By the Sea

So I got back from my vacation down east on Monday, it was a long drive back, not sure I'll do it in one long day again.  The vacation was over too soon, aren't they all but we had a good time with really only two days with a lot of rain; it was warm and sunny all the rest of the time.

Since my Dad was in the military we were raised all over, most of my childhood was spent in central and western Canada but still I feel an affinity for the seaside. I just love going to walk on the beach especially in New Brunswick where there are such high tides. It's great to walk on the sand bars that just a few hours later will be underwater.

This year the dogs didn't seem to mind wading at all and it wasn't much of a struggle to get them to swim short distances to get to the next sand bar.  Beckett did pretty good, keeping his front feet in the water when he swam paddled. Keltic still kind of tried to climb out of the water, if you know what I mean. The second time we took the dogs to the beach the tide was coming in. Keltic ran out after some birds and  leaped right into a pool deep enough that he had to swim. He was a little more cautious after that. I so wish we had that on video.

The beach that we go to is adjacent to Parlee Beach Provincial Park but is not actually part of the  park since dogs are not permitted in the park. You have to cross a little tidal stream to get there but at low tide it is only a few inches deep.

Tidal Stream

Entrance to dog-friendly beach at Point du Chene, New Brunswick

The beach

Low tide with other dogs playing

We did some of the usual things, took in the big lobster, did some shopping, walked down to the wharf and visited with my mother.  We also went to see my Dad and visited the memorial to the three Royal Canadian Mounted Policemen killed in the line of duty in Moncton three years ago. The families helped personalize each of the statues, one officer was a K9 handler.

Visiting Dad

A partner's foot prints

RCMP Memorial

This time the tourist thing we did was with a company called Taste This, Goûte ça.  They do food walking tours of the downtown restaurants. We did the evening tour with them; my sister and I were the only ones booked on that tour so we had a very pleasant private evening with our guide. We did six restaurants, each one served us an appetizer and a couple even had wine and beer to sample.

Shediac, New Bruswick is a nice town that gets busy in tourist season, so busy that the main street often is a parking lot.  When we went in town, we parked and just walked to what we wanted to see.

The big lobster

The boys and the big lobster

The boys and a local fisherman

3D mural at the Lobster Shoppe

Another mural at an auto shop.

The boys at the town fountain

Point du Chene is a nice area that is still actually part of Shediac. The cottage we rent is in walking distance to the wharf  where there is a public marina, two restaurants, a bay cruise company and couple gift shops, an ice cream shop and in the lighthouse,  public washrooms, always important. New to us this year was the swing, benches and picnic table at the side of the road leading to the wharf.

Point du Chene wharf

Coast Guard vessel

Some of the residents must be quite the characters if you go by the decorations outside their cottages or even by the name of the cottage. One cottage is called Whale Oil Beef Hooked, say that five times fast. The picture below is of a shed in the area.

All in all it was a very good vacation, just a little sad it had to come to an end.