Moore’s Specialty House, Gardner Creek NB
As usual, we arrived late at this bed and breakfast, but only by about 45 minutes. We’d had a very busy day driving from Annapolis Royal (the total driving time was probably 8 hours) but we stopped a couple of times to try to find lunch (no success) and then to actually find lunch at 3:45 and then at the Fundy National park.
The Guesthouse is located in Gardner Creek which is really just a name for a corner of the road. There is nothing here but houses (many with mailboxes that say Moore). May Moore, the hostess, had warned us to bring dinner because there wouldn’t be anywhere nearby. We could have driven either to Alma (an hour away) or St Martins (40 minutes away) but we didn’t even get there until 7:45 so it was good that we had our pizza with us.
May was mowing the lawn when we pulled up and she greeted us warmly and calmly (sometimes people seem agitated like they are stressed running the bed and breakfast—the person in Annapolis royal just seemed high strung or something) and ushered us into the old farmhouse. And the place was old. It reminded me of a Grandma’s place that had been remodeled maybe in the late 30’s and then the appliances and linoleum replaced in the late 80’s. The carpet was indoor outdoor and the front of the house smelled musty. Upstairs, however, didn’t smell.
Given the shape of the downstairs I was concerned that the beds would be old, but they weren’t (or at least the mattresses were fine). The bed coverings were simple and the windows had cheap blinds that didn’t block any light (why is it so many lodgings have lousy window coverings? Do they secretly want everyone up and out early? I want to invent an easy to bring along black out curtain). There were three rooms upstairs for lodgers and we had two of them. Another young couple from Toronto was renting the third. There was a bath and half for all of our use which never became a problem but we did have to remind Kesh to shut the doors. There was a common room with a big tv and satellite but no internet.
In the kitchen, May had every amenity for our use: there was a micro, stove, fridge, popcorn, cookies and cake and of course dishes. She also allowed us to use the washer and dryer which I greatly appreciate and wish more places would offer. Maybe most people don’t have laundry to do on vacation? Also, she ran a little store in the front of the house. In one half was lots of “things” for sale like little crocheted pillows and vases and other stuff like that and then ice cream and candy. The kids both wanted ice cream and we bought cotton candy kiddie cups for $1 each, but neither of the kids finished them.
We ate our pizza in the common room upstairs and Kesh selected a movie from the very small selection (it was something with Dennis Rodman in it and it was sooooo bad Kesh didn’t even finish it). Asha and I squeezed in an episode of 6 feet under while he was busy.
Breakfast was a disappointment. May will make you almost anything you want and gives you a menu you the night before that you can pick from (you can pick everything or one or two things). The couple with us the husband had pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, fruit and French toast and potatoes. Asha had potatoes and fruit, I had potatoes, sausage and fruit and Kesh had pancakes and milk. Kesh loved his pancakes but they looked awful with no color at all just pale white. The potatoes were dried out but edible (Asha hated them) and the fruit was bizarre. It must have been canned but what kind of canned fruit neither Asha or I could figure out and it’s been so long since I’ve had fruit from a can. It was hard pieces of pale white and yellow something. In edible.
The sausage I couldn’t eat but Kesh ate it so I guess it was okay for him. I don’t know if we just picked a bad day to eat the breakfast or it was too many things for one day and she might do better to specialize but it wasn’t very good.
In the morning, before the kids got up, I walked the street, which was the highway (I kept getting scared by the neighborhood dogs—this is the problem with country walking and something I don’t worry about in town) . As I was walking, a man at one of the houses told me that I should cut across his lawn to the beach instead of walking the big hills which sounded like a good idea. He was very friendly and talked to me about the history of the area for a while. His barn had been the original ship building place and he explained how in the 18th century the area cut down all the timber and made ships that they would sail to England and sell.
I think May is a great host, but I would stay in Alma or St. Martins if I were in the area again.