An American and Canadian National Park and a Great B&B

We left New Hampshire and headed for Bar Harbor and the adjacent Acadia National Park. This would be our second visit to the park, and the second park we had visited for a second time. It

On top of Cadillac Mountain

was cold and foggy as we ascended the 52 steps up to the Hull’s Cove Visitor’s Center. This year marked the centennial anniversary for this park and we collected another stamp and bought some postcards which we stamped and sent to family and friends. Returning to the car, we figured that the fog would not let us see much of the coastal vistas and thought that a trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the park’s highest peak and something we didn’t do on our first visit, would work.

Waterfalls in Acadia

The road to the peak was full of hairpins and switchbacks and Capt. Larry reminded Jane that no trip would be complete without at least one mountain drive. Arriving at the top, the fog was still pretty thick limiting visibility.

We headed back down and drove through the village of Bar Harbor which Jane absolutely loved for its plethora of shops.

Miramachi River at Blackville

Leaving the park, we drove north along the Maine coast on US 1 to the Canadian border. We had hoped that this coastal route would give us lots of views of Maine’s rugged coast, but we only got an occasional glimpse. However, the scenery was beautiful and we passed through several charming coastal towns. At Calais, we stopped to purchase some lobster so Jane could get her lobster fix, and filled the mini-van’s tank with cheaper U.S. gas until it was brimming. Crossing into Canada, we headed for St. John, NB, the end of a long day. We stopped at a visitor center to find out what accommodations were available in the area, and got a load of information.

Kouchibouguac backbeach marsh

We arrived at our hotel only to find that our credit card wasn’t accepted. We had contacted the credit union before we left and told them where we would be traveling to, but somehow this information didn’t get transferred to the credit card company. How frustrating to have to deal with this again. We had some supper and settled in for the night.

Another marsh shot

We arose the next morning to find St. John blanketed in a thick, pressing fog—a fog that gave no indication of dissipating until well into the morning. As we were checking out of the hotel, the desk clerk told us that the fog was associated with being near the water, and driving 20 minutes inland it would start to clear. Our travel plans were to do exactly that by driving toward Fredericton and following the scenic Miramachi River byway to Miramachi and the eastern section of New Brunswick.

Where New Brunswick meets the Atlantic

Sure enough, 20 minutes outside of St. John the skies started to clear and give us a beautiful day. We followed the road that paralleled the winding river until we came to the town of Blackville and its riverside park where we stopped for a picnic lunch. We moved on to Miramachi and turned onto a road that would take us to the Kouchibouguac (koo chi BOO gwak) National Park. Arriving at the park, we stopped at the visitor’s center where a very helpful ranger helped us plan our visit and booked us into a nearby B&B for the night. We watched a short video about the park and headed out to see the coastal sights. Like Acadia N.P., this park featured a coastal theme, but it lacked the coastal ruggedness and beauty of sheer granite cliffs meeting the ocean that Acadia possessed.

A windy boardwalk in Kouchibouguaqc

Instead the shoreline showcased a sandy beach and backbeach marshes and salt flats. To us it seemed more like a national seashore than a national park and we were somewhat disappointed with the offerings.

We drove the park’s main loop and left for our B&B in St.-Louis-de-Kent (everything up here is French and it makes all the names longer than they need to be!). L’Ancrage B&B is owned by a couple from Holland and when they saw our name they immediately wanted to know if we spoke German (anything but French). The site is on a river that provides an absolutely idyllic setting. It was early in the season and we were the only occupants for the night, and they were very hospitable and accommodating. We journeyed into town to replenish the liquor cabinet and then settled in for the night. The next morning at breakfast we learned that they had both been in the Dutch navy and came to Canada 3 years ago to establish this business. They were particularly interested in our Great Loop trip and invited us to bring Bavarian Cream up to dock at their pier. We may need to consider that invitation!