Old Familiar Places

Women Who Wander NB

Adventure Four

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And so our fourth adventure began………

We started our day from a new location, 214 New Maryland Highway, which is currently home to BST and her handsome and handy husband, Dave. These two have been building and renovating houses since their nuptials many moons ago and as a designing and decorating duo they are incomparable. The Stone House, which for years was home to CFNB Radio station, built in 1947, has been completely gut renovated.

If you are currently looking to up-size your home, it comes complete with butler’s pantry, a kitchen (with a full size freezer and a full sized refrigerator), an adorable breakfast room, a screened porch, a library, four bedrooms and so much more.

Have a look at http://www.kwnb.ca/listing/nb016457-214-101-route-new-maryland-new-brunswick-e3c1e2/ to check out our starting point for today’s adventure (or you can just call your realtor for a showing). LT and YT would gladly move in but it seems the owners would like a little money to change hands......

After much oohhhing and aahhhing, (how could you not oohh and aahhh over a butler’s pantry and a library?), we set out in search of our day’s adventure which started at MacPherson’s Natural Bee Apiary.

Let me explain: YT’s new granddaughter, Islay May, who lives with her Mommy and Daddy in British Columbia, had been gifted a jar of Baby Powder fragranced Body Balm. Islay had written home (she’s very smart for a 3 month old) asking for more. With the help of Mr. Google and a trip to the Back Tracy Road, we discovered the sweet young couple who make Islay’s Baby Powder Body Balm and lots of other things made from the honey that their very own bees produce!

Matt MacPherson, his wife, little daughter and dog, Lucille, greeted us from a safe Covid distance and we were able to replenish Islay’s stock of Baby Balm. While they don’t have an actual store at their home, their product is readily available at a number of retail venues that are listed on their website www.naturalbeeapiary.com

Islay May, and her Mom Dana, give this Body Balm (available in a wide selection of fragrances) a great big Women Who Wander Three Cheers Award (in absentia) !!! Women Who Wander give a big shout out to Matt and his family and hope that you, like us, will do all you can to buy from and promote young NB entrepreneurs like them!

We headed down the road after photographing a couple of really big pine trees in the MacPherson's front yard for our good friend and author, David Palmer who co-wrote “The Great Trees of New Brunswick”, (second edition fame)!

What a great gift this book would be and if you included a jar of MacPherson’s Body Balm, well who wouldn’t like that?!

We reluctantly departed MacPherson’s and drove on to Fredericton Junction and a trip down Memory Lane for YT. About a hundred years ago, I worked for a regional economic development group located in Fredericton Junction. I learned about the Currie House Museum way back then so we headed in that direction hoping to check it out. Sadly, the museum was closed due (we suspect) to that damnable virus we're all dealing with!

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Woman Who Wander Tip:

On our way to the Currie House we noted that there are quite a few interesting hiking trails in the area including one which runs behind the House through which you can reach the Gaspereau Falls. Who knew!

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Our next adventure resulted in one of those “only in New Brunswick” moments which we so enjoy. The Women Who Wander all love a beautiful old house and YT recalled that one of her favourites had belonged to John and Peg Hall who had moved to the “Junction” from the U.S. sometime in the 1970’s.

The Halls operated an apple orchard called “Hall’s Orchards”. YT only had a vague notion of where this old house was located but we decided we were up for a challenge and it was time for an adventure. We set off with a mission to find the old Hall farm house and orchard!.

We took a shot in the dark and headed down a likely-looking-but (as it turned out) not-the-right dirt road. As it happens in the country, another road caught our interest - The Gore Road – and off we went down that path less traveled in search of the old Hall farm house!

We weren’t finding the house after going a few miles but, we did happen upon a crew of several young men with work vests , hard hats and scythes in hand cleaning the roadside ditches. “Why not?” said we as we rolled down our windows and threw it out there.

“Any of you fellas know where John and Peg Hall used to live?”

A smile broke out as one surprised lad stepped forward and said “Yup. That’s my Grandparents place and my Dad lives there now.”

And just like that, we met Jonathan Hall, Grandson of John and Peg Hall, owner of the original Hall's Orchard!

It’s been 40 years since YT traversed this road to visit John and Peg, who we suspect have long since passed on, but only in New Brunswick would you stop a random group of young men for directions and have a chance encounter with the very grandson of the people you are searching for!

After an interesting conversation and a few pictures, we drove on to civic #216 as instructed by said Grandson.

There it was!

The apple orchard, still standing in the same place but brought into the millennium having been given it’s very own Facebook page where you can find some awesome photos of the orchard and area taken by the wife of the current Mr. John Hall (son of John and Peg).

The orchard is now home to The Cider Man and his Apple Lady as well as Miss Rosie Posie Wigglebottom, their sweet Aredale Terrier!

We can only imagine how awesome it would be to hang out at Hall's Orchard" apple picking on a crisp autumn day.

As we do so often, we all agreed that this is a place we MUST come back to!

After dragging dog lover, LT away from sweet Rosie, and having some debate on where to head next, we back-tracked to Highway 101 and pointed the vehicle in the direction of Welsford, NB.

We arrived at Westfield, NB (handy to Welsford) where we crossed the Nerepis Bridge to head up the “old road” to Gagetown, NB. We may call it the Old Road but we have to say that this drive really never gets old. The scenery is just beautiful and, even if there aren’t a lot of businesses along the road, there are lots of photogenic places to stop and admire the vistas and enjoy a picnic if that is your pleasure. (The best we could manage in the picnic department was a quick stop at the convenience store where we snagged some muffins, refilled our coffee cups and had our version of a picnic which was in the car!)

If you choose to follow our route, you will soon arrive in Brown’s Flat, where you will find Baleman’s Country Market, Fruit and Vegetable Store .

(You might remember Baleman’s Produce from their location at the Saint John City Market where they had a stall for over 55 years)!

Not only do Baleman’s have a great selection of local produce, they have a variety of handmade and reasonably priced goods such as quilts, hand knit socks, sea glass pictures, homemade jams, jellies and more.

And, of course, they have a good selection of the all essential day trip comestible, hard ice cream, which, wonder of wonders, we did NOT indulge in as lunch was looming large.

Not being distracted by lunch, we found ourselves very near the “Beulah Camp and Conference Center” which is just around the corner from Baleman’s. It was way too tempting to pass by so off we went for a poke-around and self-directed tour of the facility.

The Beulah Camp is a Wesleyan camp ground, conference center and cottage development and while it is not a tourist attraction per se, they welcome visitors.

We highly recommend stopping by their on-site office to learn a bit about the rich and interesting history of this site.

Beulah Camp located at 229 Beulah Road, Brown's Flat, NB, has been operational since the late 1800’s and features a large Tabernacle constructed in 1897.

This octagonal building is truly an amazing architectural treasure. It can hold up to 1400 people and is often at capacity for major events.

The impressive Tabernacle ceiling design and construction is well worth a trip to see all by itself.

Beulah Camp was founded in 1894 by the Reformed Baptist Alliance of Canada which later became the Atlantic District of The Wesleyan Church. Over 350 private cottages are located here, many of which have been in the same families since Beulah Camp opened over 125 years ago.

Additionally, Beulah's 85 acres house several residences, the incredible dome-ceilinged tabernacle, a children’s church, a guest hotel, a dormitory building, a museum and record center, a dining hall and several other areas. The history housed within these 85 acres is fascinating and well worth learning about!

It was our lucky day when we happened upon the owner of a cottage who gave us a great history lesson and even treated us to view and photograph an old family picture of their family cottage from the late 1800's! The little cottage had been renovated many times over the years but is still standing and is as cute as a bugs ear today!

After THAT tour, we were more than just a little peckish (safe to say famished and heading dangerously close to "hangry")! So, we headed off to Gagetown, NB promising each other NOT to get side-tracked on the way!

We soon arrived at Gulliver’s World Café located at 17 River Run Lane, Gagetown, NB for what we knew was going to be a fantastic lunch and they did not disappoint!

What we didn’t know was how breath taking our surroundings would be as Gulliver’s owners, Nancy and Thane Mallory, have recently moved the restaurant's location to River Run Lane in Gagetown.

Gulliver’s World Café is now Gulliver’s World Café and Guest Suites where you can dine and/or stay in one of two guest suites in the main building or in the self contained Captain’s Cottage next door.

The new location features fantastic views of the river and, had it not been raining the proverbial cats and dogs, we would have loved to sit on the deck to enjoy those views for hours.

The two menu selections we enjoyed (BST and LT's on the right and YT's on the left) were perfectly prepared, delicious and worth a repeat trip to Gulliver's!

We would rave on about the food but words cannot do justice to what comes out of Chef Thane’s kitchen! The Women Who Wander know their vocabulary limitations! Without discussion, Gulliver’s got a resounding Three Cheers Award!

If you haven’t eaten here, you are missing out on Gulliver’s World of fantastic fare!

‘Till the next time folks………. get out there and Wander NB – let us know where you go and what you discover! Don’t forget to join as a member so you can leave a comment for us on our blog and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss future updates!

Just adventure!

Women Who Wander NB

Lynne, Barb & Gail

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