EAST COAST

The Great Canadian Lobster Tour

by: Remy Fernandez

Hi, folks! Did you hear about the UFCSAH's latest adventure? You're right, the Great Canadian Lobster Tour in the East Coast.

I was given the task of writing an article about this trip focusing on the gastronomic adventures and misadventures of my dear fellow travelers. Subject matter: food and restaurant. I will entertain you with brief accounts of daily events.

The first day of our trip was an eight and a half hour drive from Hamilton to Quebec City. We made three stopovers. The first thirty minute break was in a service area in Port Hope. The second stop was a one and a half hour lunch break at a fast food joint. Another thirty minute break after three hours of driving continuously.

We arrived in our hotel early afternoon. After we checked in our hotel, our driver drove us to the Old Quebec City for a walking and bus tour. I found Old Quebec City fascinating and wonderful but not budget friendly. Restaurants are all over the place and it's hard to find inexpensive and affordable eating places. One senior traveler was flabbergasted by her ridiculously overpriced vegetable salad. We went strolling at the promenade/boardwalk behind the Hotel Chateau Laurier where we came across a small deli shop that served hotdogs and all the works, waffle, ice cream and cold drinks. So far, that was the only food joint that catered to budget conscious tourists.

On the second day, we boarded our bus for another eight hour drive to Moncton, New Brunswick. Naturally, we made three stopovers. Lunch break was at Mandarin Restaurant in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Everyone was looking forward for a sumptuous buffet table filled in abundance. To our dismay, it was a far cry from the restaurant in Hamilton with the same name. The restaurant was understaffed, just one cook and one server. The best they could do was to offer us three choices of combo dinners with free egg rolls. Unfortunately, that was the only food joint in the vicinity.

We arrived in Moncton late afternoon. Most of the seniors were too tired to venture in the city center. The younger seniors walked to the downtown center looking for the mall, while others were out sightseeing and picture taking.  As we walked leisurely along the boardwalk, we found a small restaurant situated along the chocolate river. We decided to try it. The idea was to savour the regional cuisine. Inside, dining was elegant and leisurely affair. The mixed seafood chowder was very fresh, creamy and lightly seasoned. The salad was crunchy and delicious. The baked escargot with creamed mushroom was delightful. We overlooked the $39 dollars lobster dinner.

On the third day after visiting the Magnetic Hill in the morning, we drove back to the boardwalk in Moncton main street to watch the rushing of tide (the locals call it mini tsunami) into the chocolate river. Lunch break was a two hour affair at the Moncton mall food court. For the budget conscious tourist, the food court is a foodies' paradise. There's a wide choice of ethnic foods from Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mediterranean and the usual fried chicken, hamburgers, sandwiches and drinks. Some fellow travelers ordered extra fried chicken servings for snack in the hotel. After the lunch break, we drove to Hopewell Rocks, took pictures as we watched the tide slowly rising and walked to a nearby ice cream parlour to cool off with scoops of velvety smooth cheesecake with blueberry ice cream.

We arrived in our hotel early afternoon. At 4:30 pm., our bus driver drove us to the New Brunswick Casino where we registered for ID play cards and $5 dollars bonus bucks for the buffet dinner. It's a full course meal, self serve, all you can eat surf and turf dinner. The roasted beef au jus was succulent and juicy. We dined on baked salmon, crab legs, pile high mussels and shrimps, an array of seasonal veggies and fresh fruits and all kinds of mouth watering scrumptious desserts and unlimited drinks. By the way, one of our senior travelers won $800 dollars from the two cents slot machine.

On the fourth day, lunch was at the waterfront Lobster Wharf. We were offered a choice from three full course dinners: a one pound lobster dinner with seafood chowder; steak with salad or seafood chowder dinner and chicken dinner each for the tune of $43.95 plus tax. Those who ordered the chicken dinner was kind of disappointed. Some left the restaurant unhappy with the service.

We visited the Miner's Museum on the fifth day. We were hungry after the tour, so we dropped in the nearby Miner's Village Restaurant. We sampled their seafood chowder, lightly breaded fresh haddock and steak dinner. The price of the lobster seemed to deter the hungry tourist from ordering the lobster fare.

On the sixth day, when we were in Baddeck, we had dinner in a seafood restaurant near our hotel. We had the special all you can eat mussels when you order any one entree: lobster dinner, crab legs dinner or steak dinner. The lobster dinner was $39.00. We opted for the delectable crab legs with the all you can eat tiny, sweet mussels.

They say Halifax have the best lobster. So on the night of the seventh day after visiting Peggy's Cove, some group of senior tourist decided to have dinner at the Warehouse Waterfront Seafood Restaurant. Many ordered two and a half pound lobster dinner. I observed that once you split the lobster, it's all mostly shell. Some of us tried the other fares offered by the restaurant like creamy seafood fettuccine and bouillabaisse. The other group of seniors who dined in another restaurant was delighted to report that they got a cheaper deal with the lobster dinner.

On the eight and ninth day, we were lucky to stay in a hotel closed to a nearby mini plaza with a famous supermarket chain that sells and cook fresh lobsters for the customer. Most of the seniors took advantage of the offer and enjoyed the most sumptuous lobster fest dinner in their hotel rooms at such a reasonable price.

On the duration of our ten days travel, Mr.Tanglao, our President and trip planner was so resourceful to arrange for us free daily continental breakfast. We had a pretty good breakfast in all the hotels.

We enjoyed the most inexpensive and colorful all you can eat Chinese buffet on our way to Gananoque. Everything included even the drinks just for $10 per person. What a deal! From Kingston on our way to Hamilton, we stopped at the Big Apple at Port Colborne and bought baked goods to bring home.

You see folks you don't have to spend a fortune to enjoy a wonderful holiday.

All you need is some sheer creativity and ingenuity.