Top 10 Things To Do On Your NB Staycation

Travel is a bit different this summer. Hopefully we keep doing well and restrictions continue to loosen. As most of us plan to adventure closer to home this year, I thought I’d share some of my favourite places and hope you find a couple ideas for your summer!

10. Explore beach towns

I’m not the biggest beach bum, but we have sooo many beautiful beaches to enjoy! Even if you don’t like roasting on the beach, they make great places to go for a walk or enjoy a picnic. Or go for a swim at the wharf!

Bouctouche Dunes

Aboiteau Beach Region

Pointe-du-Chêne Wharf

9. Check out (one of) the tallest waterfalls in NB

Fall Brook Falls is the highest continual running waterfall in NB at 100 ft. It’s super cool and you can swim if you’re brave! More info here.

8. Visit Miscou Island 

I went here for the first time last summer and I really liked the vibe. To get the full experience, enjoy the Acadian Coastal Route to get there! Find more info here.

7. Explore Mount Carleton Provincial Park

Mount Carleton feels a bit more untouched than some parts of NB. I really like it here when I get a chance to visit. I’ve hiked Carleton and Bailey, but would love to get back to hike Sagamook this summer, which reportedly has the best views and is the most challenging hike. Find out more here.

6. Visit Grand Manan 

What a wonderful hidden gem. Our very own magical island. Take a time out and enjoy an even slower pace. ;) Here’s my blog post about it from a couple years ago. Just make sure you check and see what’s open this year with Covid.

5. Hike Split Rock Trail 

This is my favourite trail in NB right now. Just so much of it is right along the coast. Last time I went it was pretty muddy so dress accordingly! :) Find out more about it here.

4. Visit St. Andrews By the Sea

I just spent last weekend there again and it was charming. So many cute shops, beautiful gardens, an aquarium, history, and sea air. I also checked out a new hike this time - Chamcook Mountain. Find out what I suggest for a day trip here. PS - I didn’t include Kingsbrae Garden Cafe in the blog and it’s a must go-to!

3. Go for a fresh water swim

Memel Falls

We really have a lot of places to swim in our beautiful province! Check out my swimming page here for some ideas. Let me know where I should try next!

2. Fundy Trail and St. Martins 

It seems to always rain when I go to the Fundy Trail, but there are so many options to do if you check it out! In St. Martins you can go sea kayaking, check out the caves, or the restaurant. And then the Fundy Trail has hiking, waterfalls, a coastal drive, beaches, and amazing views. I’ll have to blog about this amazing place soon!

1. Support local businesses!

A lot of our favourite places have struggled in this season. If you’re able, continue to support the places you love and that add value to our province! My friends own this adorable tourist spot and it has one of the best patios in the city to enjoy some takeout - The Magnetic Hill Wharf Village in Moncton. Check it out!

Here are some of my favourite local businesses and a couple I still want to try !

Moncton: Kings Ice Cream, Tire Shack Brewery, Euston Park, Holy Whale Bear Garden

Fredericton: The Muse Cafe, The Shake Shed, Claudine’s Eatery, Picaroons Brewing Company

Saint John: Rogue Coffee, Thandi’s Restaurant, Britt’s, Fit Rocks Climbing Gym

Everywhere else: The Old Well House Cafe, Old Bavarian Restaurant, Gabi’s Pie Shoppe, Buddha Bear Coffee, Quai Aboiteau Seafood Paradise, Sussex Ale Works, Kingsbrae Gardens Cafe, Cornhill Nursery’s Cedar Cafe

So, hey, I know I’m based out of Moncton, so these are a bit South-heavy and I’m just one person. I also left out the classics like Fundy National Park and Hopewell Rocks. But what did I miss? What’s on your list? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

P.S. stay up to date with my adventures here: lauraharris.nb

Have a great staycation!

Kouchibouguac National Park

Well, it’s probably somewhat strange that I haven’t posted about the other National Park in our province (besides Fundy), but Kouchi is not somewhere I spent a lot of time in my life. Growing up, we always camped in Fundy (and I’m obsessed with it).

I actually went to Kouchi a few years ago and planned to blog about it, but I had a less than fantastic experience, so I couldn’t bring myself to post about it. When I saw they added the Oasis, I thought I’d try it out again! I really loved the accommodation and the bike/kayak rental experience was much better than it was the time previous, so that made a big difference!

We had to park a little bit away from the Oasis, but it made it seem a little more private, which was kind of cool. It was literally steps away from the ocean, and you can see the ocean through the trees from inside.

Once we were settled, we walked the beach,

hiked a couple trails (Beaver and Pines),

then headed to get some supper. We went to a place called Makeba, which we were really happy with. Once we picked up some more snacks, we came “home”, caught sunset, had a campfire and then watched a movie in our Oasis on a laptop. :) Very cozy.

I set my alarm for 7:00am and looked out the window and almost went back to bed. I got up begrudgingly and made the very short walk to the beach. I think you would agree it is a good thing I did.

I don’t know if I’ve seen a nicer sunrise, actually. That was definitely a highlight of the weekend.

Once the pics were snapped, we made a tasty breakfast.

The coffee!

The vibes!

Love camping breakfast.

We packed up and headed out to enjoy an afternoon the crisp fall. It was so beautiful.

We each rented a kayak for I think 15$ for an hour. That was about as much as I wanted to anyway. I wish the rentals were a bit cheaper because I would have liked to do some biking too. They only had fat bikes to rent. Basically, if you want to bike, BYOB. I hear Kouchi is great for biking . . . one day I’ll have to actually try it.

So, with no bikes, we hiked almost all of the trails in the woods. We did the short hike to the beach (Kellys Beach) and had a picnic.

Did Pines, Salt Marsh,

and Clare Fontaine.

Clare Fontaine was probably our favourite as it didn’t have as much boardwalk and went along the river for a lot of it.

That was our trip! We loved it. I highly recommend the Oasis here as it’s heated and has an amazing view of the water, a fire pit, and a BBQ!! Kouchi itself could still win me over a bit, but overall I did love my trip.

If you’re more into hiking, I wouldn’t say that Kouchi is the place for you, but if you love relaxing, biking, leisurely walks in the woods, and the beach, then this is your place.

Here are two of the other Oasis . . . Oasis-es?

Have fun!

Acadian Coastal Drive

I’ve always seen the signs for different scenic drives around New Brunswick, but hadn’t really been intentional about ever actually doing one. With Canada Day coming, I thought it would be a good opportunity to drive up the coast and see an area of NB that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. The most north-eastern point - Miscou Island. I didn’t really know what to expect, and the only thing I really wanted to see at the outset was a pretty church I’d heard about. I was really happy with the outcome. We pretty much just followed the signs!

We didn’t get a very early start and left Moncton around 11:00am. Had to make one pit stop in Shediac to pick up a mug that I’d left at an Air BnB the week before. (Had the chance to practice my French and try to explain myself to a nice family from Montreal :) ). This is the beginning of the Coastal route and the beginning of my day of practicing my French.

I’d driven this section lots before and loved driving by the coast between Shediac and Bouctouche, especially the sections that just have some huge rocks between you and the ocean, like this spot.

But this pic is actually further north.

PS - GREAT beach at the Dunes in Bouctouche. Check it out!

And so many other beautiful coastal views along the way:

We hit Bouctouche, but didn’t have the time to stop at Le Pays de la Sagouin on our drive, but you could definitely make that a stop! I haven’t been there since my grade 5 field trip! 

After gassing up, we continued up toward Miscou and enjoyed more sights of beautiful “cottages”, little towns and Acadian flags. 

We made a quick pit stop at a beach at Camping de la Dune. It was pretty unpopulated and really pretty. This was really a driving trip and we didn’t stay long at all. 

We searched on Trip Advisor for what would make the best supper stop and then asked a local in Tracadie what she would recommend. By this point we were getting pretty hungry as all we’d eaten were gas station taquitos and gatorade. lol. She suggested Au P’tit Mousse which was a great suggestion, but we will get to that later. 

From Tracadie, we started our hunt for the Church that was my first priority of seeing, but all we had was a map from Instagram. This started our mini “church tour” where we saw three beautiful churches . . .

Thankfully, Miscou is a pretty small place and the second church we looked at was actually the “right” one! 

So cool! The story is pretty cool too and I think they could make a pretty great indie movie out of it. With age, the church started to deteriorate and instead of spending thousands and thousands of dollars to reapair it, the priest who worked there at the time (Reverend Gérard d’Astous) took it upon himself to transform the aging wood into a beautiful and eclectic work of art. 

Each section speaks to a different part of the story between God and humanity. The priest’s work of redemption on the church mirrors the work of God’s redemption in humanity. 

From here, we quickly stopped at our third church to grab a pic, before heading out to grab some supper! 

It was clear this was a favourite spot as the place was hopping! I loved the combo options and we got a couple combos to share. It was pretty delicious and the price was pretty great too. I’d definitely go back. Listen, can you get more east coast than this? Poutine, garlic fingers (did you know Pizza Delight “invented” them?), and fresh clams!

 It looks like there are a few other cool places around too. I wish we could have checked out La Terrasse a Steve or the Guardian Cafe at the lighthouse. If you have a favourite spot, share it in the comments! 

After eating, we headed out to the lighthouse! 

By the time we got here, it was around 6:30, so things were starting to shut down, but they have a cafe and a gift shop there and there’s a nice beach with frigid water that a couple people were brave enough to swim in. 

The day was closing in on us at this point, but we wanted to make two more stops! We went for a quick walk on Miscou Island Beach and then headed out to try to catch Pokeshaw Rock before it got too dark. I was getting scared to travel back at dusk and sure enough, we saw two moose behind the highway fence!

And we actually made it there for sunset!  

There’s a nice lookout to get a good shot. We were a little jealous of the kayakers enjoying a sunset paddle. :) Maybe I’ll try that next time! 

By the time we headed back, it was around 9:30 so we knew we were going to miss the fireworks in Moncton. We were sad about that, but had an awesome day of adventuring! 

But we weren’t quite done yet, true to its reputation, we did have a close call with a mama moose and her calf on the way back on the 15.  Thankfully we saw them in time! I recommend ending your road trip before dusk! 

P.S. I know we missed a lot along the way, comment below and let me know where your favourite place is to stop!

Happy driving! 

Grand Manan Island

Grand Manan. I’ve been trying to get here for three summers now and it finally happened! I was not disappointed and I think it even over-delivered. :)

My friend Ashley was back in town for school and had a short window of time to explore NB before school started. We wanted to go somewhere new, so we chose Grand Manan! We had a few things planned, but mostly figured we could explore the island and end up seeing most of what we wanted to see.

We were fortunate enough to get a campsite at Hole in the Wall on their final summer offering the cliffside sites. I didn’t know this before booking, but was so happy we got the opportunity!

It actually may have been my favourite part of our whole trip! Happy and sad!

I still can’t get over that view.

And there weren’t even any ropes on the cliff edge!

Once we got our place set up, we went for pizza at Post Office Pizza and it was just as good as we’d hoped!

We also got a friendly greeting and local “lowdown” of the island free of charge from the owner - a former Bostonian turned Grand Manan’er. He said he and his family bought a house there on their second trip to the island. It certainly does take ahold of your heart.

We had a great sleep and I woke up for a bit to snap some pics of the sunrise. (I’ve heard there are some nights where a fog horn goes off all night. Thankfully our nights were clear nights!)

And then it was time for one of my favourite parts of camping - breakfast and coffee!

Does it get any better? I’m not sure that it does.

We then accidentally started driving out of our campground and turned around to do the Hole in the Wall. lol. Gotta get that pic, right?

It was really pretty, and I understand that you can actually take that trail all around the island. That’s pretty cool!

After our short hike, we went to Swallow Tail Lighthouse, which was right by our campground. It is kept up very nicely and you can go up to the top for a small fee. I hear this is a good place to watch for whales from, but we only saw seals :(

One thing I’m a sucker for is cute cafes. So, I knew the Old Well House Cafe would be a stop for sure! Apparently they just opened this summer and had a great first season. That was on our list because NRTHWRD suggested it, and I’m so glad we went.

It was so beautiful and unique and the food was delicious.

We decided to spend the rest of the day driving around the island and stopping where we wanted to stop or where we heard people say was cool.

We went south, stopped for coffee at Newton’s,

Had a pit stop at Seal Cove Beach to touch the ocean,

Saw the South Head cliffs (slightly mind-blowing),

Briefly visited Dark Harbour,

And picnicked at Stanley beach for supper!

Ashley and I are both doers, so this was a great pace for us :)

Many people suggested seeing the sunset at “The Whistle” and it was pretty cute to enjoy the sunset with about 12 other people, locals and tourists alike.

What a day. Topped off with a fire under the stars.

DAY 2

Since we really “conquered” most of the island on day 1, our plan was to take it easy on day 2 and revisit some favourites. We started with coffee by the fire and ocean. I can’t.

Then went to the beautiful, delicious, quaint bakery, North Head Bakery. Their baguettes are raved about and the donut and croissant I had were both delish.

There was a farmer’s market in town that day so we wandered there for a minute and then had another meal at the Old Well House before getting back on the ferry.

We were really determined to see a whale so we spent all of the return journey on the deck watching and waiting. Our only rewards were one or two whales really far away and windburn. Less than satisfactory. Lol.

Well, it’s safe to say that Grand Manan worked its way into my heart. I really, really loved our time there. It was the perfect way to end the summer. I’ll be back soon.

Love,

Laura

Atlantic Balloon Fiesta

One of the first signs of fall . . .

As much as I hate to see summer go, the balloon fiesta in Sussex always helps say goodbye. 

We usually go up on Friday night and try to get there for the balloon launch at 5:30,

Then grab some food, check out Bingo or the market, and head to see the moon glow.

Which is probably my favourite . . .

How beautiful is that?

And there's still time to catch some rides and games:

(The Zipper, for the braves ones . . .)

(Because is it really a fair if you don't fear for your life on a ride that was set up on that very same day?)

(Some of those games are hard to resist!)

or check out the barn vibes . . . 

I don't think I've gotten up early enough to see it person yet, but the morning launch is also beautiful! 

Check out the whole schedule here.

So much fun for the whole family! 

Or friends! 

Would you go for a ride? . . .