I set off for a wonderful adventure back to the East Coast to visit my nursing school friends and Jeramy’s family. The East Coast is beautiful in the fall, it is absolutely my favorite season on the whole and especially spectacular in the east. The West Coast is majority big old Dougie firs, and cedars, the evergreens, that make up the rainforest; but the East Coast, on the other hand, is a patchwork of reds, greens, browns, yellows, and golds, spread thickly over the rolling hills. No mountains here, this is pastoral, open land.
I had a great flight out of Calgary and then from Toronto to Moncton, there was a child sitting in front of me that reminded me how little I desire children of my own! This little duffer had a massive meltdown roughly every 15 minutes, even giving his mother a nosebleed. Yuck. I think that with all our technology and innovation today, there should be a better way to amuse and soothe children on a plane. Jeramy on the other hand, had decided to drive across the country to get home. What a nut. Pretty sure this is why they invented planes? Got confirmation that he was regretting it when he called from just outside Winnipeg, saying, ‘You were right. I’m thinking about renting a storage locker large enough to drive my car into.’
I started the trip out in Fredericton, the city where I met Jeramy, went to nursing school, started volunteering at therapeutic riding, and trained for my first half marathon. I never thought that I would say this, but I do miss Fredericton. If the hospital there was a bit nicer, I just might consider living there again. I had a fantastic visit with nursing school friends, tried Chess Piece Cafe (yum!), picked apples at Everett’s Orchard, did some classes at Moksha Yoga, saw my amazing doula friends, met a whole heap of new babies, saw a few of my old profs, and did some shopping at my old Le Chateau. It was so incredibly lovely and I definitely felt nostalgic and sad to leave.
Apple picking with Laura, my fave running buddy. We trained for a half-marathon together!
After that as a few days in Moncton over the weekend, with Jeramy’s parents. It was great to spend time with them and their 4 dogs, all Gordon Setters. We didn’t do too much the first day, just hanging out, and Jeramy and I did some shopping in the afternoon. I also got to take a ride in the sidecar of his stepdad’s Ural motorbike. I have a goal to ride as many kinds of transport around the world as I can. This was my first time in a sidecar! Jeramy’s parents were going to a dinner that night where his mum was going to receive an award for her incredible work with education of everyday people about hands-only CPR. Very proud! Jeramy and I went to the 3D showing of Pan, which was good as far as costumes, music, and graphics but the storyline was a bit off compared with the rest of the stories.
The next day we set off on an afternoon adventure to Martin Head Beach via Alma. Alma is a tiny village along the Fundy coast, notable for delicious sticky buns and seafood.
Martin Head is down the coast from Moncton, past Hopewell Rocks, down a nicely graded dirt road which turns into a bumpy logging road, which turns into what can best be described as a washed out creek bed at a 15% grade. Wheeee!
The beach was beautiful, set along a rugged coastline with cliffs abruptly diving down to the ocean. When the tide is low, you can cross over to the spit of land that leads out to Martin Head itself, which unfortunately was not possible at the time we went. It was such a beautiful day though and with the Fundy Footpath crossing along here, it would be awesome to come back. Martin Head is also a UNESCO Biosphere reserve, and it’s not hard to see why. It feels so remote, so serene, and so untouched. There are many birds around and no real predators.
Beautiful grays and golds as sunset begins.
My next day was spent going to Saint John to see Gloria, my former roomie, and Emily, a former classmate and fellow doula. Always nice to see friends!
Jeramy and I set off for Halifax the next day. I got to see the beautiful and wonderful Leah, and she took me into some beautiful little shops and the new Halifax library for a ‘blueberry fog’ (yum!). The new Halifax library is beautiful and very optimally situated and has a great view of the city. We had a delicious dinner at one of the Korean restaurants, kimchi jeon, kimchi chiggae, bibimbap….so good! Our next day consisted of similar: eating delicious sushi at Sushi Nami with our friend Rachel, shopping at Biscuit General Store, and having afternoon coffee and salted caramel brownie at Apothecary. 🙂 dinner that night was at The Stubborn Goat, sharing a variety of tasty treats like lobster mac n cheese, deep fried avocado, and chickpea fritters, to name a few.
That night Jeramy and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. We rented a hotel room and drank wine, ate cheese, and generally enjoyed just taking some time with just us in the craziness of visiting.
We drove back to NB the next morning, Jeramy taking a moment to drive me through Halifax Airport – silly guy! We ended up in Cap Pele for lunch at one of the local seafood restaurants with his mum and took the scenic route along the coast to get back to Moncton. The next couple days were just filled with visiting, eating, walking, and enjoying being there. Highly recommend a trip to the Maritimes – everyone is so friendly!
tRNscontinental 