Dinner, Drinks, and Dessert

OK - it's been a while, but we're back. Sure, we never left, but we've logged back in and are ready to post another post. This one is about food: dinner, cakes, all that good stuff.

Food is extremely important to both of us. We are of the sort who carefully selects their food and opts for local and organic options at every opportunity. We research our food and try to correct health concerns by modifying our diet. Given this, we've tried to put a bit of extra thought into the catering and meal choices.

Back when we were selecting the venues food was a big factor. For outdoor venues the sky was the limit (although the clouds were fairly low then), but for indoor settings each venue had their own in-house catering service. At the Kingswood Lodge the food provided the last handful of nails for in the coffin: the taste was poor, there was a lack of organic or vegetarian options, and, our favourite, the location for the buffet would have had every golfer and their caddies walking through the party.

In the end the Delta came out on top. Their kitchen offers gluten-free options (the gluten-free margherita pizza at DJ Purdy's is great!), delicious vegetarian dishes, and the head chef makes a point of growing herbs on-site and shopping at the market every Saturday for local produce. Clearly this place was for us!

Not everyone is vegetarian - we know this - and not everyone wants to be - we know this also - but for one meal of one day we would like to request that everyone give it a shot (though you don't have to). As the invitations pointed out there are two options for meals (you're kind of locked-in to your choice, so resist the urge to change your order, please!):

---------------------------------

(1) Atlantic salmon: wonderful East Coast Atlantic Salmon, served with asparagus and baby potatoes.

(2) Vegetarian: succulent somethings over a luscious bed of I-don't-know-whats. OK - we're still working that one out. There are a bunch of great recipes on the table, and it's looking like they'll all be amazing dishes. If you're thinking, "I don't want to be hungry after eating the veggie option", fear not! We have your back. The other day we made one of the options (lentils with grilled aubergine) at home and it was so good Kait had thirds. Oh yeah.

---------------------------------

Now, with the dinner out of the way, let's discuss the cake.

The cake will be made by the wonderful folks at the Happy Baker, a great spot in downtown Fredericton.

In recognition of the many different diets that will be joining us we are putting together a cake for everyone. The current plan includes three cakes: one chocolate and vegan, one lemon and gluten-free, and one large vanilla for the rest of us. After the cake cutting, we'll be having the cake served as dessert by the wait-staff.

Good Times in the Maritimes; or, What Am I Going To Do On Saturday?

For those of you considering visiting from outside of Atlantic region you're probably wondering what else you can do in this part of the world. Well... lots. Atlantic Canada is a pretty cool place, with lots of interesting historical sites (first part of Canada colonized, after all) and plenty of things of to outside. We've put together a short list of fun sites below, but feel free to check out any of the provinces' tourism sites for more information.

(Note: none of these are in any particular order. Don't expect that a disappointing #1 will mean that the rest of the list is poor, too!)

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to include this: Fredericton has a tourism website you can reference for a list of events going on around the city. Of particular interest: Steven Peacock will be warming up for our ceremony at 12:10 on Friday at the Cathedral; Katherine Moller will be practising at the Lighthouse at 7:30 on Friday in preparation for our reception.
If you're looking to visit other cities, you're on your own to find the city's tourism site. 

Fredericton:

1. Downtown. Downtown Fredericton is about a 2 blocks x 3 blocks (blocks^2?) with a bunch of wonderful restaurants and shops. Particular favourites include: Read's (coffee, magazines); Cedar Tree Cafe (coffee, local, Lebanese food); Botinicals (local crafts and pottery); The Palette (restaurant); Brewbakers (expensive, nice restaurant); Picaroons (micro-brewery); The Garrison (local Tory Stronghold and seller of Halifax Garrison District beer).

2. Odell Park. Wonderful park on the west side of town. Look at any map of Fredericton and Odell will be the big green spot on the left. Beautiful trails of various sizes through lovely Acadian forest.

3. Grand Lake. Biggest lake in new Brunswick and only 30-45 minutes away from town. 

4. UNB Rock & Ice. Fredericton's largest indoor climbing gym! This wonderfully expansive gym offers spectacular 4m high walls and 20m of traversing! Great for the whole family, your first time is free!

... The UNB climbing wall is two old squash courts that have been converted into a bouldering gym. Access is limited, especially during the summer, but Kait and I both have access and can supervise. Summer hours are posted on the website.

5. Aura. Iyengar Yoga Studio and local, organic food shop. Yoga classes are $15 and the schedule can be found on their website (look for 'Yoga Above Aura').

6. Beaverbrook Art Gallery. I've never been, but it's on my list of places to visit.

7. UNB Woodlot. Most of the top of the hill (past all of the wonderful uptown development) the university owns and manages a respectably large woodlot. The forest is split by the highway (Regent St), with trail access on the west side over by the Kent, and on the East side just past the new strip mall on Knowledge Park Dr.

8. Trails. Fredericton boasts a rather nice and extensive trail network, some of which is part of the TransCanada trail system. There is a trailhead immediately next to the Delta that will take you downtown, or past and toward the Train Bridge, a beautiful old bridge that you can use to cross over to the North Side of town. Over there you will find many kilometers of beautiful nature trails, though locals tend to point out that the far side of the water is slightly less affluent, if you catch my drift.

9. Farmer's Market. On Saturday mornings the local farmer's market is held in Fredericton. The market features many wonderful local craftspeople, fresh local produce, wonderful cheese, bread and seafood, and many assorted hot foods (try the samosas and the roasted nuts - yum!). The market is held rain or shine at the Boyce Market building at the corner of Regent and George St., just outside of the downtown core.

New Brunswick:

1. Fundy National Park.

2. Hopewell Rocks.

3. Fundy Footpath.

4. Kouchebuquac.

5. Cape Enrage. Looks rather touristy, but the place is famous for a lighthouse and some very easy guided climbing.

6. Realistically it doesn't matter if you visit the tourist spots because, just by stopping in Fredericton for the wedding you'll make the folks over at tourism New Brunswick happy.

Nova Scotia:

1. Cape Breton. The Highlands of Cape Breton are an absolutely beautiful spot to visit. The National Park offers many campsites with a range of services. There are a range of trails, from short flat ones along the shore to longer ones up through the hills, and all are amazing. Go figure, the seafood is great, too.

2. Halifax. Lots of history and more than a bit of beer. Good museums for boats, military, and Keith's.

3. Dover Island. For any climbers out there Dover Island is a great spot for bouldering. The site of the annual Boulderfest, it is a solid collection of very grippy rocks. Ferry to the island is $20 and needs to be set up ahead of time.

4. Kejimkujic. Beautiful park on the southwest end of the province. Toward the top of our to-visit list.

5. Digby. The ferry from New Brunswick will bring you to this little town renowned for their scallops.

6. Other hiking spots. Recently a friend pointed out the website TrailPeak.com, which gives maps and photos for a number of trails around. His major recommendations were for Nova Scotia, around the Parrsboro and Chignecto Park area.

Prince Edward Island:

1. Um... the Confederation Bridge is pretty cool.

2. The  beaches are red - that's cool, too, no?

3. OK, I'm going to level with you: I've never been to PEI. In fact, the only four facts that I know about the island are: (1) the sand is red; (2) the lobsters are red; (3) the island's economy is built on tourism relating to a girl whose hair was red (Anne of Green Gables!!!!); (4) their energy production is green (wind!).
4. They compost... everything. 

Newfoundland and Quebec:

There are loads of things to do in each place. For the sake of keeping things short, however, I'm leaving you to find out on your own what they are. Neither are terribly close, after all (Newfoundland, in fact, is quite surprisingly far away).

America (Maine, in particular):

1. Baxter State Park. Baxter is a wonderful park that includes a number of small mountains and plenty of hiking trails. Last year we went to hike up Mt Katahdin but were blocked by bad weather and then by time restraints. In the north end of the park there are the Time Traveler's mountains, which I have heard are the most enjoyable trails in the area.

2. Acadian National Park. Climbing, hiking, and a whole lot more. While I have yet to go there I have seen photos and am enraptured. Very beautiful area. (Climbing is all trad, however).