July 14, 2018
After a delicious waffle and sausage breakfast prepared by Laurie, it is time to ride on to our destination for the day which is Miramichi. Tom thinks this is a sizeable city and we should be able to find some fuel for the stove there. We need some and haven't been able to find the butane-propane canisters the stove requires. There isn't anywhere to camp so we make a hotel reservation. Tomorrow is Tom's birthday and we are planning a zero miles day for July 15th when he will turn 58.
The ride takes about 6 hours and we ride about 50 miles. It is uneventful, but I think I am still tired from yesterday's 72 mile day. We have some pretty views of the bay, but otherwise we mostly see woods and the road.
We have to cross the Centennial Bridge to get across the Miramichi River. The bridge is 1.1 km long and really high. I am very worried about the traffic. We end up walking our bikes since there is a pedestrian sidewalk, and it isn't so bad.
The bridge was built in the 1960's and is high enough to allow big ships to pass below. Here is a cool link if you like reading about construction projects and their effect on the community. bridge info
We pull in to the hotel with a group of actual bikers - on motorcycles. They invite us to go along on a river boat trip that evening with a local history guide. The boat picks us up right at the dock which adjoins the hotel dining room. The guide is a former middle school teacher and as he talks about the Miramichi area we enjoy the sunny evening on the water. He tells us about the great fire in 1825 which burned down almost every building in town and in most of the nearby towns. In Newcastle, NB (now part of the city of Miramichi) of 260 buildings all but 12 were burned to the ground. The next day we visit a pub which now occupies one of the few buildings spared.
By the time we get off the boat we are famished so we decide to have Tom's birthday dinner a day early and eat at the hotel where we can watch the sun go down over the river. It's a pretty scenic spot for a hotel.
It turns out Miramichi is not a big town, it is an amalgamation of several towns and it extends down both sides of the river. We don't find a store with any fuel after all. Oh, well.
July 15, 2018
We are not riding today but we do take a short ride down to Middle Island for a picnic lunch. It is a tiny island connected by a causeway to the mainland. There are benches and picnic tables and some hiking trails. It looks like it gets a lot of use by local families.
At one time in its history Middle Island was used as a quarantine station ( before the causeway, I assume) and had a hospital to treat those with communicable diseases like typhus and scarlet fever. There was a lighthouse, two hospitals, a boathouse, and a wharf. If a ship entered the river with a raised yellow flag, this indicated sickness onboard and the quarantine doctor would board the ship to examine the ill seaman. If necessary, the person would be transferred to Middle Island to recover.
Now the island serves as the Irish Historical Park and although the center was closed, we saw the big shamrock hedge and the celtic cross there.
That evening we head to the local Irish Pub which is located in one of the very few stone buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1825. The Guiness is actually as good as it is in Ireland. Or, maybe we are just really thirsty. Regardless, it's a good birthday.
 |
| Thanks for breakfast, Laurie! |
After a delicious waffle and sausage breakfast prepared by Laurie, it is time to ride on to our destination for the day which is Miramichi. Tom thinks this is a sizeable city and we should be able to find some fuel for the stove there. We need some and haven't been able to find the butane-propane canisters the stove requires. There isn't anywhere to camp so we make a hotel reservation. Tomorrow is Tom's birthday and we are planning a zero miles day for July 15th when he will turn 58.
The ride takes about 6 hours and we ride about 50 miles. It is uneventful, but I think I am still tired from yesterday's 72 mile day. We have some pretty views of the bay, but otherwise we mostly see woods and the road.
We have to cross the Centennial Bridge to get across the Miramichi River. The bridge is 1.1 km long and really high. I am very worried about the traffic. We end up walking our bikes since there is a pedestrian sidewalk, and it isn't so bad.
The bridge was built in the 1960's and is high enough to allow big ships to pass below. Here is a cool link if you like reading about construction projects and their effect on the community. bridge info
We pull in to the hotel with a group of actual bikers - on motorcycles. They invite us to go along on a river boat trip that evening with a local history guide. The boat picks us up right at the dock which adjoins the hotel dining room. The guide is a former middle school teacher and as he talks about the Miramichi area we enjoy the sunny evening on the water. He tells us about the great fire in 1825 which burned down almost every building in town and in most of the nearby towns. In Newcastle, NB (now part of the city of Miramichi) of 260 buildings all but 12 were burned to the ground. The next day we visit a pub which now occupies one of the few buildings spared.
By the time we get off the boat we are famished so we decide to have Tom's birthday dinner a day early and eat at the hotel where we can watch the sun go down over the river. It's a pretty scenic spot for a hotel.
 |
| Our room is on the ground floor so we have a patio for watching the river go by. |
July 15, 2018
We are not riding today but we do take a short ride down to Middle Island for a picnic lunch. It is a tiny island connected by a causeway to the mainland. There are benches and picnic tables and some hiking trails. It looks like it gets a lot of use by local families.
At one time in its history Middle Island was used as a quarantine station ( before the causeway, I assume) and had a hospital to treat those with communicable diseases like typhus and scarlet fever. There was a lighthouse, two hospitals, a boathouse, and a wharf. If a ship entered the river with a raised yellow flag, this indicated sickness onboard and the quarantine doctor would board the ship to examine the ill seaman. If necessary, the person would be transferred to Middle Island to recover.
Now the island serves as the Irish Historical Park and although the center was closed, we saw the big shamrock hedge and the celtic cross there.
That evening we head to the local Irish Pub which is located in one of the very few stone buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1825. The Guiness is actually as good as it is in Ireland. Or, maybe we are just really thirsty. Regardless, it's a good birthday.
 |
| Marble cake with black cherry yogurt on our patio and text messages from our children for Tom's birthday. |
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