Cicero and clan will be making an excursion to the Atlantic provinces of Canada at the end of the month.
We’ve been there a few times, and know the can’t miss stuff- Cap Breton, Anne of Green Gables stuff on PEI, even New Brunswick moonshine (yum!)- and I have some out of the way favorites too, like the ice cream store on the road out of Bay of Fundy Park.
Where do you like to go, and what do you like to do in New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia and (my favorite) the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec.
Has anyone been to the Ile d’Anticosti or the Iles de la Madeline?
mood music & poll below the fold…
If you’re in PEI, try to find some bottles of a Habenero and Mango BBQ sauce from the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company. We make sure to pick up some every time we visit the island, and it is incredible.
As a native of Halifax, I love the city, but there isn’t really much to see here. For Nova Scotia, the main interesting places to visit are the usual historical sites – Louisbourg. Port-Royal, the Halifax Citadel, etc.
I’ll keep an eye out for the sauce-
Last trip up we came back with a crate of delicious home made preserves and the like- though most were purchased from Quebec farms in the Gaspe.
As you may know, the area’s been economically depressed for the better part of a century. I think our primary industry may well be producing local food products. Salsas, jams, wines, pickles, seafood… That and tourism.
are sadly familiar. Hence the title of the diary- help the Atlantic provinces by suggesting places to spend money.
Though I’m seriously considering purchasing some land up there, with global warming, ozone holes and all it could be the next Riviera.
I voted for NS, since it’s the only one of the Atlantic Provinces I’ve visited. Mr. sngmama (sngpapa?) and I went there on our honeymoon 18 years ago this month. We took the ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth and spent five days driving from there up to Halifax, over to Wolfville and Annapolis Royal, to Digby, and back to Yarmouth.
One of my favorite memories is of Digby; we wanted to try the famous Digby scallops, but were running really low on cash. So we stopped at a drive-in at the edge of town (Bob’s, maybe?) that appeared to have been an A&W at some point and split an order of fried scallops. To a couple of broke Midwestern grad students, at least, they were transcendent–huge and crispy and tender and sweet.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about the rest of the Atlantic Provinces–I would love to visit again and spend more time.
My first visit to Nonva Scotia was the last pre-kids trip I took with my wife- I don’t think we got to “Bob’s”(?)- but we ate at many similar places.
There is something truly romantic about cheap, simple and delicious seafood at little roadside places in Canada!
My vote is for PEI. I absolutely loved it. The red dirt was such a neat view, and all the rolling hills and greenery and the ocean and the singing sand beaches and the delicious salty-scented air and the sea food and the pubs with the lively music and the beer and of course the people, wonderfully kind. I loved how they would stop their cars in the middle of the road to let people walk across! That was novel. Oh and the potato museum. That was pretty novel as well.
New Brunswick is another beautiful province – lots of big trees, forested areas with gently curving highways.
Haven’t been to Newfoundland. Would like to get there some day.
I’m staying a week at the Crescent Isle Cottages in Grand Tracadie, PEI.
Should be lovely- first vacation in several years. I will eat such obscene quantities of shellfish 😉
Wow–this place looks great. Have a wonderful time!