Lobster Capital

Dieppe, New Brunswick – August 4 & 5, 2012 Our Current Location

On our way to Shediac we want to check out a couple of campgrounds thinking we might spend one more night here.  The temperatures are warming up and we would like to be able to plug in and not have to run the generator.  The first campground we find has a confusing entrance so we park Big Guy on the side of the main road and walk to the office to ask if they have any availability.  They do, and the price is so-so but we just don't like the place. Camping where your slides and awnings almost touch your neighbors is not our idea of what the camping experience is all about.

So we drive on into Shediac and find a parking lot with enough room for Big Guy and park for the day. We do the touristy stuff and walk around town being tantalized by all the restaurants advertising lobster rolls . Our stroll takes us to the largest lobster statue we've ever seen. And once again it is claimed to be the World’s Largest . . . Lobster! Of course kids are crawling all over it while EJ waits patiently for an opening to take a picture.  She is much more patient than I am.

As we headed back to the RV we passed the restaurants again and by now we were quite famished.  But we couldn't find any place that we really wanted to go.  Not that there was anything wrong with the restaurants.  EJ nailed it when she said she was disappointed in the town because it wasn't on the waterfront.  Her perfect restaurant would have her sitting on a deck, with a cool breeze blowing through her hair, looking out over the water.

There was one area we hadn't explored that looked like it had promise.  But we would have to drive there as it was too far and too hot to walk. So we unhooked Ele’, turned on the AC and off we went.

Boy are we glad we made the effort.  This was exactly what we were looking for.  There was a marina, shops and restaurants overlooking the Northumberland Strait.  There were lots of neat cars to look at, boats were entering and leaving the harbor and lots of folks to entertain us.

We chose Captain Dan's as the place to eat as it seemed to be reasonably popular (always a good sign), it had a second floor deck with umbrellas for every table and a great view of the water.  Of course we ordered the lobster roll plate and cold beer. It was well worth the wait. Oh, and it had a cool breeze.  It met all our criteria and we were once again, Happy Campers.

Sardine style camping seems to be the norm in this area so we opt to drive back to Moncton and camp at one of the Walmarts there. These pictures don’t really do this justice, but you get the idea.

Wow!  It's Sunday already and we need to still explore Moncton.  We go off in search of the visitors center to get information about the area and learn where the older town area is as well as the bore tide.  The tides are pretty extreme here and the incoming tide actually, momentarily overcomes the Petitcodiac River causing an incoming wave. That is until the town built a causeway across the river.  The incoming wave used to be 8 to 10 feet high and something to see, now it's less than a foot, often only a mere ripple in the river.  It is now referred to as the boring tide. They call the waterway the Chocolate River because of all of the mud and silt, another side effect of the causeway.

We stop at a local McDonald’s to check e-mail and guess what we find on the menu??

We drive through the older part of town, nothing much going on there, before heading out to Magnetic Hill. Magnetic Hill is for tourists and kids as there are plenty of trinket shops, a zoo and a great water park.  There is also a road you can pay to drive your car on that gives you the illusion you're being pulled uphill when you are actually going downhill. Instead, we decide to invest our money in the Magnetic Hill Winery as we've already experienced the uphill/downhill effect in the Colorado mountains.

The winery, which is situated high up on the hill, overlooks the Magnetic Hill attractions and downtown Moncton.  Luckily, as we arrive a large tour bus is pulling out.  For a few moments we have the place all to ourselves.  We sample five wines and chose one that is made from local raspberries and rhubarb. They open the bottle for us and we sit on their patio with the view and the cool breezes.  Slowly, in pairs and small groups, the patio area fills up.

We met a nice young couple from St. Johns, NB and talked to them about living in Canada and how they like visiting the US because it is so cheap.  Alas, finally the wine bottle is empty and it's time to get back to feed the cats and fix supper for us.

It’s off to Fundy National Park tomorrow.