ST. ANDREWS: The best for last, part I

I’m not one for superlatives but our time at the Rossmount Inn counts in my top 10 favourite stays of all-time. Not only for the location in idyllic St. Andrews-By-The-Sea, New Brunswick, but for the service, the value, and most of all, the restaurant.

You drive along the highway with nothing but trees and then suddenly, a yellow mansion rises up out of nowhere at the end of a long driveway.

The three-storey inn has 18 rooms, the dining room and a lounge/reading room with an antique piano. Graziella Aerni runs the front of the house (and a lot of other stuff too) and her husband Chris runs the kitchen. They bought the estate in 2001.

I first found the Rossmount Inn because of a killer package deal - two nights in a queen room, two breakfasts and one three-course dinner in the restaurant - for $252. Total. For both of us. TOTAL. We hit the low-season rate, but the same package in the high season is only $319.

The house is all 1920s class, with a grand chandelier in the lobby in front of a grand staircase. The wide hallways upstairs have reading areas and coffee tables full of magazines. The bedrooms are furnished with antiques and simple country quilts but have modern bathrooms - and no TVs.

A path next to the inn leads up to Chamcook Mountain, the highest point in Passamaquoddy Bay. Really, it’s an easy half-hour hike up a hill, but mountains in New Brunswick are different from mountains in Alberta. At the top is a pretty view of the fall colours and the bay.

The dinners we had in the inn’s restaurant deserve their own entries, so here’s a small taste. For breakfast (included in the package), we had oatmeal soaked overnight in milk with yogurt and fresh fruit, as well as eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast and coffee.

So what, you might be wondering. Well, I loathe oatmeal. Like cross my arms in front of my chest, clamp my mouth shut, and furiously shake my head type of loathe. And I was hoovering this oatmeal, cleaning my bowl in minutes. It was smooth and delicious and unlike any lumpy oats I’d had before.

We did a lot of eating at the Rossmount Inn. Stay tuned for part II.

Rossmount Inn, 4599 Route 127, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, (506) 529-3351.
More info here.

 

BATHURST: Home on the north shore

I have fond, fond memories of northern New Brunswick where I was lucky, yet crazy, enough to live for two years. People here like to say: “There’s no shore like the north shore, that’s for sure!” Although with the accent, it’s more like “that’s fer shore!”

The mills and the mines are all slowly but I’d like to think there’s enough to keep the fine people here from moving away like in so many other Maritime towns.

Or they come back, like Jacques and Diane who run the Gite Authentique B&B in a stately renovated 1920s house with the most gorgeous front porch. Jacques is a chef who lived in Montreal but returned to Bathurst, where he grew up.

If I owned a house, this is what I’d want it to be. The B&B kept the house’s original architecture, curved arches and hardwood, and then added clean, modern furniture with timeless antiques. I wanted to move in.

Our room (#2) was huge, with an ultra-comfy queen bed, a walk-in dressing room and an ensuite with an European water-efficient toilet. I’m a nerd. I think that’s cool.

Breakfast was the other reason I wanted to move in. Fresh squeezed orange juice and a carafe of coffee awaited us at the appointed time.

Then Jacques came out of the kitchen with two huge plates of fresh crepes, neatly folded over organic local fruit, topped with an edible flower and his homemade wild rose jelly. Yes, homemade wild rose jelly.

I told you there’s no shore like the north shore.

PS: Jason wanted to add that he enjoyed the flat screen in our room, the first television he watched in eight days. It happened to be an episode of the Family Guy with this song that he didn’t stop singing for the next eight days. Lucky me.

Gite Authentique B&B, 695 Murray Ave., Bathurst, New Brunswick, (506) 548-3300. More info here.

 

HOCKLEY VALLEY: B&B breakfast

This is one of the fine breakfasts served at the Stream Bed & Breakfast in Hockley Valley, Ontario: baked French toast, bacon, fresh fruit, yogurt, and coffee. That was just the first day. The second morning we had amazing homemade quiches and muffins baked that morning with jam in the middle.

The Stream has the best of what I picture B&Bs to be. The gorgeous property was built by owner John, and you get a very warm welcome from his wife Kersty and manager Will.

Two of the bedrooms have a view of a small waterfall and there’s a tree growing through the sunny living room. There’s a dartboard and tons of board games, as well as lots of movies in case you feel like curling up in front of the gigantic fireplace.

The hot tub on the patio has a stunning view of the stars in that dark stillness you can’t find in the city.

We stayed at the Stream because of a wedding but many people come to this part of the world for the fall colours and to hike the Bruce Trail.

The Stream B&B, 307162 Hockley Road (RR#1), Orangeville, Ontario, (519) 941-3392. More info and pictures here and here. Hockley Valley is about 45 minutes drive north of Toronto.