop into the Molly Kool — Albert County Museum & RB Bennett Centre.)

*It is a bizarre sight at the Alma wharf at low tide to see boats sitting on the ocean floor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We explore Alma, and quickly realize what Hodge meant when he said these are “communities with two faces.” It is a bizarre sight at the wharf at low tide to see boats sitting on the ocean floor.

*Getting a taste of Alma at the Alma Lobster Shop floor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We immediately get to taste Alma – lobster rolls and the best, freshest mussels ever at the Alma Lobster Shop (36 Shore Lane); a delightful dinner at Tipsy Tales Restaurant (8607 Main Street), and the hip ambiance of Holy Whale Brewery/ Buddha Bear Coffee Roasters, housed in a former church.

*Holy Whale Brewery is housed in a former church in Alma © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Cape Enrage

We set out in the morning to drive 20 minutes along a lovely coastal country road to Cape Enrage, an iconic destination with a historic lighthouse on the Bay of Fundy where you can best appreciate the coastline. Wherever we go along the Bay of Fundy, we have to be mindful of the time, because the tides determine what we can see and do.

We arrive at Cape Enrage, at 9:30 am. This place is famous for its historic lighthouse, which was supposed to be knocked down and replaced by a metal pole. Dennis Tate, a local high school physics teacher (the son of a lighthouse keeper who used to visit by boat as a boy), was so upset, he raised funds to take over the lighthouse, restore it, and turn Cape Enrage into an “interpretive center.” I think it is more accurately an adventure center, offering truly special experiences: taking a fossil tour on its rocky beach, ziplining and rappelling down its 140-foot high cliffs back down to the beach.

We start our visit on the rocky beach with two geology students who are interning here, who show us a literal field of fossils – plant, insect, tree fossils 320 million years old.

*“The rocks on cliffs erode and fall away, like turning a page in a book, exposing fossils,” Evelyn, our Cape Enrage guide says © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is astonishing how plentiful the fossils are, just about everywhere we walk we spot one. It’s why Cape Enrage is one of the sites within the UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (www.fundy-biosphere.ca). We find fossils of vascular plants that pre-dated trees even before dinosaurs. “There wasn’t grass when dinosaurs lived, grass is relatively recent, our guide, Evelyn, a second-year geology student, tells us. “The rocks on cliffs erode and fall away, like turning a page in a book, exposing fossils.” (This beach fossil tour is included in the admission price, but a more in-depth, two-hour fossil tour on a nearby beach is also available).

*Walk the rocky beach at Cape Enrage to find 350-million year old fossils of early plants and trees © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The activities depend on tide and weather – we have to wait for a lightning storm to pass before Eric and David try ziplining. Then we have to wait for the tide to pull back from the cliffs before we can rappel – it is stunning to walk back toward the beach we had just been walking on, to see it submerged.

We wait out the weather enjoying a delightful early lunch in the Cape House Restaurant, with lovely views of the bay (in clear weather, we would see Nova Scotia). Meanwhile, zipliners swing past the window, so we know the weather has passed.

David and Eric get to do ziplining – a huge thrill and so fun to sail over the water at high tide to a tower next to the lighthouse. They get three runs, with the guides suggesting different techniques each time (excellent preparation for rappelling, as it turns out).

*Ziplining at Cape Enrage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Next up: rappelling off 140-foot high cliffs back down to the beach.

None of us have done rappelling before. (David and Laini do rock climbing, and ziplining, especially when Eric and David step off backwards, is excellent preparation.)

Our experience starts with training in how to rappel. We are in the hands of gentle, masterful guides, Morgan and Isaac, who manage to alleviate any anxiety whatsoever (I am really, really surprised at myself, but it helped that earlier, I had watched a couple from Indiana rappelling effortlessly).It is that first step backwards off the platform that is the hardest (that leap of faith that seems to crop up often in life). They talk us through, all the way down.

*No fear as we try rappelling off the 140-feet high cliffs at Cape Enrage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

When we get passed a ledge, we dangle and just let the rope pass through our fingers to lower ourselves down to the beach. You get two-hours, including the training, to rappel as many times as you like. It starts to rain heavily during our second try, but we are now so confident, the rain doesn’t faze.

This whole activity center was started in order to save the Cape Enrage Lighthouse. First built in 1838 (the light came on in 1840 and the keeper only got half pay because he only had a foghorn), the lighthouse was replaced in 1870 and then again in 1902, which is the one that stands today. When the wooden lighthouse was to be demolished, Dennis Tate and his wife, both school teachers, made a deal to take over the lighthouse, and clearly found ways to sustain it. (The Coast Guard still operates the light and foghorn. It’s been foggy and rainy and sure enough, the foghorn sounds.)

*What a difference! The Cape Enrage beach at low tide…. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The province owns the park, but Cape Enrage is operated by a nonprofit, Cape Enrage Interpretive Center Inc., and employs 12 paid student interns and volunteers. Jim Campbell (who retired from managing a trucking company), became general manager in 2020.

We wind up staying 6 hours, from 9:30 am-3:30 pm – long enough to see an entire change of the “highest tides in the world”.

*… The Cape Enrage beach at high tide© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Admission to Cape Enrage is $7.50A, $25/family which includes the guided fossil tour on the beach. You can buy separate tickets for one hour of ziplining (3 runs per person, $53.90, single run, $26.95), and two hours of rappelling (which can be three or four times plus the training, $99.95), or combination tickets that bundle zipline and rappel ($139.95). In addition, there is a separate two-hour fossil tour, Logjam, along a different beach ($19.50). (Prices are in Canadian dollars, which at this writing was about 25% less than the US dollar.)

Cape Enrage, 888-423-5454, www.capeenrange.ca.

Fundy National Park

Back in Alma, we go to explore Fundy National Park. This beautiful area has 25 waterfalls, 25 hiking trails, the world’s oldest red spruce tree (400 years old), several campgrounds, rivers, and lakes. This park, which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, is part of the Fundy Biosphere Reserve — an area of 1,062,553 acres that is protected by UNESCO. (https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy).

Fundy National Park is huge and it would take a few days to really see it. We get a small taste of it this afternoon:

*Point Wolfe Covered Bridge, Fundy National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Driving along Point Wolfe Road bring us to the picturesque Point Wolfe Covered Bridge. “There are 141 covered bridges in Canada and 58 of them are in New Brunswick. Covered bridges are part of our historical and cultural identity. We refer to them as Kissing Bridges because back in the days of horse and wagon young couples would stop in the middle of the bridge to kiss in privacy,” Neil Hodge of New Brunswick Tourism said.

*An enchanting trail leads to Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Just a five minute drive back toward Alma from the bridge we pull into a parking area for one of the true must-see, must-do highlights of the park: Dickson Falls, the most photographed waterfalls in Fundy National Park (for good reason). It’s an enchanting walk on an easy trail through the lush forest with splashes of neon green, then on across a wooden boardwalk and bridges along a gurgling brook. It takes less than an hour to do the trail, and it is so beautiful, that instead of finishing the loop, we back track to do the trail through the forest again in reverse.

*Dickson Falls, a highlight of Fundy National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

For our second night in Alma, we thoroughly enjoy The Alma Boathouse (8588 Main Street) which graciously stays open for us. (Restaurants close early in Alma.)

Fundy National Park, the Fundy Parkway Trail, Cape Enrage and Hopewell Rocks are all located within the UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (www.fundy-biosphere.ca).

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Next: New Brunswick Roadtrip: Hopewell Rocks

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

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Cultural travel, Ecotourism, Historic Places, Outdoors Adventures, Places of History

New Brunswick, Canada Roadtrip: Saint John, City of Firsts, Oldests, Amazements

September 11, 2023 krubin723

Reversing Falls Rapids, one of only two reversing falls in the world, is where the Saint John River runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. The force of the tide of Fundy Bay – 160 million tons of seawater at high tide – overpowers the river, pushing it backwards. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our roadtrip through New Brunswick, one of Canada’s Maritime Provinces, continues in Saint John, a city of firsts, of oldest, of amazements worthy of Ripley’s or Guinness, like the wondrous Reversing Falls (one of only two in the world), and Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark, where we will actually see remnants of Pangea – primordial earth before the continents split apart.

A City of Oldests, Firsts

Saint John is only about an hour’s drive from St. Andrews where we meet Doug Scott, who is taking us on a walking tour to best appreciate the history and heritage of Canada’s oldest incorporated city, the province’s second biggest city with a population of 135,000, the only city on the Bay of Fundy, and a major cruise ship port, which served as an major immigration center for 200 years.

It was into this port that explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed in 1604 –claiming it for France.

*Fort La Tour National Historic Site, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We follow a beautiful waterfront walkway that is taking shape around to Fort La Tour National Historic Site, built in 1631 by Charles La Tour to trade with First Nations people. This has been an archeological site, but more recently, they have reconstructed the fort, “the site of treachery, intrigue and a memorable battle in early Acadian times,” the literature reads. It is also “commemorates 5,700 years of changing ceremonial, commercial and industrial uses.” (Harbour Passage, 506,607-7171, www.placefortlatour.com)

The “treachery” and “intrigue” comes from the fact that during her husband’s absence in 1645, Françoise-Marie Jacquelin, Madame de La Tour, unsuccessfully defended the fort against their chief rival, Charles de Menou d’Aulnay, who promised that if she surrendered, he would spare the lives of her people; she surrendered and he killed them anyway.

Though claimed for France, the British had different ideas, seeing Saint John as an important defensive port, and, when the British and French were embroiled in the French & Indian War (1754-1763) over control of the colonies, in 1755, expelled the French Acadians who did not swear an oath to Britain.

Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution founded Saint John in 1783, incorporating the city in 1785 (Canada’s first).

From Fort La Tour we can see out to the 24 acres of Partridge Island in the harbor, “the most historic chunk of rock in Canada,” Scott says.

Partridge Island had New Brunswick’s first gas-powered lighthouse (1791), North America’s first quarantine station (1785) and the world’s first steam-operated fog alarm (1859).

Much like Ellis Island in New York harbor, 3 million immigrants passed through here to make Canada their home. A flood of Europeans came through in 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars; and from 1812-1850, 70 percent of immigrants were Irish, peaking in 1845-47, because of the Irish Potato Famine. There was tension between the British (Protestants) and the Irish (Catholics), that climaxed in an 1849 riot which led to the formation of Canada’s first police force. (You can visit the Saint John Police Museum, 56 Prince William St., 506-674-4137, www.saintjohnpolicemuseum.ca)

Saint John’s role as the gateway for immigrants is notable. There is the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum (91 Leinstar St., 506-633-1833, http://jewishmuseumsj.com/), focusing on the development and engagement of Saint John’s Jewish community since its founding in 1858, through its “Golden Years” (1919-1960s), when there 1400 Jews and 85 businesses.

From 1858 through 1947, Partridge Island was used for defense and still is a Canadian Coast Guard base. People used to be able to go to the island for concerts but today, the island is closed to visits.

*Much of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada’s oldest incorporated city,had to be rebuilt (in brick) after the Great Fire of 1877 Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*A white cross indicated a building that had been rebuilt after the 1877 fire © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

1877 was a pivotal year for Saint John: a Great Fire destroyed everything from the waterfront to King Street (you can even see the difference in architecture). 19 died and 7 newspapers, 16 churches and 2600 buildings were destroyed. The city brought in architects from New York and within one year, rebuilt 1,300 buildings using brick. Today, you see many buildings with dates from 1877, 1878, 1879; many also have white crosses to show that were rebuilt to a new fire standard.

Loyalist Cemetery, in King’s Square, Saint John, New Brunswick. Canada’s oldest incorporated city, it was founded by Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution in 1783 and incorporated in 1785 fire © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Scott takes us to a street which is pretty much the dividing line where the fire stopped. On one side are all the brick buildings. But just nearby, you can still visit Loyalist House (120 Union Street, 506-652-3590, www.LoyalistHouse.com), built by local merchant David Daniel Merritt around 1810, which is the city center’s oldest standing wooden structure. We also visit Loyalist Cemetery, in King’s Square, just behind the City Market, which is a beautiful park.

Another interesting place to visit is the New Brunswick Museum which houses historic and geologic exhibits (Market Square, 1-888-268-9595, 506-643-2390, www.nbm-mnh.ca) and its Archives & Research Library (277 Douglas Avenue), housing death and marriage records that draws people from all over to research. (While the museum itself is in the process of undergoing an extensive renovation and the collections are currently inaccessible, you can still access the Archives & Research Library by appointment.)

*City Market, Saint John, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have lunch at the Saint John City Market. At one of the entrances, a sign lists St. John’s City of Firsts: oldest continuing operating farmers market in Canada; first police force; first public high school, first museum, library, paved street, banking district in Canada. The market is itself housed in a historic building, dating from 1876, its ceiling is in the shape of an upside down ship’s hull (a shipbuilder built it).

Stonehammer Geopark’s Amazements

Saint John is not only Canada’s oldest incorporated city, it is built on some of the oldest geology on the planet. For the geology part of our Saint John exploration, we meet up with Wanda Hughes who runs the Inside Out Nature Centre inside Rockwood Park (55 Lake Drive), and has been involved with the Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark since its founding in 2010, the first geopark in North America.

Stonehammer UNESCO Geopark, the first in North America, contains some 60 sites of geologic significance, including some of the oldest geology on the planet and evidence of Pangea, as well as some of the oldest fossils © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

There are now 177 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 46 countries around the world (the first opened in China in 1980s; Canada has five). But Stonehammer is distinguished because while most geoparks are a single site (like a cave or volcano), because of the extraordinary diversity and scale of geology here, Stonehammer contains 60 different sites, spanning 965 sq. miles up the coast to St. Martins, each site with a different geological story. During our visit, we get just a taste.

In Stonehammer Geopark in Saint John, you can see evidence of Pangea, primordial Earth before the continents split, and rocks that come from present-day Africa and South America in one place © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

350 million years ago, the earth was one super continent, Pangea, that through ice ages and other geologic forces, separated into 7 continents. But when the world was Pangea, New Brunswick was located where Africa is today, a tropical paradise south of the equator.

“Our geology is unique,” Hughes tells us. “As the continents drifted apart, a new Atlantic Ocean was created here.” You can see rocks facing each other, one that would have been in Africa (today), and the other that would have been South America today – two different continents.

Our Stonehammer Geopark experience starts in Rockwood Park, one of the Stonehammer Geopark sites. Spanning 2,200 acres with 10 lakes and 55 trails, it is one of the largest urban parks in Canada and was designed by Frederick Olmstead in the 1800s (who also designed NYC’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate). Before heading out, we actually get to try out hydrocycles! You can also do geo-caching, rockclimbing, kayaking, and mountain biking from the Nature Center.

*Trying out hydrocycles in Rockwood Park, one of the Stonehammer Geopark sites in Saint John, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Enroute to one of the major Stonehammer sites, Reversing Falls, Hughes takes us through a wealthy neighborhood of Captain’s Houses and notes that Abraham Pineo Gesner (1797-1864), a Canadian physician and geologist who lived much of his life in Saint John, invented kerosene, saving whales from extinction and basically founding the petroleum industry.

Reversing Falls, one of only two reversing falls in the world (the other is in Norway), is a series of rapids (not really waterfalls) where the Saint John River runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. The force of the tide of Fundy Bay – 160 million tons of seawater at high tide – overpowers the river, pushing it backwards.

The tide can rise as much as 26 ft – how high depends on moon cycle, season (higher in spring), and the gravitational pull. But for about 20 minutes at a time, there is a “slack tide” when the river and bay meet, “when the ocean stops the river,” Wanda tells us. It is only then that you can safely bring in a boat. “American sailors who didn’t realize they had to change their clock [Atlantic time is one hour earlier than Eastern time] would get stuck.”

*Reversing Falls, one of the Stonehammer Geopark sites, Saint John, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is hard to make out (you would really need to know where and what to look for), but there is evidence of an ancient ocean and the formation of the supercontinent Pangea under the Reversing Falls bridge: billion-year-old light gray marble from South America on one side and 500-million-year-old dark gray shale and sandstone from northern Africa on the other. They came together 480-430 million years ago. (See: Southern New Brunswick rocks tell a billion years worth of stories, says geologist.)

Not surprisingly, considering the power of these falls, there is a local legend from the Mi’kmaq people who lived here well before the Europeans that tells of Glooscap (the Creator), who was angered that a giant beaver was damming up the river, harming fishing, and refused to stop. Glooscap used a giant club to smash the dam, which created the small islands we see, and then shrank the beaver to the size it is now. (I gather this is the source of the name, Stonehammer.)

“At low tide, you can see Glooscap’s club and face in rock. And then they found fossil of giant beaver,” Wanda tells us. A banana-sized beaver tooth displayed at the New Brunswick Museum is evidence that giant beavers, the size of black bears today, actually existed.

*Historically, such fast-moving waterways as Reversing Falls were used for manufacturing and commerce, like the Irving Paper & Pulp Mill © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

On the other shore of the Reversing Falls is the Irving Paper & Pulp Mill, a key industry and employer in Saint John, which seems incongruous but like so many factories, was built on such dynamic waterways because of the water power and transportation and that Saint John was an industrial city.

The bridge over the Reversing Falls gorge and rapids is notable. There were three previous attempts: the St. John Bridge Company tried in 1837, but the partially completed bridge collapsed, killing seven workmen. Finally, Edward W. Serrerell, who designed the first bridge to span Niagara Falls, was hired in 1849, and three years later, the first successful bridge opened, becoming a principal north-south trade link to the United States. (The current bridge was erected in 1915).

For a different experience, you can walk “The Plank,” an observation deck 110 feet in the air overlooking the Reversing Falls Rapids (https://theplank.ca/).

*Irving Nature Park, one of the Stonehammer Geopark sites in Saint John, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We next visit the Irving Nature Park, a 600 acre wooded park located on the City’s west side, which is a Stonehammer Geopark site, owned and maintained by J.D.Irving Ltd. That offers beautiful views of the Fundy coastline, groomed trails and a gravel road for walking, hiking, and biking. And just outside the main entrance is a Children’s Forest, playground, and life-size mazes. It is also a “dark sky” preserve. Be mindful of the tide!

The full complement of 60 Stonehammer geosites presents almost continuous geological history of the planet over a billion years. Of the sites, about a dozen are easily accessible by the public and are presented as parks and recreation centers.

Dominion Park, for example, is where billion-year-old stromatolite fossils in the marble that formed in South America and evidence of an ancient cyanobacteria, was where the oldest evidence of life on Earth was first identified in 1890; it also offers some of the best beaches for swimming in Saint John https://stonehammergeopark.com/geosites/dominion-park/

“This was the most violent place on the planet 250 million years ago, but not now. Here, [the continents] stabilized.” She says this place is an example of a “failed continental rift”, where the continents stopped separating, creating a narrow bottleneck which traps the ocean. “It’s why we have the highest tides.”

Stonehammer Geopark has an interpretation/visitor center at Area 506 Container Village which displays some of the fossil collection, and can provide map and guidance on how to best visit (Open June-October, 85 Water St., 1-506-471-1310, www.stonehammergeopark.com).

Wanda Hughes’ company, Go Fundy Events, offers a variety of ecotourism and adventure programs for individuals and groups (712 Dominion Park Road, Saint John, NB E2M 5S8, 506.672.0770, 1.866.672.0770, [email protected], www.gofundyevents.com.

Saint John’s Quirky Vibe

With all this history and serious geology, what is especially notable is the quirky vibe of Saint John, which you feel especially in the project to redevelop the waterfront to host shops, a skating rink and concert venue.

*Area 506, the Waterfront Container Village, offers fun boutiques, eateries, pop up art, and music and movie space © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Area 506, the Waterfront Container Village, located next to the cruise ship terminal, opened in summer 2022 with some 60-plus shipping containers converted into retail spaces that showcase New Brunswick creativity. There is also a large stage performance and movie space, a three-level patio that provides great views of the stage and Bay of Fundy, a beer garden, food trucks, a graffiti alley for local and international artists, and pop-up activities.

*For all its history and 19^th century architecture, Saint John, New Brunswick, has a young, quirky vibe © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Saint John also “punches far above its weight in terms of dining experiences,” Scott tells us. There’s a vibrant food and beverage scene in Saint John with 80-plus bars/restaurants within 10 blocks downtown near the cruise ship terminal – all of them local and independent, offering an amazing diversity of cuisine from around the world (reflecting Saint John’s heritage as an immigration center and cruise port).

We’ve even gotten a list of recommendations:

Port City Royal (45 Grannan Street), where we savor handmade ravioli filled with whipped feta and ricotta cheese, topped with buttery glazed fiddleheads, crispy guanciale and Egyptian walking onion oil;roast pork & chick shoyu ramen and Japanese spring noodle salad. It also offers an imaginative cocktail menu.

*Saint John, New Brunswick, ”punches above its weight” in cuisine. We enjoy a dinner at Port City Royal © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Saint John Ale House (owned by celebrity chef Jesse Vergen, from Top Chef and Wall of Chefs, 1 Market Square, https://www.saintjohnalehouse.com/

Lemongrass Thai Fare / Peppers Pub, 1 Market Square.

Five and Dime, vinyl record bar, 34 Grannan Lane, https://fiveanddimesj.com/

East Coast Bistro, local cuisine prepared with French techniques, 60 Prince William Street,

Pomodori Pizza – for a casual night out – attached to Picaroons brew pub, 34 Canterbury Street.

*Picaroons Brew Pup is a popular spot in Saint John, New Brunswick © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It’s appropriate to mention that (at least during our visit) the US dollar goes about 25% further than the Canadian dollar, so what we buy – like a fancy meal – is at a 25 percent discount.

Being a major city, Saint John offers lots of choices of accommodations. We enjoy our stay at Hilton Saint John, an upscale property with its own parking garage, ideally located right on the waterfront, with indoor pool, fitness center, restaurant, pet-friendly rooms (1 Market Square, +1 506-693-8484).

Travel planning assistance from Discover Saint John, 1 866 463 8639, [email protected], https://www.discoversaintjohn.com/ and Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Next: New Brunswick Roadtrip Takes Us On the Newly Completed Fundy Trail Parkway

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Cultural travel, Destinations, Driveable adventures, Driveable destinations, Historic Hotels, Historic Places

New Brunswick Roadtrip Begins in St. Andrews

September 5, 2023 krubin723

*Picturesque, historic* *St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

Perhaps the most defining feature of New Brunswick, Canada is that it has the highest tides in the world. But unless you see it, stand in it, walk on the ocean floor one hour and kayak through rock openings the next, it is hard to wrap your head around what it means to say the Bay of Fundy has the “highest tides” in the world.

*Rising tide, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Seeing, experiencing this phenomenon for ourselves is just one of the reasons that brought us to New Brunswick, one of Canada’s Atlantic Maritime provinces and the only one of its 11 provinces that is officially bilingual (English and French). Other unique aspects were also intriguing – like seeing the vestiges of Pangea, primordial earth before the continents split apart, in one of the world’s first and most expansive UNESCO Geoparks; fossils 3.5 billion years old; and the intriguing phenomenon of Reversing Falls (one of only two places in the world).

We are also really excited to sample a new bike trail, 375 miles around the coast, that let us tour its (very French) Acadian Peninsula, going through small villages where the flag most prominently waved is that of Acadia, not New Brunswick or Canada. And then there are the bonus surprises where you can see living history of the First Nations and a colonial Acadian Village.

New Brunswick also is surprisingly easy to reach, located adjacent to Maine (there are 17 border crossings), yet so delightfully foreign and exotic because it is relatively unknown and unexplored beyond New Englanders.

*St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, a picturesque seaside historic town © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We start our New Brunswick exploration in St. Andrews, one of Canada’s most popular seaside resort towns – wonderfully picturesque, with a surprising amount of things to do.

It is also where we will launch our 10-day trip that will take us on the scenic 286-mile Fundy Coastal Drive (St. Andrews, Saint John, St. Martins, Fundy Trail Parkway, Alma, Cape Enrage and Hopewell Rocks), and on to Miramichi and the Acadian Peninsula, where we will cycle the new Acadian Peninsula Veloroute from Tracadie to Shippagan, Miscou Island and Caraquet. (We are grateful to Tourism New Brunswick for creating our itinerary.)

St. Andrews, designated a National Historic Site of Canada, is a charming community with many of the town’s buildings still reflecting its founding by the United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, especially as we walk along Water Street.

Kingsbrae Garden

Our first morning, we explore an absolute treasure of St. Andrews: Kingsbrae Garden, set on 27 acres donated by John and Lucinda Flemer. This was her family’s summer home – she tells stories of taking the train from their Montreal home and hiding in the century-old hedges which we walk through today. In fact, at 93 years old, Lucinda still lives here, walks the grounds most days (making sure everything is up to snuff), Daniel Schmids, director of operations, relates as he guides us around.

In 1996, Mrs. Flemer wanted to do something to benefit the community. She originally thought to create a school to train guide dogs, but the tourism office suggested that a garden would benefit the community more, Lucinda was not a garden hobbyist, botanist nor landscape architect. Nor was Geoff Slater, the artist she chose to design her garden (we see his murals on Water Street). She laid out her vision for the Garden one evening sitting at her kitchen table with Slater over a bottle of wine, and Kingsbrae Garden opened two years later.

*Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The gardens are gorgeous – works of art, really – but they are so much more. You feel the heart, the compassion, that went into their creation and design. You feel as nurtured and protected as the flowers. I have never been so simultaneously excited and serene at the same time.

Kingsbrae pays tribute to some of the great garden traditions such as the White, Rose, Knot Garden, Perennial and Cottage gardens.

*One of the classic gardens at Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are also experimental gardens where new and old styles and plant materials are used to preserve and promote home gardening, like the Container Garden (to give apartment dwellers ideas, inspired by her time living in England). Display gardens showcase various collections of plant species and their uses – Rhododendron, Heath & Heather, Ornamental Shrub, Dwarf Conifer, Herb, Hydrangea and Gravel gardens. But Kingsbrae goes far beyond horticulture.

*Lucinda Flemer designed* *Kingsbrae Garden with an artist’s eye © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is a Labyrinth & Maze, a Bee Garden (the bees essential to pollinate the flowers), a Monarch Garden (a certified Monarch butterfly way station providing not only the milkweed that Monarchs require but a protected place for the egg larvae to develop), a Secret Garden, and Memory Lane (a row of special trees planted in memory of someone).

*Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, is a certified Monarch butterfly way station; larvae are taken and protected in shelters© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is a Peace Garden and Afghanistan Memorial to honor and give comfort to war dead and veterans (military people get free admission); a therapy garden (the gardens work with Wounded Warriors to use gardening to relieve stress); a Scents and Sensitivity garden that invites you to identify the plant by smell or touch (the accompanying sculpture of a guide dog pays homage to Lucinda’s original idea). There is an orchard containing heirloom varieties of apple trees. An Edible Garden showcases edible plants, native and exotic fruits and berries (where the Garden Café chef makes a daily collection for his culinary creations before visitors arrive).

*Animals are among the special delights at* *Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Favorites are the Children’s Garden and a Fantasy Garden that provide outdoor environments for play and learning, with tiny cottages and animals including goats, alpacas and rabbits. The children’s garden is bordered by a “living fence” of 100 criss-crossing apple trees that have grown together over the past 10 years.

*The living fence of criss-crossed apple trees border the Children’s Garden at* *Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Possibly the most extraordinary sight is the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), a 200 million year old species thought to be extinct but re-discovered by a hiker in Australia; some were auctioned and a St. Andrews man won one and gifted it to Kingsbrae, now protected within a cage.

*The rare, thought to be extinct, Wollemi Pine is on view at Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Since dinosaurs roamed the earth to the present electronic era, a few Wollemi pines have patiently survived with their gene pool pure and unchanged, in the Blue Mountains of Australia. What was likely a tasty treat Cretaceous dinosaurs munched on for lunch is a botanical story of the century.”

One of the most magnificent displays is the working Dutch windmill, built to one-third scale. Mrs. Flemer’s husband, John, who was Dutch, had it built as an anniversary gift in 1997 (he passed 6 years ago).

*Lucinda Flemer’s husband, John, had this one-third scale Dutch windmill constructed as an anniversary present*. *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You can explore a kilometer-long groomed trail through the Acadian forest and an Audubon-certified bird sanctuary, which she created after a visit to India.

Lucinda Flemer had not been a gardening person, but was art-oriented and wanted to create Kingsbrae for “the eye of artist”.

The Gardens even offers an art residency for six artists a year, housed in a historic 1908 building she purchased.

*Kingsbrae Garden is Canada’s largest private sculpture collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

And all the way through, tucked here and there, are sculptures that convey a theme or message or are just whimsical (like an apple core you can sit on), as well as a Sculpture Garden. Indeed, Kingsbrae Garden is Canada’s largest private sculpture collection. For many years Lucinda sponsored a sculpture competition, purchasing the top prize winners for the Garden. Now she commissions works. We see the most recent acquisition, a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, appropriately in the Heath and Heather Garden.

*A sculptural tribute to Queen Elizabeth II in the Heath & Heather Garden at* *Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Everywhere you look there is some delightful surprise.

Lucinda Flemer built the garden and then decided to build an 1100-seat amphitheater – in a town of 2500 people! “People laughed. But she thought, ‘Build it and they will come,’” Daniel tells us. And they did. The amphitheater hosts 8 to 10 events a year including Broadway productions (a local actor was Broadway’s “Come From Away” and “Rock of Ages,” and his wife is a casting director), in 2022, one event filled the amphitheater twice.

“She was inspired by what was done well, so she brought here to show people what they otherwise wouldn’t see – the same with art residency. People get to experience different culture.”

Seniors who live in a residence next door come in for free through a special gate. In July and August, there are special mobility tours by golf cart.

*Kingsbrae Garden, St. Andrews, offers whimsical delights like this apple core sculpture that invites you to sit © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have the most delectable lunch at the Garden’s Café, with items enhanced by the freshly picked produce from the garden, which also houses an Art Gallery. On view are paintings created by the artist who designed Kingsbrae, Geoff Slater (he’s known for paintings out of a single line in changing colors) who also painted the murals on Water Street.

Café executive chef Alex Haun, grew up in St Andrews, started working at Kingsbrae at15 years old as a dishwasher (his father managed the garden). Haun went to Canadian Culinary Institute, competed in International Culinary Olympics, winning multiple gold medals. He probably could have gone anywhere in the world but returned to Kingsbrae. His Signature 12-course “Savor” dinner menu, offered three times a year, sells out immediately.

Kingsbrae Garden, 220 King Street, St. Andrews, 506-529-3335, www.kingsbraegarden.com (Open May-October).

Whale Watching

Dave and I have to rush away from this delectable lunch to get to the dock for a whale watching tour with Jolly Breeze Whale Adventures.

Whale watching is very popular in St. Andrews and there are many different companies. I am thrilled to be taking Jolly Breeze’s 12-passenger Zodiac – extremely comfortable, low to the water, very flexible so you are unlikely to get sea sick, and the Captain can maneuver more easily to get closer to a whale (keeping an appropriate distance).

It is very early in the season and it is really by virtue of Captain Randy’s experience (he started working on the boats when he was 13), knowing whale behavior and pattern and skill that toward the end of the 2 ½ hour cruise, we spot a Minke whale.

But even if we didn’t get to spot a whale, the cruise is really fun on the Zodiac.

*The picturesque East Quoddy Lighthouse is spotted on* Jolly Breeze Whale Watching Adventures, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

They dress us in gear that looks like we are off to explore the Arctic, so we are absolutely comfortable on the Zodiac. We get to see the picturesque East Quoddy Lighthouse, built in 1829 on a small, rocky islet located off the northern tip of Campobello Island (was frequented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and today is the world’s only national park, shared by two countries, Canada and the USA), as well as puffin and seals.

If it had been a little more into the season we might have seen as many as four different whale species that frequent this area at different times in the season. One of the regulars is an Orca they call “Old Tom.”

There is not much splash on the Zodiac, so you can bring a good camera with long lens and a dry bag is available on request.

Jolly Breeze Whale Adventures on the wharf at 4 King Street. 506-529-8116, https://jollybreeze.com.

Ministers Island

We need to pull ourselves away from wandering St. Andrews’ charming downtown by 5 pm, in order to visit Ministers Island, Canada’s largest tidal island and a National Historic Site. Since you have to drive across a sand road (Bar Road) that is quickly overrun at high tide, covered by 15 feet of water (when it becomes an island), we have to mind the time. We will have to be off at 7 pm when the tide quickly envelops the road (rangers round up any stragglers). Each day, there are two windows of opportunity to travel to the island depending on the tide schedule.

*Ministers Island, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Ministers Island is a 500 acre island, 2 miles by 1 mile, located in Passamaquoddy Bay, where Sir William Van Horne built his summer home, Covenhoven, in 1890 – a 50-room mansion, with 17 bedrooms, 11 fireplaces, 11 bathrooms – and the only place still standing that is associated with this significant historic figure.

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne was an American recruited to build Canada’s 2,900 mile-long transcontinental railroad system, finishing a year ahead of schedule (earning a $1 million bonus).

The mansion remained in the Van Horne family until 1961 when it was sold to two Americans, our guide, Susan Goertzen, relates. By 1977, they wanted to auction it off and sold off most of furnishings and artifacts. But three days into the auction, the Province of New Brunswick stopped the sale and bought it. The mansion was closed from 1977 until 1992.

In 2004, a local group took over the operation and put out a call to get back some of the original furnishings and artifacts. It is furnished today with original and period pieces. Most interesting are the paintings that Van Horne painted, the portraits and photographs, the travel posters, the original ice box and stove, his billiards table and game room.

*Van Horne’s original dining set at Covenhoven on* *Ministers Island, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the “Canadian Pacific Room” you learn a lot about Van Horne – an inventor, an amateur geologist who collected fossils (his collection was given to the University of Chicago), an artist and a major art collector. It is said he only slept four hours a night.

Truly a self-made man, Van Horne, was born in Illinois in 1843, and had to quit school at age 14 when his father died to go to work as a telegraph operator for the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1880 he was general superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad system. In 1881, he was recruited to become general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway and by 1885, had completed the transcontinental railway system.

*The self-made man, Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, built Canada’s transcontinental railroad © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.co*

Van Horne was not only the architect of Canada’s transcontinental railroad, he was the progenitor of its tourism industry, designing and building a network of Canadian Pacific Hotels. One of the original hotels was the Algonquin here in St. Andrews, where we get to stay; another was the famous Banff Springs Hotel.

We visit the windmill he built to pump water from a 10,000 gallon holding tank (actually a railway water car) 127 feet below ground into the house for running water.

You also can see the carriage house (a gorgeous carriage inside) and an amazing barn which features antique cars, and the magnificent 1911 bath house that overlooks a “natural” swimming pool cut from the rock just below. The setting is absolutely stunning, and can also be enjoyed picnicking and hiking on several marked trails.

There is much to explore on Ministers Island: a shell midden archaeological site, and the 1790 home of Loyalist and Anglican minister Samuel Andrews, a creamery, a livestock barn, a boarding house, an automobile garage, a horse stable, and a greenhouse.

But the tide will soon come in and we have to hurry back. Dave and Eric opt to run down from the hilltop mansion along the trail over the sand bridge (we are only a little concerned about them making it before the tide overwhelms the road again), back into St. Andrews, where we meet for dinner.

Ministers Island, 506-529-5081 https://www.ministersisland.net/ (Open May-October, Admission, $17/adults).

*Dave and Eric race the incoming tide as they dash from Ministers Island, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Where to Stay, Dine

There are so many charming restaurants and cafes along Water Street.

The previous day we sampled some of the town’s marvelous restaurants and sights.

The Niger Reef Tea House (1 Joes Point Rd, St. Andrews, 506-529-8005, nigerreefteahouse.com) is a real find, offering the most marvelous ambiance and distinctive cuisine. It’s where the locals go for an elegant, sophisticated dinner in a homey, casual, comfortable but classy atmosphere. It looks like a Japanese teahouse – in fact, the magnificent murals painted by Lucille Davenport in the 19^th century were uncovered when the residence was converted to the tea house in 1926.

*Enjoying a meal and the ambiance at Niger Reef Teahouse in St. Andrews © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We start with the oysters served on kelp that chef Anthony Davidson has dashed out to the Bay to gather, enjoy the jerk chicken and pesto pizza, and finish with the delectable strawberry rhubarb crumble (the rhubarb is growing in the garden).

The setting – a sprawling lawn that goes down to the Bay – also lets us explore The Blockhouse, the town’s last remaining wooden defensive structure from the War of 1812 (great for picnicking and view of harbor).

*Sunset*, *St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This evening, we find a delightful deck to enjoy the view of the wharf and sunset at Saint Andrews Brewing Company (201 Water St., 506-529-2337) set in what was the Customs House, which serves snacks but invites you to order in the rest of the meal. We order from a delightful restaurant just across the plaza, The Red Herring Pub, (211 Water St., 506-529-8455 – they even delivered!) and just revel in the scenery.

We go down to the wharf to take in a magnificent sunset, but I rush away to get to our hotel, the grand, historic Algonquin Resort, in time for the 9 pm Ghost Tour.

The Algonquin Resort is reputed to be haunted and is said to be the inspiration for Stephen King’s horror story, The Shining. (Bangor, Maine, where King lives, is a two-hour drive from St. Andrews.)

The Ghost Tour is a fun way to see parts of the resort you would otherwise never see. We creep through the underground passageway (the staff wasn’t allowed to be seen by the guests in their street clothes) as our guide tells the story of the tunnel being haunted by a ‘night watchman’ (people hear his keys rattling). There is a haunted piano (one of only two items from the original 1889 hotel that was saved from a fire that destroyed it in 1914; Van Horne had it rebuilt and reopened just six months later) which people claim to hear play even though it is locked shut with a key that cannot be replaced; he tells about a boy named Benjamin who people claim they hear bouncing a ball.

*Walking through underground passageway on the Algonquin’s Ghost Tour St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I finish the ghost tour in time to take in the wonderful ambiance of the resort and enjoy the Algonquin’s indoor pool and water slide.

One of the original Canadian Pacific Hotels (another ingenious Van Horne idea to promote travel on the railroad) and now part of the Marriott Autograph Collection, the Algonquin lets you drift back into that grand era as soon as you step across the threshold.

*The grand, historic Algonquin Resort, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Set on a hilltop overlooking the town (and just next to Kingsbrae Gardens), The Algonquin has the most magnificent outdoor pool complex, an indoor pool with a water slide, tennis courts, 18-hole golf course. It also has a fleet bicycles available just for the asking to bike over the beautiful Van Horne Trail, built on what had been the train tracks. We wake up early to take advantage before we have to tear ourselves away (you really want to stay) to continue on to our next New Brunswick adventure, in the historic city of St. John.

Algonquin Resort, 184 Adolphus Street, St. Andrews, 506-529-8823, https://www.marriott.com/en-gb/en-gb/hotels/travel/ysjak-the-algonquin-resort-st-andrews-by-the-sea-autograph-collection/

For planning help, visit Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca

Next: New Brunswick Roadtrip: Saint John, a City of Oldests, Firsts, Amazements

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Biking Tours, Outdoors Adventures, Sustainable Travel

Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships: Scenic Routes & Chocolate

August 6, 2023 krubin723

*The view from a tower above the “Route Verte” on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Day 3: “Scenic Routes & Chocolate”

Our second day of biking (Day 3 of Discovery Bicycle Tours Quebec Eastern Townships trip) is labeled “Scenic Routes & Chocolate”. It’s 38.3 miles (which we can shorten to 25 or extend to 43) on terrain described as easier to intermediate. The main ride has three long climbs (1,746 ft. elevation) and two descents.

*The picturesque scenery of Quebec’s Eastern Townships is a highlight of the Discovery Bicycle Tours trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Pulling ourselves away from the delightful Auberge & Spa West Brome, we backtrack a bit, passing again the gorgeous farms and the round barn, and skirt the town of Cowansville, stopping to visit some covered bridges on our way north. We pose in front of the 1870 Freeport red covered bridge.

*Posing at one of the covered bridges on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We ride a scenic route along Chemin Gaspé with lovely views and the equestrian center that was used in the 1976 Olympics. At mile 23, we ride into the pretty village of Bromont, where we are on our own for lunch and have as much time as we like to explore its charming shops and eateries. A highlight is the Musée de Chocolat, which in addition to having a lovely café and chocolate shop, is an actual museum – it traces the development of chocolate from Cortez’ meeting with Montezuma (1519) (it didn’t go well for Montezuma).

I’m so impressed by how this small village cherishes its history. As you walk down the main street, many of the buildings have historic markers that not only have historic photos and describe the architecture and history but tell the back-story of the owner or builder.

This place is almost ground zero for cycling – not only is it a hub for an extraordinary network of bike trails and paths, but it has a newly (re-)built Velodrome (actually the facility was moved from the Atlanta Olympics, opening in 2022). It is now a hugely popular training center and hopes to displace Calgary as Canada’s national cycling training center (it even offers a sports hotel).

*A young fellow practices on the pump course while another cylist speeds around the Velodrome in Brome © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our guide, Jacques Hebert, who knows all the back-stories, takes me in for a tour. We watch a young fellow practicing on an indoor pump track (the only one in Quebec), while above, ringing the facility, a cyclist rides a track like rings of Saturn, marveling at how uses centrifugal force to defy gravity. Outside, we see “campers” practicing on 20 acres of outdoor tracks and facilities. The multi-sport facility also offers volleyball, badminton, basketball, pickleball and soccer. (400 Shefford Street, Bromont, Quebec, J2L 3E7, 450 534-3333, [email protected], https://centrenationalbromont.com/)

*The new Velodrome in Brome hopes to rival Calgary to become Canada’s national cycling training center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have several options from here: bike five miles or the two-mile “shortcut” to the hotel, or continue to ride 16 miles that ends at a winery (total of 38 miles), where we can either bike to the hotel (two more miles, but apparently, it is up a killer hill) or take the van back.

I head out with Jacques to complete the 38 miles to the winery, but spying the steep road ahead, suggest we take the bike path through the woods instead. (He assures me he knows the way.) I love the ride but I suspect it didn’t actually save me from the high climb, because when we get out of the woods, there it is: a long climb up to the winery, set on a picturesque hilltop. But it feels so good when you stop, and what a view!

*Enjoying the view – and taking a rest after cycling 38.2 miles – from Domaine Les Brome © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Jacques and I get to the winery, Domaine Les Brome/Leon Courville, before anybody else, and have time just to sit back in the Adirondack chairs and gaze out over the vineyards to the lake and mountains beyond. He tells me he headed the Administration for Federation of Quebec Municipalities and had a lot to do with helping localities get funding for sustainable, green and transformative projects. (I’m wondering if these extraordinary bike paths were part of it). I also learn that he is descended from the first French family to settle in Quebec.

*Sharing a bottle of wine at Domaine Les Brome at the end of biking 38.2 miles through the Quebec Eastern Townships © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The others arrive and we sit around enjoying a bottle of wine. Hearing about the killer-half-mile uphill to get to the Chateau Bromont and seeing a change in weather, we all ride the van rather than bike to the Chateau Bromont.

I have time to enjoy the Chateau’s gorgeous pool (it also has four slope-side hot tubs with a commanding view of the ski mountain) before we gather for dinner at the hotel – a sensational meal (we order off the regular menu- several of us order the lamb).

(We’re at the Chateau Bromont for two nights, so we have more time in the morning.)

Day 4:– Route Verte & Provincial Park

*Biking Quebec’s “Route Verte” on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I confess the third day of biking, dubbed “Route Verte & Provincial Park” is my favorite. It is a comparatively easy ride (36.7 miles, with a climb at the beginning but mostly downhill or flat until the very end, a total of 1,136 ft elevation). 35 of the miles is a section of Quebec’s Route Verte, a sprawling cycling network deservedly ranked as one of the “10 best cycling routes in the world”.

The ride features 25 miles of pristine, paved bike path and 10 miles of hard-packed gravel rail trail, mostly through woods with gorgeous water features – stream, lake – and through the beautiful Yamaska Provincial Park, where lots of families have gathered.

*Biking through the Yamaska Provincial Park on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Just before coming into the town of Granby, the path goes on a berm flanked on both sides by water and then over a bridge. There’s a lookout tower and M.J. calls to Lindsay and me to stop and enjoy the view. It proves the most stunning scene of the trip.

Lunch is on our own, but we all gather at a café in Granby (while a flat is fixed at the bikeshop nearby).

The last mile, though, is that monster hill that takes us back to the Chateau Bromont (which is at the base of a ski mountain) for our second-night at the hotel. I make it up the hill to enthusiastic cheers of my compatriots.

\We all feel celebratory and Lindsay, who has purchased our cravings at the grocery store that morning, breaks them out: I go for the black olives, peppercorn chocolate (from the Chocolate Museum), nonalcoholic Pale Ale.

Dinner is on our own; our leaders offer to shuttle us back into Bromont where there are a score of restaurants, or take us to the grocery store. Most of us stay back and relax at the hotel. I enjoy paddling around in the indoor pool.

Day 5: Two Wineries & Lake Brome

*Biking the lakeshore bike path coming into Knowlton on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The fourth day’s ride (day 5 of the tour) starts out cycling toward Lac Brome, passes the equestrian facilities that were home to the 1976 Olympics, follows the lakeshore road, then goes on a quiet bike path through woods which separates fabulous mansions from the lake (like the way you get to walk the Cliff Walk beside Newport’s fabulous Vanderbilt and Whitney “cottages”), a path that is decorated by some fabulous sculpture, before entering the charming Victorian town of Knowlton.

*Surprised to come upon a stunning sculpture on the lakeshore bike path coming into Knowlton on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Mystery book buffs would recognize Knowlton as the home of famous detective novelist Louise Penny who has used various locations in Knowlton (and places along our route) to create the fictional “Three Pines” in her books. By coincidence, I had just finished Penny’s latest, “A World of Curiosities,” so I am really a star-struck fan trying to recreate settings from the book.

*Sapin Bistro Du Lac, one of Knowlton’s charming restaurants © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The downtown section of this quaint, historic town has a number of lovely eateries, boutiques, antique shops housed in some fabulous 19th century buildings. It’s a rainy day, so instead of us having lunch at the marina, we go into the main area and have lunch in a delightful restaurant housed in a stone-cottage. I go off to visit the town.

*One of the 56 artful manikins around Knowlton © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Jacques has told us to look for the 56 artful manikins that decorate the streets (Spiderman!). They are on just about every corner, line a small bridge, and many of the buildings, and are absolutely marvelous, fun and get you paying attention, so you stop into a shop, a café, a patisserie. The manikins and the historic markers show off the town’s pride.

I take note that the main ride’s elevation of 1,050 ft. is over 24 miles (two big climbs and two descents), but the optional 12.5 miles has elevation of 1,204 ft – in essence one climb after another (as I double-check the navigation map). And it is on a gravel road. And it is a rainy day. Jacque convinces me I can and should do it, with the lure of “spectacular views” (Note: it is a cloudy, rainy, foggy day.)

Jim winds up being my personal guide (because I am last) and cheerleader.

*A soggy biking day, does not dampen the exuberant mood © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is a challenging ride. It rains the entire time – fortunately a gentle, warm rain, but I am more concerned about slippery mud – and seems to be more of a constant climb with a few, short downhill breaks. Jacque has said to expect four hills and I mentally try to calculate, “Was that three or four?”

After one particularly steep climb, finally, the road slopes down. I keep expecting one more giant hill and am about to tell Jim I don’t think I can do another big climb, when the GPS lady says “End of ride”. We have arrived at Le Pleasant Inn in Sutton. I come in mud splattered, soaked through but feeling really, really satisfied to have accomplished the ride. The ladies actually come out to cheer for me.

*Leaders Jacques Hebert and Jim Ortuno help me celebrate my triumph (photo by Amy Dyment)*

I luxuriate in the hot shower, fold myself into the plush terry robe, brew a cup of coffee, enjoy a chocolate, and really appreciate the stunning ambiance of Le Pleasant Hôtel & Café, a sumptuous 20^th century Victorian. A historic marker outside the inn says it was originally the Macdonald House, “a jewel of Sutton’s heritage over 100 years old,” built by Dr. Macdonald in the 1890s. The stately home was luxurious and richly furnished even for its time, with six hot-and-cold running water taps, a toilet and a bathtub, and five horses, a pony, and two cows in the barn. It was destroyed in the great fire of 1898 but rebuilt to the original plans. Today it offers 10 guest rooms with European-design bathrooms, a lovely lounge, and an absolutely stunning (artistic) café, where we will enjoy breakfast (not your typical selections).

I have time to stroll the charming town, where I find Serge Andre Jones playing music from the 1910s and 1920s on a “public piano”. He’s playing from his grandmother’s music book – she used to provide the musical background at the cinema for the silent movies.

*Serge Andre Jones sits at the public piano in Sutton to play his grandmother’s music from 1910s and 1920s © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The town of Sutton is an absolute delight, with a vibrant main street of sidewalk cafes, galleries, craft stores, and specialty shops, again with marvelous historic markers that show the town’s pride in its heritage. And Sutton clearly loves its cyclists – there is a lovely sculpture that overhangs the main street.

*A celebratory toast at Microbrasserie Auberge Sutton at the farewell dinner of* *Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I rejoin the group at the inn, where we all sit around the salon before strolling over to Microbrasserie Auberge Sutton, for a celebratory farewell dinner and a toast (beer!).

Day 6: Back in the U.S.A.

Our last ride takes us south through the tiny mountain community of Abercorn, where, 5.4 miles into the ride we are hyped to indulge at “the great little bakery,” Boulangerie Abercorn (alas, they are already sold out of the almond croissants by the time we get there!), before re-entering the United States at Richford.

*Heading out from Le Pleasant Inn, Sutton, for our last ride on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Especially after yesterday’s challenging ride, the 21 miles to Montgomery Center, Vermont, is a piece-of-cake, though there is an option to take a challenging roller coaster “short cut”. (Not even Amy, who loves tackling hills and has been speeding ahead each day, opts for the short cut.)

*Crossing the border from Quebec, Canada, into Vermont, USA © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Once we get through the border (a repeat of entering Canada on the first morning, when we were asked to stay as a group), I enjoy taking my time and taking in the scenery.

Just passed the border, we stop at a granite marker for the 45th parallel which is half way between the Equator and the North Pole.

A few miles further and we go onto the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, for four miles. Back on the road, coming back into Montgomery, we are greeted with a sign, “Covered Bridges, Open Hearts” and sure enough, there is one covered bridge after another.

*Biking the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Discovery Bicycle Tours has arranged for us to use the Phineas Swann Inn facilities to freshen up and change before leaving. I head out at 1 pm, routing my trip so that I can stop off to visit Ausable Chasm in the Adirondacks.

“Ride Your Own Ride”

This is my third cycling trip with Discovery Bicycle Tours, which Bob McElwain began in 1977 as Bike Vermont. I actually had my first trip, a Woodstock, Vermont, cycling weekend, with the previous owners, Larry and Dawn Niles, who ran the company for 27 years and changed the name in 2010 to reflect its expanded catalog. Scott and Thistle Cone took over the company in 2018, and have further expanded the company’s vistas. Scott is fanatical about planning out the trip – as I discovered on the Quebec Eastern Townships trip with its welcome, meticulous detail in the route notes.

*Montgomery Vt., welcomes visitors, “Covered Bridges, Open Hearts.” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Scott describes himself as an avid cyclist who has over 25 years of experience in marketing for high-tech, travel and retail clients. Thistle, with a background in natural resources and education, editing and copywriting says she enjoys cycling to savor the views, get exercise and justify tasty meals (like me). Both seem to be on a mission to spread the joy of bicycle touring by making the experience accessible.

The quality, personal touch and top-notch service are notable – superb biking, dining and lodging, exceptionally well-crafted, fully-supported trips that yield a marvelous vacation experience with excellent value. (Notably, Discovery does not charge extra for bike rental – hybrid, gravel, or road bike – and on most trips, up to 8 e-bikes are available at no charge on a first-come, first served basis (except in New Zealand and Chile where there is a charge) . Also, there are a whole list of discounts, including for returning guests, referring guests, groups.

Our Discovery Bicycle Tours’ group of ladies on the Quebec Eastern Townships ride show their mettle. Scott and Thistle Cone design the trips so that they are accessible to anyone who wants to appreciate the joy of a bike tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Discovery Bicycle Tours, headquartered in Woodstock, Vermont, offers more than 100 trips a year (still some departures this year) in New England and Quebec; Mid-Atlantic states and Florida; Mississippi, Texas and Idaho; Italy, France, Spain and Portugal; Scotland, Ireland and Denmark; Germany, Luxembourg & France; Chile, South America; England, UK; New Zealand; and Vietnam.

The 12-day Vietnam Adventure features an overnight cruise on Bai Tu Long Bay. More than a bike tour, the trip emphasizes culture: This trip starts in bustling Hanoi (a pedicab tour of the Old Quarter); tours caves in Tam Coc by small rowboat; cycles by rice paddies, dramatic limestone hills and pillars of rock; visits historic towns of Hue and Hoi An; ending in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The trip includes 5-star hotels, included domestic flights, and meals. There’s also an optional Angkor Wat Add-On to spend 4 days exploring the famed ancient temples in Cambodia. (Jan. 2-13 and Dec. 8-19, 2024).

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, [email protected], https://discoverybicycletours.com/

DISCOVERY BICYCLE’S 6-DAY COAST OF MAINE TOUR DELIGHTS THE SENSES

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