Road tripping with Mabel

I have grown up loving the idea of time travel and parallel universes and would get so excited when my parents said we would be going to visit a historic site. As a child I loved spending Sunday afternoons meandering through the old cemetery at the end of the Enclosure Provincial Park. The park itself no longer exist but the historical cemetery is now being looked after by the Scottish Heritage Association Miramichi, and now forty plus years later, I am the program director who oversees the protected heritage site. I get to visit the ancient residence as often as I wish and tell others about the history that took place hundreds of years ago at Wilson’s Point Historic site. Wilson’s Point is  significant to the Mi’kmaq peoples as it was once their summer hunting and fishing grounds dating back to 600BC, the French established a mission here in the late 1600s, the Acadians took refuge here during the Expulsion from NS in 1755 and the Scottish settled this site as the first English community on the river in 1765. So much has happened here under the tall pines and I love to tell everyone about it from inside a replica of the first protestant church established in 1791. There are also restored historical walking trails, a boat dock place where a horse powered ferry once unloaded its passengers and of course, the historic graveyard dating back to 1781 that was restored by Lord Beaverbrook in 1948 and again most recently by the Scottish Heritage Association.

As much as I love my job, I also love telling visitors of other great sites to check along their destination route and one such place is  a museum my family discovered when I was 16, on the way to Fundy National Park: The Albert County Museum. This place has grown leaps and bounds since then and has become a world class site with several buildings including a restored court house and a county gaol which was the site of one of the last hangings in New Brunswick, there is also a center dedicated to Prime Minister RB Bennett who was born and grew up in Albert County. There are stories of from land, sea and war. It truly is a remarkable place to visit and lies close to the highest tides in the world and the famous Hopewell Rocks.

Since my travel area has decreased in size the past year, my next suggestion is a little further up the north of Fundy in the Saint John River Valley. Kings Landing Historic site is a place you can truly step back in time and find yourself walking through the past. This living history site is a complete village whose stories dates back centuries. Meet its people and watch them as they go about their daily life at work either at home, at the grist mill, black smith shop and factory or while going to school or weeding the gorgeous gardens. Children have an opportunity to become a visiting cousin, there are weekly events that allow visitors to partake in workshops, a turkey shoot and fall fair. Dine at the Kings Head Inn, see the village come to life in spring during maple season or watch a courtship play out into a full on century wedding or spend time in the village at Christmas, the list of things to do is endless.

Of course I can’t forget to tell you to take the time to stop for a lobster roll, a bowl of seafood chowder or a sticky bun, homemade ice cream or fudge and of course a specialty coffee  and relax along the Miramichi River, Bay of Fundy or the Saint John River or check out all the quaint little shops and crafters along the route.

This wandering gypsy girl and her car Mabel, have plenty more to see on their road trip this summer, but we hope you will check out the three national historic places on our visitlists. Enjoy!