Day 35: Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada

Day 35: Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada

July 17, 2016
 
Miles: 20  

Evandale, NB to Gagetown, NB


The only place to get breakfast this morning was right there at the Evandale Inn where we had stayed.  The closest, second place was 20 miles away in Gagetown, so we decided to wait for the Evandale Inn restaurant to open, which was at 9:00a.  Breakfast was good.  We had our fill, then hit the road.  It was 10:30a.  A later start then we wanted, but we needed fuel before hitting the hills.  The first 20 miles were difficult, but not as grueling as yesterday's hills.  Other than a 2.5 mile 11%, and sometimes 12% hill, the rest were long and gradual. Gentle considering.  It took us 3.5 hours to get to Gagetown.  It was raining toward the end of the ride, but we successfully arrived before the downpour.  

Good and plenty

Scenes from the ride today.

The Homestead

The dirty dozen plus one, perhaps two

Floating tree

 This was a brutal hill, although it doesn't look it.

12%

We made it to Creek View restaurant just before the heavy rain.   Even though we weren't that hungry, we ate a hearty meal.   It was quite enjoyable!

The lemonade was tart and coffee strong :) :)

The forecast was thunderstorms for the next four hours.  We had 35 miles left to ride, which means we would most definately be riding during the storm.  As a rule we never ride if it is thundering and lighting, which was forcasted.  The radar tracking had the storm lasting all afternoon.  So we decided to stay in town for the night and take the final 35 miles to Fredericton in the morning.  We checked into the Steamer's B&B.  A place recommended by a fellow cyclist that we met in the restaurant.  She and her boyfriend had stayed there the previous night.

Once we checked into the B&B, we immediately regretted not riding on.  The storm seemed to pass without thunder and lighting, and it moved through the town faster as well.  By 4:00p the rain had stopped, and the sun was peeking through.   

Not to mention the B&B was not really a place that we would have chosen.  There weren't any reviews on any of the B&B's in town, so we were going in blind.  Well, we did have a recommendation, just not a good one.  The B&B is an old victorian under new management (we later found out during dinner talk with the townees).  It was closed for a few years then it reopened about 2 months ago.  The place needs a wicked airing.   We have our windows open, and will probably keep them open for the night.  There is no AC and no window screens either, so we are taking a chance with the mosquitoes and flies. 

Pictures taken after the rain stopped.

The St. John River behind the B&B

Small town under construction

You can tell by the way he walks ....

The night got better. Mostly because we changed our attitudes.  Who could have predicted and it is part of the adventure we decided. We walked over to Gulliver's, a local restaurant that was highly recommended.  Yes, if you are thinking - the fellow bicyclist, but also by the few people that we ran into along our walk in town.  It was the highlight of the night and a good reason for why we stayed.  The place was packed with the regulars.  In fact, everyone knew one another.  It was a small restaurant (7 tables), and all the patrons were conversing throughout, us included.  The family sitting to our side had us engaged all night as if we were locals too.  This is how we learned the details about the place we were staying.  They were asking us the details too because the family that now owns it is new in town, so they wanted the scoop from our perspective.  John, the gentleman sitting closest to us had us laughing all night!

Apparently, the potato fries at Gulliver's are rated the best in NB.  They were even written up in some of the journals for the reason that they are cooked in goose fat.  We just had to try them and we were glad that we did.  They were great!

$12.99. We both agreed the fries were something special, but we weren't certain that we would order them again for the price given the quantity

We then ordered dinner.  The chef trained in France; the menu was limited, but each entree was quite unique.  Steve order the Cuban Pork and Ham sandwich and me the Mayan Spicy Chicken.  Both our dishes were great!

We headed back to the B&B.  We hoped that now after 2.5 hours, the room was sufficiently aired out.  It was better, but not perfect.  The insects seemed to stay away too.  Well ... we will just have to improvise tonight.

We plan to leave as early as possible to finish our ride to Fredricton.  About 35 miles.  It should be a relatively easy day, so we are shooting for an early afternoon arrival.