Fredericton Family Fun
Fredericton Family Fun
We had the pleasure of spending a few days in Fredericton during the Canada Wide Science Fair. Daniel (12) was one of the competitors, hosted on the campus of the University of New Brunswick. The rest of us decided to go up for a few days to visit the science fair and check out the city.
I don’t ever remember being in Fredericton before, so it was great to explore! Because we were visiting in early May, and not quite tourism season, we had to look extra-hard to find things that were open.
We had a great visit and here are is what we recommend doing in Fredericton for family fun.
See the History of Fredericton
We really enjoyed our time in Fredericton. It’s a really manageable city and easy to navigate and get around. There is lots of parking, tons of shops and great restaurants. You can’t go wrong.
What I loved the most is how they do a really great job of re-purposing old buildings. Instead of tearing them down, these old buildings have been turned into museums, restaurants, craft studios and galleries. The lighthouse is now home to a beer garden on the roof!
There are plaques everywhere, especially in the old historic district on the banks of the Saint John River. This area was home to the first and permanent Canadian military unit, the Royal Canadian Regiment.
We actually picked up a Fredericton city booklet (free at any touristy place) and inside was a self-guided tour of the historic military district. We followed this tour, reading about each of the building we passed on our route. This gave us a great overview of the city.
There is the Fredericton Region Museum which we heard great reviews about, but at the time we were there (May 2019) it was closed because of the recent river flooding. Check the website before you visit.
Museums
As mentioned, the Fredericton Region Museum comes with lots of accolades, but we weren’t able to visit it.
We visited the Science East Museum, which is housed in the re-purposed historic jail! As you go through, there are the regular science exhibits, plus signs telling you about the old jail.
Every room was full of hands-on activities for kids of all ages, and just as much fun for adults.
Thomas (11) loved all the activities and had a great time!
In the basement there is a museum dedicated to the old jail, however, this was closed for renovations when we were there.
We spent two hours exploring the museum.
There is not a family rate, and it cost the three of us $30 to visit, which we found a bit steep, but Thomas says it was worth it!
There is also and outdoor science playground attached to the centre that looked like a lot of fun. However, it was raining and Thomas is a bit too old now!
If you have a pass to the Discovery Centre in Halifax, you can get in for free to this museum!
Walks
One of our favourite things was walking the Bill Thorpe Foot Bridge. This is an old train bridge re-purposed into a walking bridge over the Saint John River. It is said that this is the longest walking bridge in the world.
The bridge is about 1km long, and totally accessible. There are parking lots on either end of the bridge.
I loved walking the bridge with the architecture and the views. Make sure you do this on your trip to Fredericton.
This marshland is on the north side of the river. It’s known as Canada’s first amphibian sanctuary.
Hyla Park is located within the City of Fredericton and was the first Amphibian Park in Canada nominated by National Geographic. It used to be the north-eastern limit of distribution for the gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor), which has changed due to climate change.
When we were there, the paths were spring flooded, which happens every year until mid June, as one local told us.
We did not see any frogs, but we saw lots of birds. If you like bird watching, this is worth checking out. If not, there are no real trails to walk in May.
We went to Odell Park, which is a huge forested park that covers a huge area on the hill of the south side of the city.
When you go in, take a picture of the maps that are at the park entrance as none of the trails are marked inside the park. However, we did find there were a lot of trails that were not in the map, but we didn’t get lost. It’s kind of a choose your own adventure when it comes to the trail you choose to do, depending on how long you want to walk.
We started exploring the trails at the bottom of the park off Waggoners Lane.
Then, we drove to the top of the park, off Prospect Street. We could have walked through as all the trails connect, but we were tired and just drove around. At the top, we wanted to see the botanical gardens.
Although nothing was in bloom at this time of year, and there is a lot of construction of beautiful gardens to come, it was still a lovely walk!
Where to Eat
We found some great places during our Fredericton visit.
Claudine’s Eatery – This was recommended by a friend, and she wasn’t wrong! This is mostly a seafood restaurant. Make sure you check out the potato chip-covered haddock!
Unplugged – This is a board game café. For $5 each (stc) you can spend as long as you want playing the 700+ board games. We spent over 3 hours playing all sorts of games from cards, strategy, and family games. There is also a menu with grilled sandwiches and nachos and fries. Great snack food, and licensed bar to keep you going for the night.
Donut Bar – When reading about Fredericton, this was one of the places that constantly came up, so we knew we had to go check it out. There were several donuts with unique flavours from Nutella, peanut butter, Skor bar and Oreo, and so much more. It was really hard to make a decision, but I don’t think we could have made a wrong one! They were delicious!
Tomotachi SUSHI – This was a super-great find. Having lived in Japan, I can tell you, this is delicious and authentic-tasting food. This would be a place where we would go a lot if we lived closer!
Hotels
While in Fredericton we stayed at the Hampton Inn, right off the highway, and close to everything in Fredericton. We love the Hampton Inn because it has a pool with a separate waterslide, and breakfast is included!
As Thomas says, it’s clean, convenient, with great service and comfortable bed! What else can you ask for?
Fredericton was a great place to visit, and there is so much more to explore! During the tourism season there would be even more happening, especially in the historic district.
How to Host a Cider Tasting Party
How to Host a Cider Tasting Party
It was my birthday, and that meant time for another girls night! Last year we held a Tidal Bay tasting party.
Here’s how we did that
Then, at our next gathering, we hosted a red wine from around the world event. This was based on a similar format.
Here’s how to host your own red wine party
So, this year, we decided to host a cider tasting party.
Living in the Annapolis Valley there is a plethora of cideries, with new ones popping up all the time. We needed a chance to try them all, and find our favourites.
Based on our previous testing nights, we used a similar format. Here’s how we organized our cider tasting party. Follow these steps to host one of your own!
- Create an invitation using Evite. I like using this program, because it keeps track of who is coming, the system sends reminders, and you can ask guests to bring things.
- Make a list of cideries you would like to test and have each of your guests sign up to bring one of the ciders.
For our party, we tested the following ciders. We tried to focus on local ciders where we could.
What we discovered is there are a LOT of different variations of the brands. When possible, ask guests to bring the BASIC or CLASSIC version, to make comparison easier.
3. Before everyone arrives, set out the glasses. For the first party, we used washable glasses, but with so many people, it took a lot of time to wash a lot of dishes.
So, this time, we used recyclable cups.
For each bottle we were testing, I prepared a cup for each guest. Each bottle was associated with a different sticker.
This was a great way to raid the kids’ old sticker collections, and made it fun to talk about how everyone loved the “Dinosaur Cider”.
4. Have a Host. It makes it a lot easier if one person agrees to pour and serve the glasses, so that everyone else is blind to what they are drinking. The host also keeps track of the master list of what sticker was which cider.
I was lucky that my sister agreed to host our party! A job she loved… or at least she said she did!
5. Give everyone a testing sheet.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE TESTING SHEET HERE
We use this basic testing sheet for all of our events. It’s basic and easy to use, and not very scientific.
You can be as scientific as you want, keeping some in your cup to compare samples, or chugging it all down.
6. Do a big reveal. At the end, show everyone what cider was which and allow guests to have more of their favourites!
This post is not about promoting one product over another, so we are not going to reveal our favourites, but let you choose your own! Besides, everyone’s tastes are different, and that’s half the fun, finding out what you like!
Please drink responsibly and find a safe way home!
We love these tasting parties so much, and can’t wait for the next theme. Perhaps we will try craft breweries next! Stay tuned!
6 Reasons Everyone Should Visit Europe
6 Reasons Everyone Should Visit Europe
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post meant to bring you great information like about why you should travel to Europe. This means the content was provided by carefully vetted to ensure it matches our criteria. Sponsored posts like this help ensure we can keep bringing you more great information!
They say the best way to invest your money is in traveling because it’s the only thing that remains with you forever. Who wouldn’t agree more with this statement?
Visiting new places gives us incredible refreshing feelings, and the constant excitement of seeing new cities, old architecture, culture, tasting food that otherwise wouldn’t be on the menu and just feeling free to do nothing but enjoy time while exploring.
Although it sounds like a cliché, visiting Europe is a must (at least once in your lifetime).
Here is why:
- History – Every inch of Europe is historical. Literally, all the way from the UK to the Balkans and Spain to Russia; Europe has a rich, bloody, imperial and eternal history. Wherever you look, you will see a historical spot, a house where so and so lived, locations where wars occurred. The buildings, the museums, festival, churches, synagogues, meals that are offered in the restaurants, are all wonderful. Europe is old but in an elegant, classy and fantastic way. Even if you don’t like history, just soaking in the beauty and the energy of cities like Rome or Madrid will refresh your energy.
- Food – In Europe every country has good food. For all you foodies out there, this will be heaven. Even if you aren’t obsessed with food, I’m sure you will enjoy delicious original pasta in Italy, crunchy Belgian fries, Mediterranean salads, an authentic English breakfast, paellas, vino, beer, liquors and what not. European countries have numerous tourist-friendly restaurants that have reasonable prices and perfectly cooked food. You will love it! You can always find cooking classes organized specially for tourists.
- Museums, art, castles – Europe is the home of famous and significant museums where some of the oldest, most valuable and impressive art is guarded. Let’s not forget about those imposing castles that are all over the continent. France, Germany, England, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Austria, Spain, wherever you go you will find at least one royal palace (former or current). Don’t hesitate, get your tickets and enjoy the imperial history.
- People speak English – Of course, even if you aren’t visiting the UK or Ireland, you will manage to communicate with the locals because Europeans speak English very well. On top of that, every restaurant, hotel, historic site or museum has English-speaking staff, guides, and brochures. They start learning English (if the country is non-English speaking) from a very young age as a mandatory foreign language.
- Excellent transport – Europe is well connected with trains, buses, and flights, so it won’t be a problem to get from one place to another. If you are staying in one place for a longer time, get a metro or tram ticket (for the number of days you stay there). Even better, you can rent a car with Barcelona Tours when in Spain, or go on an organized walking tour with your family.
- Celebrations – No matter what season you decide to visit Europe, there will be at least one celebration or festival. Europeans are very eager to keep their traditions. Oktoberfest, religious holidays, carnivals with masks, flower festivals, Christmas markets, you name it, they have it. Plus, these celebrations and festivals are a fantastic way to taste traditional food and drinks and mingle with the locals and have fun like you never had before!
What country is first on your European bucket list?
Eating out with Friends and Family at the Winegrunt Wine Bar in Windsor
Eating out with Friends and Family at the Winegrunt Wine Bar in Windsor
Our aim is to eat ourselves around the Valley and beyond to share with your great places to eat out so we can support our local restaurants including the Winegrunt Wine Bar in Windsor.
Every once in awhile you find a place that has you wondering, what took you so long to find it. In our defense, the Winegrunt Wine Bar only opened in July 2018, less than a year ago, but you can be sure it will be on our regular hit list.
We first discovered the Winegrunt when they contacted me, wanting to be part of the 2019 Burger Wars for Campaign for Kids to raise money for kids in financial need in Kings County. So, when we were making the burger rounds, I eagerly signed up to cover this place, so I could check it out.
Score for me. The burger was amazing, too!
Here’s what their Facebook page says:
We are a wine bar, featuring primarily Nova Scotia wines, from Cape Breton to Bear River, and everything in between. With a number of wonderful international wines to round out the experience, our list is dynamic. We believe wine should be accessible (especially the good, local stuff) so we created a check-attitude-at-the-door wine hangout. We are located at 43 Water Street in downtown Windsor, NS, “The heart of the Windsor strip!”
One of the most fun parts was picking a wine flight to try. There were many to choose from, each with a different theme. I selected the “Spring Fling” all of white or rose wines, while my friends chose “Shades of Scarlet” featuring a variety of reds.
When the drinks arrived, the owners came out to give us information about the wines we had selected.
It was really interesting to learn the subtle differences in all the wines, and why they were all paired together. We’ll just have to go back and try some more!
We also loved the fine details. There are purse hooks under the tables!!
Kids or No Kids?
Now that our kids are older, I would probably take them here, and I’m sure you could bring younger children as well, as long as they were out by 9pm.
There is a lot of variety on the menu.
But let’s face it, sometimes a place is just great for a date night, or a girls’ night out! And, that’s part of the fun and charm!
Hours and Location
Winegrunt is located at 43 Water Street, on the main drag when you come into Windsor.
Find Winegrunt’s hours on their website as they are subject to change.
Make sure you add the Winegrunt Wine Bar in Windsor to your hit list! 
Exploring Polynesian Fit and Dance Classes
Exploring Polynesian Fit and Dance Classes
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post through Nani Moku Dance and Energy Healing but really gave us the chance to explore Polynesian Fit and Dance so I can share it with you! All opinions are my own.
When I first heard the words Polynesian Fit, I was sold on the concept.
There are a few truths.
- I hate going to the gym, and I hate exercise classes, and I strongly dislike Zumba (I am way too uncoordinated for that!)
- I have been struggling to find a fitness class that I like that is fun, dance-like (but not Zumba!) and that I would actually attend.
- I’ve always been interested in Polynesia since having traveled to Hawaii, Fiji and New Zealand.
Fiji in 2000 with my friend Taeko
So, when Tammie Wilson of Nani Moku Dance & Energy Healing approached me with her new business, I wanted to learn more!
About Polynesian Fit & Dance
The Polynesian Fit Class is something I came up with for people (kids/adults) who hate working out and want to feel like they are having fun without even realizing how much work their body is doing or for people who take regular classes but want to come in for a way to get more practice on the basics.
My all ages class was born out of my want, to offer something that moms/daughters/grandmas/sisters/friends can come and do together as a “family” and have lots of laughs and bonding. I will be teaching basic moves of Hawaiian and Tahitian dancing and then spicing it up with some fun music.I know that a lot of people love to dance but they don’t always want to pay for a year at a time and they don’t have tons of money for classes and costumes and maybe they don’t want to perform so I was hoping to make it more accessible for these types.The Adult class was for woman to have fun, feel empowered and get a workout without feeling like it. That being said, you may just sweat ;). I also wanted to offer this class for people who maybe aren’t interested in learning choreography or performing as well.
Our Experience
A group of women gathered together to have a private, trial session with Tammie to learn the basics of Polynesian dance and put some moves together to music.
We all got to wear a sarong, so we could better feel the movements and get into the mood.
We had so much fun, learning the moves, putting our foot and hand moves together, and working muscle groups in our hips we had know idea were there!
For me, working at a desk most of the time, I felt a great release in my lower back that felt good to move!
Watch some snippets of what we learned in Polynesian Fit!
Tammie immediately put us at ease, and made the whole experience fun. She broke the steps down into simple moves, encouraged us all the way. She was a natural teacher, and so much fun to dance with.
Other Opportunities
Besides signing up for the regular weekly classes, consider booking Tammie from Nani Moku for girls nights, birthday parties, seniors home visits or your next event.
Upcoming Classes
Our Recommendation
Overall, we loved our Polynesian Fit class! Even I, who doesn’t love Zumba, and those who DO love Zumba loved the evening.
We laughed, we got turned around, but we had fun and got a good workout, which I can still feel in my hips and legs the next day!
This is definitely a class I would like to do again!
Learn more about Nani Moku Dance and Polynesian Fit classes by following her on Facebook!
Eating out with friends and family at the Surf Restaurant in Hantsport
Eating out with friends and family at the Surf Restaurant in Hantsport
Our family is attempting ot eat our ways around the Valley, sharing with you great places to eat out , such at the Surf Restaurant in Hantsport!
Whenever we are in the Hantsport area, the Surf Restaurant, (or the former restaurant with a different name in the same location) has been our favourite haunt!
The food is always delicious, and the service is great!
Today was no different. After having finished a walk in Hantsport, we knew just where to head for lunch!
Their fish and chips are always excellent, but today we went outside the box to try something new, and were not disappointed!
A hot chicken sandwich.
and philly steak poutine… mmmm…
We love the diner, cozy atmosphere, and the home-cooked meal. There are also big windows where you can sit and see the Avon river!
Another thing that we love about the Surf Restaurant is that they are a big supporter of Burger Wars for Campaign for Kids! We love how they get involved and support our community!
Hours and Location
Surf is located on Route 1, right on the border of Hantsport and Hants Border. It’s easy to find on the main road, with lots of parking!
Check their Facebook page for the hours of operation.
Definitely make the trip to Hantsport to eat out in this great family-friendly, yummy restaurant in Hantsport! You will be glad you did!
