Backroads and River Crossings
- 3womenwhowander
- Oct 4, 2020
- 11 min read
Women Who Wander
Adventure Eight
BACKROADS
Rocky,
Dusty,
Bumpy,
Curving,
Twisting,
Turning,
Tree-Canopied pathways,
The Short cut,
The Scenic Route,
Or the long way home.
This little country themed poem by Patricia Neely-Dorsey just about sums it up for many of our adventures so far, but especially this adventure. Add “good old cable ferry crossings” and you would have a pretty good picture of our Wander the day we hit the road for Adventure Eight.
As always, we loved every minute of the trip, every hidden treasure and every new friend we met along the way.
It was a stellar day - likely one of the last few of the season. LT's gauzy curtains were gently blowing in the breeze, the outside door to her porch was open wide leaving the screen door to stand guard, keeping the garden bumble bees out of her kitchen. It was tempting to just stay right there and spend the day Wandering among the blooms!
We had roads to explore though so we finally left LT's glorious flower garden for Tim’s and with our usual libation in hand, BST set the Incredible Wander Wheels on course for Route 102 and the charming Village of Gagetown .
Now, you may recall that the lower part of Route 102 (from Westfield to Gagetown) featured prominently in our fourth adventure "Old Familiar Places". That was the Wander where we wrapped up the day with an extraordinary meal at Gulliver’s World Café! We agreed then that Gagetown had not seen the last of the Women Who Wander!
The Village of Gagetown, founded in 1783, is special to the Women Who Wander not just for it's interesting history but also for more personal reasons! YT’s Mother was born in Gagetown and BST was married there so we jump on any opportunity we can find to land on Front Street, if only just for a visit.
Arriving at our first stop – the Tilley House Museum, located at 69 Front Street, we parked the Incredible Wander Wheels and couldn't wait to see what the museum held! YT was particularly anxious to get inside to see (and maybe show-off a bit) her Mother’s school picture prominently displayed on an upstairs wall.
We sauntered up to the house, crossed the wide verandah like we owned the place, had our hand on the door knob ready to pull it open wide to walk inside......... but alas, once again, Covid got in our way and confounded our plan!
Even though the museum was officially closed , we were met at the front door by Sir Leonard Tilley himself (aka Bruce Thomson, President of Queen’s County Heritage)!
Although, Sir Leonard couldn’t let us enter the building due to Covid restrictions, he regaled us with tales of his exploits and history of the area all the while keeping us a safe “cane’s length” away!
This Father of Confederation is remarkably well preserved and his story telling ability is second to none.
He graciously introduced us to his Mother, Mrs. Thomas Tilley (aka, Kit Emms, Executive Director of the Museum) and we chatted amiably for some time.
Sir Leonard and his Mother were hosting a tea party for their student volunteers that afternoon, but they didn’t rush us off!
We could repeat some of Sir Leonard’s stories for you but we think you should go to The Tilley House Museum and hear them directly from Sir Leonard himself! Some things you might want to ask him about are The Ghost Tour, picnics in the Village, the concerts held there and the continuing work of the world famous Loomcrofters.
Residents of The Village of Gagetown, beware! We think Sir Leonard is a bit like Santa; he sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake! He knows what went on in Gagetown 150 years ago and he knows what’s going on in Gagetown today! An historic Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award for Tilley House Museum, for Sir Leonard and for his Mom!
We left Tilley House Museum knowing that Front Street in Gagetown is one of those streets for which the word “stroll” was invented! So off we went!
If you are doing things right, your legs will simply refuse to walk fast and your feet will turn automatically into the dear little shops and restaurants lining the street. At least that’s what happened to us!
From the Tilley House Museum, we strolled past the Steamers' Bed and Breakfast, admiring those awesome acacias.
Mired in nostalgia, BST waxed poetic remembering the details of her wedding day at this very location.
Meandering lazily down the street we arrived on the doorstep of Bankside Cottage Gallery located at 56 Front Street in the Village of Gagetown.
Bankside Cottage Gallery is owned and operated by Jane Geurts, former NB College of Craft and Design teacher and decorator extraordinaire.
In days gone by, this tiny building was the Village bank! Jane has filled her unique space with a wide selection of beautiful products including her own original artwork. She has focused on carrying the handmade products of many Canadian and New Brunswick artisans and on promoting many handmade, free trade items such as richly coloured alpaca scarves and blankets.
In case you like to shop from home, products at Bankside Cottage Gallery are available online at https://www.banksidecottagegallery.ca/.
You know you want to go to The Village of Gagetown. Why not take a little drive, find this lovely little boutique and shop in person! A creative Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award for Jane Geurts and her charming Bankside Cottage Gallery!
Women Who Wander Note:
After you're finished reading "Backroads and River Crossings" head over to the "Friends We Meet" tab on our website at https://3womenwhowander.wixsite.com/mysite-1 to check out Bankside Cottage Gallery's awesome sales person, Amanda Foy! We know you'll like her as much as we do!
A few doors down from Bankside Cottage Gallery is the ever so sweet (and savoury) Apple Tree Market located at 50 Front Street in The Village.
Conspiring to lure you in the front door is an assortment of garden fresh vegetables, fragrant New Brunswick roasted coffee, sweet local Maple Syrup, scrumptious homemade pastries and more!
Once in, you are free to just sit a while and sip a fresh brew at one of the safely distanced tables or take it up a notch and enjoy a pastry with that brew! Before you go, you'll want to grab a basket and do some shopping. (The curry chicken pot pies are sooooo good!)
The Women Who Wander were thrilled to meet and chat with Bronwyn Gallagher , a local Gagetown weaver, graduate of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, member on the sales team at the Apple Tree Market and gal pal of our dear friend and former colleague, Alexa Power.
Women Who Wander Note:
Another reason to hop over to "Friends We Meet" on our website at https://3womenwhowander.wixsite.com/mysite-1
You will not want to miss meeting the talented and awesome Bronwyn Gallagher!
Oh, and before you leave the Apple Tree Market with your goodies, grab a cone of Sussex Homemade Ice Cream. Lots of tempting and different flavours to choose from! A store that has it all!
LT recommended and a delicious Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award for the Apple Tree Market!
Finally out the door of the market, we strolled along down the street and were next tempted by Memories and Elephants located at 46 Front Street, Gagetown.
This was where we met salesperson extraordinaire, Alexandra Francis! (You can meet her too when you go to the "Friends We Meet" tab on our webpage)!
Memories and Elephants is chockablock with even more beautiful New Brunswick made products. Seems to be a theme in The Village of Gagetown and it’s a theme that the Women Who Wander love!
We definitely added to our Christmas present inventory while there and can attest to the quality and variety of choices. LT was particularly awed by the display of work by Danica Sherry Photography and she couldn’t resist adding a couple of Ms. Sherry's photos to her collection.
LT later discovered that Danica Sherry lives in Hillsborough, New Brunswick and that her work has been featured in Vogue Italia. Impressionante! Or as we say here in New Brunswick ...... Impressive as all get out! You might want to check out Danica Sherry's “fairy portraits” and other work on her Facebook page at:
See for yourself why LT was so in awe! A visit to the Danica Sherry Gallery is on our list of things to do soon! An artistic Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award goes to Elephants and Memories!
At this point, we checked the time and realized whatever remained to be seen in The Village of Gagetown, would just have to wait for a return visit as we had a date in Sussex with the Taste & See Restaurant and we had to get there before it closed.
Our new good friend, Rocco at Rocco's Cucina in Hillsborough had recommended that we check out the Taste & See Restaurant when we were next in Sussex so we added it to our list for this adventure! (You might remember Rocco from Adventure Five (The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Women)! Definitely worth a read (or re-read) !
Taste & See is one of Rocco’s favourite restaurants and if someone who cooks like Rocco recommends a restaurant, you can bet your last pasta that the Women Who Wander are going to eat there!
Our route to Sussex took us across the Gagetown Ferry, a much welcome experience!
There is nothing so quintessentially part of the Lower Saint John River Valley experience as the opportunity to crisscross the Saint John River by cable ferry!
Once we landed on the far shores of Jemseg, we decided to steer the Incredible Wander Wheels across Route 715 to Cambridge Narrows. This is absolutely one of our favourite tours offering the most bucolic views, following the water on one side and verdant pastures on the other.
It’s a feast for the eyes, a step back in time and a balm for the soul all rolled up into one.
If you are lucky enough to find yourself on Route 715, keep your eye out for Motts Landing Winery located on the shore of the Washademoak Lake at 3506 Route 715, Cambridge Narrows, New Brunswick. The Women Who Wander didn’t have time to stop for a chat on this trip but we plan to return very soon!
We can’t think of a more pleasant place to sip a sparkling wine and gaze down the hill at those rolling green fields and the sparkling blue water!
Also along this route you will find the charming Norwood On The Washademoak Bed and Breakfast, the Cambridge Narrows Campground, The Anthony Flower House Museum AND a couple of really good looking vegetable stands to boot!
You can see why we have to go back!
This also happens to be the general location of Richardson Maples and My Three Sons Blueberry U-Pick, both outfits owned and operated by the Richardson family who are known to call the Washademoak their little slice of heaven!
From here, we hustled across the Cambridge Narrows Bridge, noting the Pines Conservation Park to our immediate left at the end of the bridge. This is a beautiful little park for picnics or for a short and easy hike that follows along the water.
Around the corner we flew, and onto Route 710! More scenic views abound on the 710 and we allowed ourselves one little side trip - an indulgence into Cody’s to check out Crafted Images Pottery located at 52 Cody's Lane, Cody's, NB. We just had to snap a few pics of some awesome old buildings around there.
Perhaps fortunately, Heather Bond, owner and potter extraordinaire was not home when we flew in! Otherwise, we may never have tasted or seen anything at the Taste and See Restaurant in Sussex!
Taste & See Restaurant is located at 609 Main Street, Sussex, NB. We had dilly-dallied long enough that we were suffering from extreme hunger. Skunks and other road side critters were beginning to look quite delicious. There was absolutely no need for such dramatic measures, however, thankfully we had arrived at the restaurant just in time!
The use of fresh, local products in dishes on offer was a feature that impressed Chef Rocco and the Women Who Wander agree!
Really though, what impressed us the most was the taste part of Taste and See. Scrumptious, delicious, yummy, mouthwatering, and so, so satisfying are but a few of the adjectives we used with our mouths completely full!
We came, we ate, we will be back for more! Trish McGinnis, our awesome server, has got to know that she has not seen the last of us! For those of you who have yet to visit, you haven’t had a poutine until you’ve had an “exotic” poutine at the Taste & See Restaurant! Be amazed; we were! A flavourful Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award for the amazing Trish McGinnis and the Taste & See Restaurant!
Women Who Wander Note:
You really have to scoot over to our website to meet all these great folks we've been telling you about - Get to our website at
Click on the "Friends We Meet" tab and we'll introduce you to Trish McGinnis, our expert server at Taste & See Restaurant
We had planned to devote a day to Sussex and surrounding area but as usual, we were dangerously close to sundown and aware that darkness would surround us before we knew it.
After discussion and deliberation, we made the tough decision to return to Sussex at a later date. We put Sussex behind us agreeing that we would be back as soon as possible to do Sussex up in proper style, just the way it should be.
As luck would have it, however, we had to pass an antique mall and bakery on the short walk from the restaurant back to the Incredible Wander Wheels! Well, you can guess what that meant. To sooth our aching hearts about having to leave Sussex we thought we would indulge - just this once - and drop in, just for a minute.
Dairytown Market is located at 607 Main Street, Sussex, NB - mere steps from Taste and See Restaurant and well worth a visit! The antique mall part of the shop is very large and features treasures from a number of vendors.
We set our stopwatches and did a little zoom shop! Not only did we manage to add several interesting items to the Incredible Wander Wheels trunk, but a nice little pack of muffins from Archie’s Bake Shop (located at the back of the Dairytown Market shop), found its way in as well.
We loved Archie’s creative idea of combining a nice big loaf of fresh baked brown bread with a good sized tub of homemade baked beans together in a crisp brown paper bag for sale! Had it been Saturday night in New Brunswick, we would have been taking one or two of those $6 .00 packages home for supper!
DID YOU KNOW.....
Sussex, New Brunswick is actually known as the little town of many murals?
Check it out at https://sussexmurals.com/murals/
Now pushing after 5:00 in the afternoon (bewitching hour for us to be on our way home), we were forced to accept that we were not going to make it all the way around the Kingston Peninsula as planned. At least not before nightfall or before the the following day! Plan modification time AGAIN- our least favourite time!
We left Sussex, hopped on Route 121 and headed to Norton – ultimate destination Route 102 back to The Village of Gagetown and home! This is another one of those “prettiest drives in New Brunswick” and another of our favourites!
The vistas are jaw dropping-ly beautiful in places and as we wandered along we remarked several times on the need to come back later in the Fall when the leaves have turned.
Speaking of turning, when we reached Norton, YT recalled a failed attempt to visit an antique shop here. We decided daylight hadn't completely defeated us yet and so, at the intersection of the 121 and the 124, the Incredible Wander Wheels took a sharp left to check out Me & The Mrs. Antiques and Collectibles. Who could resist a name like that!
Located at 218 Route 124, Norton, NB the Me and the Mrs. Antiques and Collectibles opened to the public and "the Mrs." part of the equation, Mrs. Clara Thomas, found herself working in a sweet antique shop!
We love this shop and highly recommend that you visit and wile away some time (as we did) checking out the beautifully displayed old and new products, purchasing a few for yourself or for your friends and chatting with Clara!
If you are looking for a beautifully built, unique kitchen island, we know where you can find one! Hint: check out the photo above - the table you see is actually a compact kitchen island that can be customized to your personal requirements! A great find! A quality built Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award for sure!
Women Who Wander Note:
A final reminder to pop over and have a look at "Friends We Meet" ton the website at
You can meet the very interesting "Mrs." in Me and the Mrs. Antiques and Collectibles !
At long last……back onto Route 121, on to Evandale and another cable ferry ride to get us closer to home. Resisting the urge to pop into the Eveleigh Hotel, we stayed the course, heading up the 102 to The Village of Gagetown and back home via the Trans Canada Highway!
Tired, as we usually are after a Wander, but feeling that we snugly tucked another extraordinary Wander under our belts, we ended our day already looking forward to the next Wander!
Stay with us readers! More on New Brunswick's magic and charm is coming your way soon!
Just adventure!
Women Who Wander NB
Lynne, Barb & Gail
You had me at "leaving the screen door standing guard"...and your ability to draw people in with your combining of words.
But Patricia Neely-Dorsey's poem tugged at my heartstrings.
And the cover photo (one of my favorite photographed subjects) confirmed that this wander had to be for me.
I hope your wanders will take you to the cabin in the woods. I'll put on a pot of tea, bring Richardson's maple syrup out of the pantry, and make pancakes. Love this, thank you for sharing ❤️