Shediac, New Brunswick

The day after visiting the Acadian Village we headed south along the coast of New Brunswick to Shediac, from which we could take the bridge to Prince Edward Island. The drive closely resembled a lot of what we had already seen; but there were a few things worth commenting on. Here’s one.

This is what I came to call “along the road development” – modest houses and small commercial buildings strung out along both sides of the road with, in many places, no other streets and, in most places, backed up against the woods. After while I figured that things are quite spread out, long roads are needed to connect them, power lines follow the roads for both construction and maintenance, and, with all that infrastructure in place, land and development ‘along the road’ becomes almost inevitable.

Lots of relatively flat land, with frequent streams, lakes, and bogs provides almost perfect habitat for moose. We never saw any, not even one, but we heard about them everywhere we went; and along the highways the signs were stark.

We have no evidence (thank goodness) but the scale relationship between the moose and the car on the sign above are not exaggerated. They’re big, heavy animals whose center of gravity is high. We were told a number of times that driving and hitting a moose was almost certain death for everyone in the vehicle, as the 1,000 pounds (or more) of moose collapsed at the speed of the car across the passenger compartment. Luckily for us, most of these encounters take place after dark; and we were driving in the day time.

The woods in this area are a mix of evergreens and birch trees. When a road is cut through the woods, the birches come back more quickly and end up lining the edges of the right of way. Unfortunately, they’re not as sturdy as the evergreens; and the openness of the roadway increases the wind impact. We saw blown-over birches everywhere.

We can’t complain about the quality of the roads. They’re kept in good shape.

The grades and curves are reasonable, the pavement is smooth, they’re usually raised up fairly high for good drainage, and the signage is clear. And they’re not tarted up. I took this next picture because it was one of the few exceptions we saw in the whole trip.

So far at least the Canadians here have resisted billboarding their highways. The province has very strict laws regarding use of road-side signs. Billboards and the use of portable signs are banned. There are standard direction information signs on roads in the province for various businesses and attractions in the immediate area. Some municipalities’ by-laws also restrict the types of permanent signs that may be installed on private property.

Occasionally we would break out of the woods along a lake and be able to see a small community or some farms.

But then it would be right back to ‘normal’.

About half way we stopped in Miramichi. It’s a modest town with a few historic structures, such as the city hall.

But more importantly, we got to try out one of the “Howard Johnsons of Canada”.

Tim Hortons Inc. (known internationally as Tim Hortons Cafe and Bake Shop, colloquially known as Timmies or Tim’s) is a Canadian multinational fast food restaurant known for its coffee and donuts. It is also Canada’s largest quick service restaurant chain. And to add to the cachet, how about this:

On August 26, 2014, Burger King agreed to purchase Tim Hortons for US $11.4 billion; the chain became a subsidiary of the Oakville-based holding company Restaurant Brands International on December 15, 2014, which is majority-owned by Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital.

So we stopped for a couple of cups of 3G Capital coffee and were on our way. Sorry, Canadians, but Timmies just didn’t do it for Seattle cappucino afficiandos.

Finally, down the coast a bit more, we crossed over the Shediac River into the town.

Shediac is a modest town with a modest character and sense of its history.

The housing mixes a variety of styles in a generally comfortable way.

We were staying at a small hotel with its own restaurant, Auberge Gabriele.

Something told us this was probably not the original color scheme. Across the street another hotel with more sense of presence established a different tone.

Who knew that potato farming was an international business in Shediac.

We did discover a small museum (not open) in an historic house up the street.

A type of totem pole structure tied in the historic roots of settlement.

Shediac’s claim to fame is Lobster capital of New Brunswick; so we headed back to our hotel to sample the fare and get ready for the next leg of our trip – over the bridge to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

 

Village Historique Acadien

We drove a short distance from Caraquet to the Acadian Village. The view below shows the entrance and building through which you pass to reach the village itself. The village is 40 years old this year and serves to celebrate Acadian life as it has been since they were able to return from their forced deportation.

Originating from 17th century France, the Acadians were the first French settlers in North America.  Le Grand Dérangement (the deportation) deprived them of their lands and scattered them throughout the world.  The Village Acadian Village portrays the ingenuity and determination of the Acadians starting anew, here in New Brunswick.

The village presents Acadian life from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries, and is set up to take you chronologically through that period. The first part features early agrarian life, in which the Acadians had to wrestle with this landscape to get established.

At that point in time, some technologies were well understood, so that buildings were not totally crude log cabins but included detailing that anticipated better times to come, like dovetail corners and plastered joints.

Recognized for the authenticity of the historical reconstitution and their warm welcome, the Acadian Village recalls the life of the Acadian ancestors from 1770 to 1949.  More than 40 historical buildings, occupied and animated by interpreters in period costumes, give an impression of going back in time, and travel in history.  Each of the “inhabitants” had a story to tell, a craft or custom to bring to life.

This particular Acadian was cooking a chowder of some sort that he would be sharing with anyone who wanted to try it – as well as with the flies that weren’t bothering to wait until it was completely ready.

A little farther down the road a more developed homestead stood by its garden.

As an architect, I really liked the simple use of geometry in these elemental structures.

We came upon one farmhouse inside of which a woman was weaving.

She was weaving linen from flax – an amazing transformational process.

In the upper left an arm is used to crush and remove the hulls. In the upper right the stems are pulled through nails to card out odd pieces and pull the fibers straight. In the lower left, the fibers are spun into a more consistently sized thread that can then be set up on the two-harness loom and woven. As was common in those days, the building was one big space, heated by a central stove, and included places to eat and sleep.

Given the nature of the construction, the space was somewhat dark; but there were in fact a fair number of windows to help bring the outside in.

The land around the settlements was very spare but quite beautiful.

And much of New Brunswick in this area looks like this today.

A few pieces of early equipment were scattered around the site. These definitely had a museum quality and didn’t appear to be in regular use.

The wagon is self-explanatory, but this next one was not.

It’s a steam box for heating and bending long pieces of wood. It was apparent that 19th century technology was coming into use, with water-driven wheels and belts could be used to drive steel equipment such as this lathe.

A small bridge across a creek showed clear experience with simple truss structures.

The weir of thin sticks in front of the bridge was used to keep ducks from swimming under the bridge and out of their pond. We took the road across to the next farmhouse.

Amenities such as porches were starting to be included; and the two chimneys show that the owners were prosperous enough to heat parts of the house separately. Including a ladder up the roof to access the gable seemed to be a consistently used detail. The furnishings were spare but starting to show some styling.

I doubt that in reality they would put the pump organ next to the stove.

The kitchen was simple but some of the implements were pretty nice.

And in the main parlor, the owner helped us understand what life there was like.

As is implied by the cross on the wall above, the French Acadians were Christian; and the village included a really sweet little church.

The inside was as spare and symmetrical as the exterior.

And I thought it was a clever device to use framed artwork for the stations of the cross.

A small school nearby had the same simple qualities, though in a less formal way.

The museum has included a few lessons for us to test ourselves on.

We passed by the mill (unfortunately not open that day)

and then to a covered bridge over the stream leading to the mill pond.

Passing through the bridge led to a surprise –

We were now in the 20th century ! I don’t know how intentional this transition was but from a museum-going point of view it was effective.

Jane was hoping we could take this one home – fabulous color !

The far side of the bridge landed us in a small, early 20th century town with a main street and a variety of commercial and residential establishments. First, of course, we had to cross the railroad track – the source of many of the town’s improvements.

Next to the tracks, a small lumber mill, Moulin Eric Goguen, complete with sawdust pile turned trees into useful construction materials.

Then a true 20th century icon – the Irving Oil Products service station – took its place.

The town includes a major feature we were too late in the season to take advantage of.

Apparently, during the main season, you can stay at the Chateau Albert as part of your visit to the Acadian Village – that would have been a hoot.

Next door, Nicholas Theriault sold various and sundry household goods.

Just down the street a fine residence attracted our attention.

The various rooms showed off the period character; and the ‘cook’ in the kitchen filled in the appropriate smells and samples of home baking.

One lovely, but subtle addition to this period was the use of wallpaper. The appearance of printed wallpaper totally changed the appearance of some of these rooms. It also helped to conceal cracks in the plaster that were an inevitable part of wooden construction without much, if any, insulation. Often, only the more formal rooms were wallpapered, with others like the kitchen being simply painted. Here’s a sample.

Across the street, more robust products were for sale at F. Ouellet stoves & tins.

A workbench displayed the various necessary tools for working metal.

The back wall displayed the patterns.

Up front, near the windows, Mr. Ouellet showed off his stoves for sale.

On our way out of “town” we passed an example of the type of farm that was contributing to and benefiting from the growing prosperity of Acadia.

From there a short walk took us back to the visitor’s center – and the 21st Century.

There we found two museum standby’s, the gift shop gauntlet,

and lunch

Given the amount of traffic they have to typically manage, we thought they did a commendable job with both.

Next time – Shediac