No need to travel far for an enjoyable experience

On Saturday, Sept. 29, Vicki and I joined our daughter, Kristina, and her partner Shane to enjoy a short road trip.

We first did this particular road trip with them last year, and we enjoyed it so much that we committed to doing it again this year. You may think nothing of this, and may do it all the time, but for us it is a very rare occasion to be able to spend time with our very busy family members.

Their very involved children have very demanding schedules, making it just about impossible for them to get away. We really enjoy any opportunity to spend time with them.

We left in her car with Shane at the wheel, and at our age that is without doubt the best way to travel and headed out the Sunrise Trail.

One might think there is nothing special about that, but in fact it is indeed a lovely drive. We stopped at Basic Spirit, the pewter place started by entrepreneur John Carabaris and his wife Bonnie, and Vicki found, of course, some Christmas presents for somebody.

I used to enjoy visiting the Seagull Pewter outlet years ago, but now with my eyes failing so badly, I feel like a bull in a china shop. I usually extricate myself from those places and go sit in the car to wait for my fellow travellers. It’s safer that way!

It was only a short hop to our destination at Jost Winery, a place we really love to visit. They present a very nice setting in which to enjoy delicious food and wine, and we love to relax there for a good long visit. We don’t get there often enough, but when we do, in company with our family members, it is a very enjoyable experience.

We motored on to Tatamagouche, a community I used to visit fairly often in my younger years as a participant in the School of Community Arts program, and later when I came to Amherst and worked for the Amherst Daily News.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Tatamagouche, and I’ve always enjoyed visiting there, and this trip was no different. It was Octoberfest on that week-end, and just about all the usual main street activity had shifted to the Octoberfest site.

Finally, we went in search of the Pork Shop, and although Shane, our driver, was having no difficulty with the instructions he had Googled, the rest of us were pretty sure he was going the wrong way.

We were wrong! All of a sudden, there it was on the left-hand side of the road. We shopped for a few items, but I suspect our late afternoon visit left us with less selection, and we were only mildly impressed. I learned that they no longer butcher the meat they sell there on the spot, but have it done by a commercial place. I like pork chops that are about one inch thick, or a bit more, and can be really bar-b-cued with some degree of finesse. I find most of the meat sold in major grocery stores is cut so thin it is one-sided, and really difficult to cook. No sooner do you lay it on the grill than it is overdone. Anyway, the Pork Shop meat may prove yet to be OK, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

And by the time we visited there, it was time to head for home. The trip home was as enjoyable as it was heading out, and we made a vow to do it all again next fall.

Throughout the Maritimes there are many, many enjoyable short drives. We don’t have to travel to faraway places to experience an enjoyable outing.

So, as I wind up this article, son Michael has called, and he and his partner Kim have invited us to a Thanksgiving brunch at their home in Dieppe. They are almost never able to get together with us due to their busy lifestyle and even more busy jobs. I don’t relate to that, and this will be another enjoyable visit.

Finally, we go tomorrow to pick up our granddaughter in Windsor. That is another nice drive if you travel through the Rawdon Hills, but we can’t do that this trip. We are so excited to see her for the first time since she went away to school.

We know this article will only get published after Thanksgiving, but we still wish to express the wish that your week-end of thanks was a great one, and we implore you to refrain from getting caught up in the early Christmas panic.

Jerry Randall is a member of the Amherst News Community Editorial Panel.