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.
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