July 13 Quebec City to Moncton

Our arrivals into Winnipeg and Thunder Bay had taught us a big road trip lesson. In both cases, we spent the morning exploring our starting city before heading out on the road for an eight-hour drive to our next destination. While I have no regrets about taking the extra time to see things we would otherwise miss, our late start coupled with crossing a time zone meant we rolled into our destination city after 9:00 pm - leaving us tired, hungry, and with few options for dining and fewer for exploring. So with another long drive and time change ahead of us, we decided to get an early start and left Quebec city first thing in the morning of the 13th.

Lac-Temiscouata Quebec, 2017

The tactic seemed to work well as the morning progressed quite peacefully without restlessness or complaints about being hungry or needing to use the washroom. This was fortunate, because while the drive is quite scenic (and downright beautiful outside of Lac-Témiscouata), there seemed little opportunity to stop and do things without deviating significantly from the highway. 

The highway through New Brunswick is fantastic - twinned, double-laned, and newly paved with little traffic. It made driving easy, but doing anything else more difficult as towns were bypassed and there was little signage indicating anything other than major turn-offs. Thankfully, we had done our research and knew a few places to stop.

Hartland Bridge, NB 2017

Our first stop (other than gas and refreshments in Edmunston) was the Hartland Bridge. The bridge, which crosses the Saint John River from Hartland to Somerville, is 1,282-ft. long - making it the longest covered bridge in the world. It was constructed in 1901 and covered in 1922 amid controversy that it would corrupt the morals of the youth. It's now a National Historic Site.

Aside from the bridge itself, there is little to see in Hartland, but we found a nice spot along the river for a picnic lunch that included locally-made Covered Bridge Potato Chips. I highly recommend the loaded hot dog flavour if you have a chance to try them out.

Changing of the Guard, Fredericton 2017

Our next stop was Fredericton, and after a few wrong turns, we made it to the downtown area.  At first, we were a bit underwhelmed - it was a quaint city, but not unlike many others we had been to. Nonetheless, we decided to stretch our legs and walk around.

As we approached the  Fredericton Historic Garrison District, we were greeted with the sound of musket fire... we had stumbled upon a re-enactment of 1883 Changing of the Guard ceremony- complete with pipers, drummers, axe-welding soldiers and of course, muskets. An unexpected treat as we missed the changing of the guard at the Quebec Citadel.

Fredericton Regional Museum, 2017

We spent the next half hour or so exploring the grounds of the Fredericton Regional Museum, and learning about the formation of the Canadian Army in 1883 with the establishment of the Infantry School Corps, Company 'A' in Fredericton - a piece of history neither Jay nor I knew about.

Manuka Restaurant, Moncton, NB 2017

Our drive ended in Moncton - our resting place for the night. To cap off a day of finding unexpected treasures, we dined at Manuka Restaurant. Located in a quaint yellow house on a quiet residential street, and with a creative menu using locally-sourced ingredients, it was a perfect mix of ambience, great food and outstanding, friendly service. It felt like eating at a friend's house, only that friend was a Michelin-starred chef. Both Jay and I walked out feeling like we'd had one of the best meals of our lives.