Decorated House in Caraquet, heart of the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick, Canada.
The New Brunswick Highland Games Festival is now over and today I drove to Caraquet, NB in the heart of the Acadian Peninsula. As soon as the car hit Burnt Church, the start of the Acadian flags of red, white and blue were everywhere.
Some houses were completely decked out in the colours and had wooden people from the time of the Acadians. Many had family names displayed: this year Caraquet hosts the Congrès Mondial Acadien, a huge event with the annual Tintamarre on August 15th and much celebrating and family reunions for over two weeks surrounding that.
On the way, I stopped in at the Metepenagiag National Park, a new-ish First Nations heritage site that explores the archaeological finds of Joseph Augustine, a Metepenagiag Elder, which started in 1972.
Tanya with a photo of her boyfriend at the Metepenagiag National Park in Red Bank, New Brunswick.
Tanya shows me a photo of her boyfriend, Pat, who is the community hunter (they have made a mural of local residents that proudly shines as a display of the close cooperation of the people). There are many touch screen info and games that I can play (and I do- the Moose: Chief of the Animals was my favourite, where I matched aboriginal tools with parts of the moose that were used to make them), and I watch videos that introduced the Mi’kmaq creation story and history of the area.
As my stomach started grumbling, I went next door to the Metepenagiag Lodge, where Patricia took me through a tour of the lodge- very simply furnished rooms with gorgeous wood cabin beams- and then sat down with me to eat lunch.
Their menu, although it had only meat options, was flexible enough to accommodate my non-meat eating preferences. Because the lodge is on First Nations land, she can serve game meat like moose, which is an appeal to some, and the Chef has created a dish called “Mooselaki,” like souvlaki. Cute.
Metepenagiag Lodge Lounge in Red Bank, New Brunswick (Canada).
I finished my very non-game meat veggie wrap and salad before heading to the Super 8 hotel in Caraquet.
What I Liked:
- The Metepenagiag National Park is an amazing space, using stones, wood and modern architecture to create a spectacular space. In the frosted glass windows, some sort of grass is pressed in between the panes for a gorgeous look.
- The Metepenagiag Lodge is a nice place to stay, especially if you’re into fishing. It’s overlooking the Miramichi River and is about as calm as you can get. The young staff are pleasant and are all locals to the area.
- I was happily surprised at the Super 8 hotel in Caraquet. I initially wasn’t pleased to be staying at this chain but was shocked when I drove up and, instead of the normally ugly buildings I associate with Super 8, was a nice looking hotel. It’s fairly new and the rooms are clean and simple, as is the norm for this chain hotel.
Lori Henry is a freelance Travel, Health and Hockey writer based in Vancouver, Canada.
