Hannah and Gord Hit the Road: Day 7 - Thursday July 6

Tall Ships, Real Atlantic Charm, and Passamaquoddy Bay

So today we leave behind Theresa's favourite things - Quebec, whales, and the St. Lawrence. Fortunately I can woo her with the promise of the Atlantic as we will be on the ocean for the next two weeks. Still, leaving Motel Loupi and our view of the great River was bitter sweet. I had lost my hat (new jays hat - 🙁) so was in a less than great mood so when I dropped off T and the brood at Tim Horton's (G discovered tmbits on the last day of school) to go get gas I decided to swing by our restaurant last night in a last ditch effort to get it back. Low and behold, the Québécois people are very honourable and no one had decided to add my hat to their collection. Reunited we (hat and I) headed back to retrieve the Fam and head south to New Brunswick.

Gord playing with his "ocean guys" - a splurge on-boat purchase that was really a knee jerk response to a whiney kid on a boat, but that has turned into a goldmine of in-car entertainment that has plenty of educational value too. Ask G about the difference between a decapod and a cephalopod!

Now doing the same thing daily is sure to develop a habit, and when you travel with a 7 month old it's fairly important to create a habit that works for the baby. What we've found to work for us is to get on the road around 9:30, drive as long as she'll let us, break for an hour or so, and repeat. So, we often find ourselves looking for a suitable park or rest stop, all the while with a baby crying for a change and some milk. So what a happy coincidence when she woke up just as we were passing signs for POTATO WORLD!

It seems that McCain felt that the wanted to do right by the local NB farmers who have been growing their potatoes for many, many years, so they decided to open up an homage to the modest spud. A wonderland of history, play ground and small cafe, full of, that's right, potatoes. We saw the playground and the sign and new it was a must.

It turned out to be a great decision as the people were warm, the fries were fresh and good, and the salad was a welcome change. Of course they had a big bin of Mr. Potato heads for Gord to play with and an hour and a half passed quickly so we could jump back in the car and finish our drive south to the ocean.

Our oasis in a desert of barren highway and plain gas stations.

Hannah loved potato world. Who wouldn't.

New Brunswick is surprisingly grand and rugged. It reminded us of going up and over Lake Superior, but surprisingly more green.

Finally we made it to the idyllic sea side town of St. Andrews(-by-the-sea). I was recently informed by a reliable and ruggedly good looking source that St. Andrews is the most popular destination for Americans looking to escape Trump's administration, and you can see why. It's small and peaceful, it's beautiful, and it's right on the border.

I had been here a few times before and it hasn't much changed. It's clean and pristine, with about a dozen places to eat lined up along water street on either side of the public wharf. The air is salty, the skies were sunny, and we sought out s place to eat. With designs on a place called Piggy's Cove right on the wharf we were tempted by a beautiful sea side garden. I convinced our party to keep going and see what the town had in store, but it didn't take long that it would be better to back track and enjoy the garden.

Gable's was exactly what we wanted: a family friendly restaurant on the water with cold beer and fresh food. T had the lobster roll, I had the veggie burger, and G had the plain spaghetti plate. We were all thrilled with our choices and locale. After finishing we strolled all the street, got some ice cream and fudge, went down to the tidal pools and then headed back to the Greenside Motel (not the Fairmont, but it was convenient and clean) for a sleep before we headed to Fundy. The Atlantic - something we'll easily get used to over the coming weeks.

Arriving at he sea has strange effects on land lubbers.