The Sunday Drive

Women Who Wander NB

Adventure Two

A Jig In The Road......

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As our followers have discovered over the past year, the Women Who Wander NB tend to set out early and arrive home late. We are typically wiping sleep out of our eyes when we leave and are yawning when we arrive back home again.

It occurred to us that some of you may not want to be have all-day adventures. You might prefer to be back home before the witching hour!

This notion led us to a discussion around The Sunday Drive.

The Sunday Drive:

(thē) (sŭn′dē) (drayv)

1. a pre-technology technique utilized by parents of a certain generation, typically in the 1950s and 1960s, as a way of keeping the kids occupied (ie: quiet) until Bonanza and the Ed Sullivan Show came on TV and bedtime became official.

The Sunday Drive would usually begin around 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon and would last, roughly, until suppertime. It might include a short visit to relatives but often, it was just a Wander down the back roads, exploring whatever came along. The level of excitement for the children was totally dependent on age.

Up until 10 or 11 years of age, excitement about going on The Sunday Drive was fueled by the possibility of being treated to an ice cream along the way! After 10 or 11, the excitement level was greatly reduced by the discomfort involved due to the possibility of being seen by your friends driving around with your parents and/or siblings.

The Women Who Wander NB are pleased and proud to present the first official Women Who Wander NB version of The Sunday Drive.

This excursion (if you stop everywhere suggested) will take you about 4-5 hours and will have you home in time to get the kids in bed and you in your easy chair in time to watch the map burning at the start of Bonanza or the orchestra opening of The Ed Sullivan show.

While it may not be critical for YOUR enjoyment of The Sunday Drive to have a Tim's in hand, it is critical for OUR enjoyment! So, with Tim's in hand, we followed the first rule of The Sunday Drive: we had no clue where we were going but we were sure there would be a side road to follow somewhere.

We headed North on Highway 2. When we reached the exit for Kings Landing Historical Settlement, we noticed Route 635 which only required a tiny jig in our trajectory to access! A little jig in the road is all we need to recognize the promise of an adventure to be had just around the bend! Without hesitation, the Incredible Wander Wheels (the car) set us off on our way following the little jig in the road!

Our first stop was just a few kilometers down the 635. Eureka! On the left side of the road, marked by a sign and a plaque mounted on a large rock we stumbled upon The Old Magundy Church Yard cemetery!

This tiny cemetery dates back to 1826 and belonged to the St. John's Anglican Church, which has been gone for many years. The burial ground contains the graves of Irish Settlers who came to the area in the 1820's. Local people have done a great job of preserving the many old headstones there using a technique that is simple yet very effective and could surely be used elsewhere!

We suspect that many of the settlers buried there were some of the 30,000 immigrants who came to Canada to escape The Great Famine in Ireland. According to the gravestone dates, many lives were lost in the 1864 to 1865 time period. This caused us to wonder if a disease had swept through the community at that time. (Historians? If you have any information about this we would love to hear from you)!

You might remember Episode Five from our 2020 wanders, The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Women, where we found The HaHa Cemetery! Visiting these old cemeteries is a great way to teach and to learn about NB history!

Having browsed all the grave stones and worked our way back to The Incredible Wander Wheels (the car), we left Magundy and continued on our way keeping an eye out for interesting things. We weren't disappointed! The next vignette that caught our attention was an intriguing field on a grassy knoll!

The field was surrounded by a fence and there were bright red chairs all lined up promising that a show was about to begin or one had just ended!

We wanted to know more!

Turns out that the field was part of Elite Equestrian located at 1602 Highway 635, Harvey, NB!

They offer affordable riding lessons, horse training and leasing, top quality boarding and competitive equestrian training.

The Women Who Wander NB know a lot more about riding in cars than riding on horses, but we were definitely impressed when we read about the qualifications of the folks at Elite Equestrian.

If you have a hankering to ride the trails on the back of a beautiful beast, check out Elite Equestrian's website at www.eliteequestriantraining.com/! Who knows, maybe you'll turn out to be the next Jessica Phoenix!

Having exercised our imaginations enough, we continued on down the road and were awestruck by the scenery as we came into view of the Magagaudavic Lakes.

According to the website of the Magaguadavic Lakes Association there are actually two lakes in this area: the Magaguadavic and the Little Magaguadavic or Second Lake! (Find more information about this lakes system on the Magaguadavic Lakes Association website: www.magaguadaviclakesassociation.ca/).

Many cottages surround these lakes but there are two boat landings that give access for the lakes to the public; one off the Club Road and one off the Farm Point Road. We checked out the Farm Point boat landing and were very impressed with the cleanliness and the sandy beach. If only we had had a picnic in the trunk of the Incredible Wander Wheels (the car) that day!

If you are wondering how in the world to say: " I'm going to Magaguadavic Lake, its like this:

"I'm going to Mack-a-dave-ik Lake"!

Wrapping up our time at the lake, we dusted the beach sand off our feet and got on the road again. Our next stop was in York Mills, home of the world famous Briggs and Little Woolen Mills!

Briggs and Little (as the mill is fondly known in these parts) started operations in 1857 and is Canada's oldest woolen mill - incredibly, they've been in business for nearly 165 years! You can't get much more authentic than that!

Just as we stepped through the door of their factory store, Heather McFadyen introduced herself to us and was our charming hostess for our visit! (Meet Heather for yourself! Jump over to "Friends We Meet" on our website (3womenwhowander.wixsite.com/mysite-1) when you're done here)!

On the day of our visit, Heather answered our many questions and told us all about Briggs and Little and how they change raw wool into spun yarns by dying, spinning, blending, packaging and labelling all under one roof!

As you can see, the shop offers an amazing variety of colors of yarn, lots of patterns exclusive to Briggs & Little and some finished product as well. Check out our model for the photo shoot! Just makes you want to run out and buy that hat, right?

Briggs and Little Woolen Mills is located at 3500 Route 635, Harvey, NB, found pretty much at the intersection of the 635 and Highway 3. We think both kids and adults would enjoy a visit to this mill! For a complete account of their history, products and hours of operation, check out the Briggs & Little website at https://briggsandlittle.com/ !

Three hours into our wander we remembered we'd not had lunch yet! Some of us were starting to get seriously grumpy! Luckily, we had finished at Briggs and Little and were back on Highway 3 continuing on our way toward Harvey, NB.

We happened to know that we were very close to The Westphalia Bakery Deli/Café located at 2306 Route 3 in Harvey Station, NB.

We'd tried to visit Westphalia before but luck wasn't with us and it wasn't open on our last trip through.

This time, lady luck smiled on us, their doors were open and the Chef was in the kitchen!

We also happened to have read the five star Trip Advisor reviews about them after which we were even more determined to give it a Women Who Wander NB try!

Once inside and seated, Adele Hanson our server and Deana Stewart, owner of the Westphalia, filled us in (while we filled up) on this delightful establishment!

Deana Stewart has a German background and grew up on Westphalia Farms, not far from where the bakery & café are located today, hence, the café name and the menu!

Deana started the bakery in 2011 followed by the café in 2015.

She clearly loves what she does - it's apparent in every offering!

Diana explained that using fresh ingredients and baking from scratch were of utmost importance to her and that certainly comes through in the flavours she creates!

We all enjoyed our delicious meal choices, and would highly recommend that you check out this gastronomical delight! Guess whose lunch is whose!

Of course, the baked-fresh-daily raisin brown bread alone would be sufficient reason to visit! (Meet both Deana Stewart and Adele Hanson for yourself in "Friends We Meet" on our website)! You can check out the menus, special offerings and updates on The Westphalia Bakery Deli/Café Facebook page at facebook.com/westphaliabakery.cafe .

Conveniently, next door to the bakery and café is the The Next Door Fine Crafts gift shop located at 2306 Route 3, Harvey, NB

This charming little shop is packed full of locally made crafts and, of course, as always, the trunk of The Incredible Wander Wheels (the car) was needing a top up!

While we can't tell you what we bought (we don't want you to know what you're getting for Christmas), we can tell you that we had lots of fun and lots of trouble choosing what to buy!

This is a "must visit" shop and, as we like to say, "just go!"

You will find treasures galore!

If you feel peckish after all that shopping, remember, there's always the café next door!

Back on the road again and heading toward Harvey, we looked forward to another stop or two before heading for home! You cannot (or should not) visit the Village of Harvey and not stop at W.W.E Smith Country Store. Located on the main drag in Harvey you will find them at 1948 Route 3.

This store was established in 1869 by William Walter Embleton Smith.

It has remained in the same family for 3 generations and it is still in operation today under the founder's name!

Groceries, meat, a few antiques, a selection of New Brunswick books, ice cream, fresh vegetables and various & sundry other items are all available under this roof.

If you use your imagination just a little, you can picture William Walter behind the cash register!

An intentional effort has been made to keep the interior much the same as it was in 1869!

You can have a virtual visit to W.W.E Smith Country Store by visiting their Facebook page at facebook.com/people/WWE-Smith-Country-Store/100057131603941/ .

Before heading back to The Incredible Wander Wheels (the car), we took a few minutes to pop into Atlantic Pewter. At 1945 Route 3, it's just across the street from W.W.E. Smith Country Store.

At Atlantic Pewter we discovered an excellent selection of pewter jewellery, accessories, gifts and tableware designed and made right there on site. Before you ask, yes, we added to the growing collection in the trunk of The Incredible Wander Wheels (the car).

Find Atlantic Pewter on line at atlanticpewter.com/index.html or on Facebook at facebook.com/pg/atlanticpewter.net/photos/?ref=page_internal !

Home was next on the agenda and we decided to enjoy a bit more spectacular lake scenery on the way by taking Route 636 which is accessible adjacent to the W.W. E. Smith Country Store.

Route 636 is 13 kilometres long and takes you by Harvey Lake and Lake George, popular cottage country! This drive offers lots of lovely farm and cottage vistas and ends up joining Route 635. Right back where we started!

We hope you get the opportunity to take this, or your own version, of A Sunday Drive just as as we did!

Who knows where the Women Who Wander NB will wander next. All we know for certain is that it will be an adventure and we'll spend it together!

Just adventure!

Women who Wander NB

Lynne, Barb & Gail