Seafood – A Sassy Lifestyle Blog

Beach It In NB – Canada’s Best Beaches!

Beaching it in NB – Canada’s Best Beaches

If you‘re wondering where the best beaches in Canada are, let me, let you in on a little secret, they’re in New Brunswick!! Yes NB, that little, sometimes forgotten province that you need to drive through to get to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Yup that’s the one!

And although we have beautiful beaches up the entire Acadian Coast, the best of the best are in the south eastern part of the province. Why? Because this area has the warmest waters north of the Carolinas.

Why is the water in this area warmer than Main which is just to the south of us? The area, between NB and PEI, is shallower because it’s in between two land masses, so it warms up quicker.

I bet you didn’t think this was going to be geography lesson? Keep reading, the pretty beach pics are coming up, lol.

This is my last map, I promise; now you may have noticed that PEI’s south side also faces the Northumberland Straight and you may be wondering if the beaches along that coast are just as sandy and warm as the ones on the NB side? Well probably, but those beaches are most likely full of potatoes and really who wants to lay on a beach full of potatoes?? I know that I don’t. (Please note that the amount of potatoes on the PEI beaches may be slightly exaggerated for comedic effect? But honestly, who really knows?)

What isn’t in question are the beautiful, sandy and warm beaches from Murray Corner, Cap Pelé, Shediac to just past Bouctouche.

How warm does the water get? In August the average temperature in Shediac can reach 24 degrees Celsius. That’s pretty much bath water for most Canadians, lol.

Now the beaches in Nova Scotia aren’t littered with potatoes, but they are very rocky, unlike NB’s sandy beaches, so don’t bother going to those.

The dark colour of the sand gives the water the most beautiful shades of blue.

We are also blessed with the highest and lowest tides…in the world!!! You’re probably a bit skeptical about my accuracy after my potato beach statement? But this is a fact, you can look it up if you don’t believe me. This freakish phenomenon means that at low tide you can walk on the sandbars looking for sand dollars or starfish.

The three most popular beaches are Parlee Beach in Shediac, l’Aboiteau in Cap Pelé and les Dunes in Bouctouche. But there are many more that are just as lovely, like Grande Digue, Caissie Cape and Cape Bimet. Soooo many amazing warm beaches!!!

Living away from the Maritimes for the last few years, I now have a new appreciation for fishing boats, lighthouses and colourful buoys. They are post card perfect and very Instagramable.

For my Ontario and Prairie readers, these are buoys, see below. They get attached to lobster traps and fishing nets. Each fisherman will have his or her own colour or their specific number on them. You don’t touch another’s buoys! Unless you want to sleep with the fishes.

The blue water and sky are made even more beautiful with pops of the bright green shades of beach grass. If you can’t see the beauty in this, then we can’t be friends, you can stop reading at anytime now, I am breaking up with you.

Our pristine NB beaches are littered with oyster, mussel and clam shells with the prettiest shades of blues and purples.

Having grown up swimming in the ocean this is my happy place, I love floating about.

The smell of the salty air is intoxicating, I think anyone who has grown up near the ocean feels the same way, even those from the PEI potato beaches.

Another bonus is that there really aren’t things in the water here that can kill you, even our jellyfish are pretty tame and they are all but gone by July.

Sooooo, this just in! Apparently there are great white sharks a little too close to the Northumberland Straight for my comfort. They’ve been spotted and tracked to the north and south of us, but there have been no sightings or attacks in our area. I am hoping the tides will keep them at bay? I’ve also been told that they have always been this far north, but we didn’t know until they started tagging and tracking them. I am choosing to not dwell on this so that I am able to enjoy my swims without hearing the Jaws theme song in my head, over and over again.

In August one of my favorite things to do is to meet a friend or two at the beach for an early evening swim. Watching the sunset from the water is truly magical.

And there is nothing better after a hard day of beaching than a fresh seafood feast!! Like, fresh, fresh!!

I do have to warn you that all day beaching, sun-ing and swimming is exhausting!!! Oh and I have one other cautionary advice for you, when snorkeling, don’t forget to put sunscreen on your butt, speaking from experience…ouch.

I think this picture above tells the tail of how exhausting all that sun and sand is; I could barely keep my eyes open while we waited for our fried claims and scallops at Pirate de la mer.

My plan is to get in as much beach time in the next few weeks until the air turns and gets cooler, announcing the arrival of fall.

Thank you so much for reading! Please check out my Instagram and Facebook accounts at: oui-liette. And feel free to comment, like and share.

muah!

Liette

Sorry to PEI and NS for the shade in this post, I still love you! But NB beaches are just better 😬

Day Tripping in NB – Bouctouche

Today we are tripping our way to Bouctouche, NB; a super quaint seaside village forty minutes from Moncton.

Day tripping with me are two of my fifty seven cousins, jk, there are only like fifty six of us, lol. Please meet Brigitte and Tania, both are cousins on my dad’s side. Fun fact, growing up I was called Brigitte a LOT during family gatherings. I actually still do, she and I are less than a year apart, I am guessing that’s why? To be fair there were so many of us it was hard to keep us all straight… apparently?

EDCAE753-CB15-4B0B-B6D3-863E16BAFBD6 — Brigitte on the left and Tania on the right.

My summer goal is to tour my own province and I am embarrassed to admit that I have never been to the Irving Nature Park in Bouctouche, so today is the day. I’ve been to Bouctouche tones of times, but usually to go to the beach, they have the most amazing warm water beaches!!

So today, my cousins and I are on our way to Bouctouche to be tourists and explore a bit.

The first thing we did as soon as we arrived was eat, obviously!! There are a bunch of places to eat on Main Street. We were craving some Acadian comfort food, so we went to La Sagouine Restaurant, not to be confused with Le Pays de la Sagouine, which is kind of an Acadian theme park, without rides. Sadly it’s been closed due to Covid. If you haven’t been you need to go as soon as it re-opens, it’s an awesome way to soak in some local culture.

Another great way to soak up some Acadian culture is to eat some authentic regional food, which is what we did. The menu above has a lot of Acadian dishes, I’ll translate for those who don’t read French: first is chicken fricot, which is a soup with a spice called summer savory, it’s used a lot in Acadian cuisine. The next item sounds really bad in English, lol, it’s grated potatoes and pork baked in the oven until the edges and top are crispy, it’s soooo good! The next item, crêpe râpée, uses the same potato mixture as the rapé; it’s basically a potato pancake. And the last item is a bar clam pie, which is also to die for!!

D10B1E8B-C88A-49FF-98FE-7873A373FF7F — My fav was the crêpe râpée!! Bottom left.

We ordered the crêpe râpée, potato pancake, their lobster roll and the seafood casserole. We made sure to save room for their homemade pies, Brigitte wanted to order her dessert first, we told her no. 😬

As you can see Acadian cuisine isn’t exactly light; we waddled to the Irving Nature Park to walk off our lunch.

It was beautiful!! We walked for over an hour, it’s huge! There are areas with picnic tables, there’s a fountain, a play area for kids and beautiful rose gardens; there is something for everyone.

We’ve decided that we are coming back in the fall when the leaves start changing and then back at Christmas time, they put Christmas lights in the huge trees that surround the chapel. Brigitte said that it’s absolutely magical, so we will need to come back.

After our walk we drove down the coast and saw fishing boats, oyster beds and people digging for clams, we call them piss clams, because they shoot out water when you pick them up. These are the type of clams used to make fried clams. We used to go digging clams a lot when we were kids, I haven’t been for decades; I may need to add that to my summer bucket list?

353D9317-0BC0-4DA3-BF59-55AA7C62CF68 — Have you ever gone clam digging? It was low tide; there were lots of people digging for clams. Those black things in the background are oyster beds.

Leaving the Nature Park, we took a left and stayed on the road that follows the water. Our plan was to stop and check out anything that looked interesting; this giant strawberry looked interesting, too bad the u-pick was closed.

BFD4AFDB-AB9E-4644-ACCE-136D695C1C10 — I was told to take a bite out of this strawberry, I think it looks more like I am yelling at it? Lol

Our next stop was at Wood Chuck’s Carvings and Antiques, it was certainly an interesting stop.

They have the most awesome, random things; from old anchors, to antique glassware, vintage hats, to marbles and a giant box filled with old school metal keys.

They also have an amazing view of Bouctouche Bay. I took pics outside while Brigitte tried on vintage hats, we each bought one; now I need to host a special event so we have a place to wear them.

One of the things that I love about living in the Maritimes is seeing fishing buoys strewn across lawns, you don’t see that living in Las Vegas! I am certain some of my desert friends have never even seen a real buoy, they are used by fisherman to mark and identify their traps. The buoys in our area are mostly for lobster traps, our lobster season starts in August.

I got Tania to run out and take a pic of these pink buoys; I’ve never seen pink ones before!!

Then a few kilometres down the road we saw these decorative buoys, I love all the colours.

Had it been super sunny we would have gone to the Dunes for a dip, this cloudy day was perfect for exploring and spending time together.

So that was our day tip, you really should get out there and explore your own area, I am sure there are lots of things that you’ve never gotten around to seeing yet? I am seeing lots of your pictures on social media of you visiting local sights, yay!!

Thank you for reading!!!!! Check out my Instagram and Facebook sites: Oui-Liette. I get thousands of views per blog posts, yay!! But my Instagram page needs some more followers, please?? Lol. I am revamping the look of it a bit.

muah!

Liette

If you liked this post, you’ll probably love these ones too!

This one was so much fun, glaming: https://oui-liette.org/2020/07/05/girls-who-glamp/

This is another Day Tripping in NB post: https://oui-liette.org/2020/07/11/day-tripling-in-nb-cornhill-nursery/

Défi Best Lobster Roll in le sud-est du NB

Défi Best Lobster Roll in le Sud-Est/South East NB

Lobster is serious business in these parts of Atlantic Canada; the Bay of Fundy has the best lobster in the world! It’s a fact, look it up.

I grew up eating lobster, my grandfather’s family were lobster fisherman, as was my father’s favorite uncle on my grandmother’s side. His name was Livain and he used to take us out on his fishing boat and let my brother and I help him pull up his “special” lobster trap. Looking back, it now seems a bit fishy that there were always a few lobsters waiting for us.

I am sharing these details of my childhood to demonstrate that I am more than qualified for this special challenge; to find the best lobster rolls dans le sud-est du Nouveau Brunswick! We also mix our French and English in these parts, so try to keep up! Lol

**I obviously didn’t try every place in le sud-est, but I did my best. Feel free to leave a comment if there is a place that I need to try.

Shediac

For our first lobster roll we went to Shediac, pronounced: shed-dee-ack, for my none Maritime friends. Why was Shediac our first stop? Because it’s the lobster capital of the world, that’s why.

Here’s the proof in case you didn’t believe me.

Golden Fry, Shediac

6F4E52BB-D2BE-4FF8-9A2D-8BDBEB3529BB — Golden Fry is located on Main St in Shediac

I’m not going to lie, when I opened my bag and saw that the mayonnaise wasn’t mixed in with my lobster, I was a bit worried; I like it all mixed together, but it was really yummy!! The lettuce, which I don’t love in a lobster roll, I prefer celery, was fresh and crisp, so I didn’t mind it. There was enough mayonnaise and most importantly the lobster didn’t taste frozen!!! I am giving Golden Fry a solid 8 claws out of 10.
🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

Chez Léo, Shediac Bridge

Chez Léo has been open since 1961 and reminds me a lot of my dad; he used take me there for fried clams. Here’s another fun fact, it’s on the other side of a bridge that only has one lane. It has no lights or stop sign, yet people instinctively take turns going across; three cars will go and then the fourth car will let a few cars from the other side cross. That may not sound abnormal for my fellow Maritimers, but in Toronto or the US that would cause anarchy, lol.

Back to lobster rolls; the lobster was fresh, they asked me if I wanted with or without mayo, which I appreciated. It was tasty, giving it a solid 8 claws out of 10. 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

Moncton

It’s funny that Moncton, even though it’s exactly 15 minutes from the ocean, isn’t considered a coastal town by the locals and not the place to go for a great lobster roll; like Monctonians are way too far inland to know anything about lobster, lol.

Hynes Restaurant, Moncton

Hynes restaurants is probably Moncton’s oldest dinner; it’s been around longer than I have.
Their lobster was lightly mixed with the mayonnaise, which I like and they didn’t have lettuce, which I appreciated. Some places add lettuce as a filler, I am not down with that trick! Lol. The lobster was most likely from a lobster pack, which is frozen, but that’s fine, most places do use lobster packs for their lobster rolls.
Giving Hynes a respectable 7 claws out of 10.
🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

Skipper Jacks, Moncton

Skipper Jacks apparently has a new menu, according to my mom, who had lunch there recently; she had the lobster chowder and raved about it. I got a lobster roll to go and it was delish!! The bun was toasted extra crispy the way I like; they didn’t have their lobster mixed with the mayo, but I am starting to change my point of view regarding this important aspect of lobster rolling.
The lobster tasted fresh and not frozen and it’s one of the few rolls so far that had pieces of tail and not just claws and knuckles. I am giving Skipper Jacks 9 claws out of 10!! 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

Euston Park, Moncton

This was my first time at Euston Park, which is an outdoor eating/bar area. It’s so cute!!! But how was their lobster roll??

It looked really pretty, the bread was fresh and crunchy, the lobster was overflowing out of the bun and it was tasty. The curveball is that it included Tarragon; it wasn’t a traditional lobster roll, it was a fancy lobster roll. My first bite was like oh!! I wasn’t 100% sure about it, but my second bite was like, ok, I could be down with this?

I am going to give it 8 claws out of 10, but if you aren’t a fan of Tarragon then this isn’t the roll for you; roll on. 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

Alma

You can’t be on the hunt for the best lobster roll without rolling into the Bay of Fundy.

Fundy Take-Out, Alma

Our first stop is the little shop on the right of the entrance of Fundy National Park, it’s appropriately called Fundy Take-Out.

This lobster roll was ok, I can imagine how good it would taste after a long hike in the park. There could have been a little more mayonnaise, but the bun was the best to date; it was nice and crispy. I found it a bit bland and had to add a bit of salt, which is fine. I think the more lobster rolls I eat the pickier I am getting? I am going to give Fundy Take-Out 7 claws out of 10; which is still a solid score. 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

Cape Pelé

Our next two stops are in Cape Pelé; Fred’s and L’aboiteau.

Fred’s Restaurant, Cape Pelé

I had options at Fred’s, with or without mayo and with or without lettuce. I’m not going to lie, having the mayo just drizzled like this looked weird and plain, but it was yummy, the lobster was fresh and the bun was crispy. Giving Fred’s 8 claws out of 10. 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

L’aboiteau Wharf

L’aboiteau has a restaurant in the beach area and a small place right on the wharf; we ate at the wharf location.

This lobster roll had pieces of tail; it was fresh, crispy and super tasty! I am giving this roll a 9 of 10 claws!!!! 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞

B9E71D99-A9F4-4526-B823-9BAA0EF09EE3 — Doing my best to show the lobster roll and my earrings.

I obviously didn’t get a chance to eat at all the lobster places, sadly. A few places in Alma were closed when we went, due to COVID. We didn’t make it to Bouctouche, where in the past, I’ve had the best lobster rolls ever. That’s why none of the lobster rolls on my list got a 10 out of 10; I was saving some room for Bouctouche. So please when doing your own taste test, do not forget to go to Bouctouche!

Of the 8 places I visit, two places got 9 claws out of 10; Skipper Jacks in Moncton and L’aboiteau Wharf in Cape Pelé. They both had juicy pieces of tail, oh that sounds odd and mildly inappropriate, Lol. What I meant is that most places only had pieces of lobster claws and knuckles; that’s what made the difference for me and why they scored higher.
Let’s be real, it’s really hard to make a bad lobster roll in these parts, but these two stood out from the crowd.

Thank you for reading, I hope you get to try a few of these places on your own this summer. It’s a tough job, but I am willing to keep eating local lobster rolls until I’ve tried them all…you’re welcome!! Please shop local and tip your server a bit extra! Especially the seasonal places.

Feel free to recommend a place I should to try, here in the comment section below, or on my Facebook page.

muah!

Liette

Hey check mes pen d’oreilles de homard!!! 🤣

Behind the Scenes Extras

Fun fact, I thought that others added celery to their lobster rolls, but turns out they don’t, but they clearly should! Try it.

I created a fun side list; here are the winners!!

Best View – Alma!! To be eating your lobster roll on a wharf or beside an actual fishing boat is pretty awesome. The boat, pictured here, will be completely submerged at high tide; FYI for my readers that aren’t aware of our crazy tides.

Best view runner up was L’aboiteau. This view is not too shabby either.

Most Impressive Lobster – Shediac, it wasn’t even a competition, it’s ginormous. I invite locals to climb up on it and take tacky tourist pics; live a little. I hadn’t climbed up in….mmm a decade or two?

Cutest Lobster Accessory

Torn between my Sex, Drugs & Lobster Roll t-shirt and my giant lobster earrings. I chose not to wear them together as that would be too much; yes, I guess that’s the line! Lol

C57434F4-5593-402C-98FC-255AE9468AED — I bought this at the My Home Mercantile

Cutest Lobster Shack – It’s a beautiful shade of purple, so it wins! Sadly it wasn’t open yet for the season, but it still wins as cutest and I will be back!

New Brunswick, Canada! You’re going to hate it!

If you hate sandy beaches, friendly people, world class seafood and breathtaking natural views; then I am pretty certain you won’t like N.B.!

New Brunswick, in my opinion, is one of the most overlooked provinces in Canada. If you are not from Canada, it’s the one province that you have most likely never heard of.

It’s situated in the between Quebec, Maine, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It has no bestselling novels with a red headed pig tail girl about it, Sidney Crosby isn’t from here, and Hollywood stars don’t vacation here in million-dollar summer homes. It’s plain and simply a forgotten province which more people tend to pass through on their way to other places.

The goal of this post is to highlight a few of the awesome things about South Eastern N.B. that you probably won’t like one bit.

Here are five random, things about New Brunswick, that you may not like.

#1. It’s way too green!

The landscape is covered in lush green forests and fields. In fact, if you drive 20 minutes in any direction, you will find yourself in the forest; where you can hike and bike beautiful pristine trails for miles and miles or kilometers.

The only thing more annoying than the multi shades of green in the spring and summer are the colours of fall; when all that green turns into yellows, oranges and reds. Make sure not to visit in the fall, it’s too pretty, you won’t like it!

#2. N.B. just has too many beaches!

Everywhere you turn there is another beautiful beach. If you head North East of Moncton, New Brunswick’s largest city, you will hit your first beach in 15 to 20 minutes. Shediac, Cap Pele, Grande Digue, Bouctouche…they just keep coming, all the way up the Acadian Coast. So many sandy beaches with funny names to choose from… too many really.

And don’t expect cold water, nooo; the water in this region is warm! Why? Because it is situated between two land masses; the provinces of N.B. and Prince Edward Island. This body of water is called the Northumberland Strait. It’s much shallower than the Atlantic Ocean which feeds into it, so it heats up quickly. It’s actually the warmest water North of the Carolinas in the U.S.

There are several public beaches, where you can prance around in your fav speedo; where you can see and be seen. But there are even more private beaches perfect for relaxing away from the crowds of people, ugh, I am fairly certain you wouldn’t enjoy that!

Here’s a hint for finding a nice private beach. If you see a wharf, and you will see many, there is usually a nice beach right beside it; that is where you will find the locals.

If you do run into locals, whatever you do, don’t make eye contact with them, they are so friendly, they will smile and say hi to you for no apparent reason. If this happens, just walk away quickly, before they start talking to you about the weather and asking you where you are from. Be careful, it’s surely some sort of trap!

Growing up in this region, I didn’t really appreciate the beauty of happening upon a lighthouse, fishing boats and colorful buoys, until I moved away. They are plentiful and offer lots of opportunities for that perfect Instagram shot!

#3. Trust me you will hate the Bay of Fundy!

As if all those beaches weren’t enough; next on our list is the Bay of Fundy, where freaky things happen!

The Bay of Fundy has the world’s highest and fastest tides in the world! The tidal range between low and high tide is 16.3 meters or 53 feet.

A great place to witness and experience the tides is Hopewell Rocks. At low tide you will be able to walk on the oceans floor, like literally, you will be walking on the bottom of the Bay of Fundy; but who would want to do that right?

(the image above is a stock image, not mine)

And then, at high tide, you can kayak around the flower pots, that’s what they call the rock formations, because they resemble flower pots; and guess what are on top of these rock formations? More freaking green trees!!!

The tides change every 6 hours; so during daylight you will be able to see one low and one high tide. As if the tides aren’t freakish enough, they create something called a Tidal Bore. Get this, the Petitcodiac River changes directions each time the tides change! Yup you heard me correctly; the rivers water flow changes direction every 6 hours. I am not lying, look it up!

You can be having a drink in Moncton, minding your own business and witness the Tidal Bore come in, it’s basically a wave that sweeps in and changes the direction of the river. If you are very unfortunate, you may also see a surfer or two riding the wave.

(The top image was sent to me by one of my Facebook friends, the bottom is a picture of the Petitcodiac River, taken by me flying into Moncton. Fun fact, it is also called the Chocolate River!)

#4. Too much fresh seafood

This part of the country is just too lobstery! Everywhere you go you are being forced to eat fresh seafood.

Where else in the world can buy lobster from a guy with a cooler in the back of his truck on the side of the road and have it be the best damn lobster you have ever eaten??

They are so cocky about their amazing lobster that they have erected a giant lobster in Shediac, which is; surprise, surprise, the lobster capital of the world. Way to rub it in Shediac!

I just came back from a visit to N.B. and ate lobster 4 out of the 9 days I was there, I mean come on!! I suffered through it, but I am not going to lie, it was difficult.

#5. The people

New Brunswick’s population is mostly a mix of English and French, the French are called Acadians; there is also a strong First Nations presence. It is the only official bilingual province in Canada; this mix of cultures makes New Brunswick very unique and open. The people are naturally warm and welcoming, which is great… if you like that sort of thing?

How warm and welcoming? During 9/11 when Air Traffic Controllers on the East Coast were told to “empty the skies”, NB, as well as NS and Newfoundland welcomed tens of thousands of travelers who were forced to land in Atlantic Canada when the US airways were shut down.

Local communities opened their homes and hearts to these stranded travelers, showing them the meaning of Atlantic Canadian Hospitality.

A more recent example of this hospitality is how the region has welcomed and embraced a number of Syrian refugee families.

I used to joke that my dad would give you the shirt off his back and my mother would feed you; this isn’t uncommon, it’s just how people live their lives. They don’t think, they do, they help; that is who they are.

As you have probably figured out by now, there is nothing to hate in New Brunswick at all; in fact, I am fairly certain, if you give it a chance, you will absolutely fall in love with it! I had to leave to realize how madly in love with it and its people I am. There is a saying once a Maritimer, always a Maritimer; some of us leave, but we always eventually come back.

See you soon New Brunswick!!

Muah!

Liette

If you like this post, please click like. I also welcome comments! What’s your fav N.B. place or thing to do? And if you like me, subscribe! Thanks for reading!

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Here’s another post you may like: https://oui-liette.org/2020/03/08/is-new-brunswick-weird-4-super-oddball-cool-things-to-do-in-nb/