Visits back to see my parents in northern New Brunswick follow a familiar and comfortable script now. A long three hop flight journey across the country. Lots of laughter and catching up. Visiting some favourite craft beer bars with dad. Eating some delicious food. Then some tearful goodbyes followed by the reverse of that long three hop flight journey. Even for a short vacation the travel hassles are worth it to see my folks and to get a greeting like this from their dog, Tia.

My last visit back to the Bathurst area in the spring hit all of those notes. On my first full day in town, dad and I hit both of Bathurst’s craft breweries. Our first stop was at 13 Barrels for a late morning pint.

We followed that up with a short three block walk around the corner to visit my favourite craft brewery in northern New Brunswick, Four Rivers Brewing. You can tell by the photo we’re having a grand old time catching up.

The beers here are really top notch. Dad went for his favourite, their “Nor’Easter”, a crisp, dry pale ale (glass in the background). Always wanting to try new things, I opted for something they had just brewed up for the first time – a hazy IPA. Juicy and crushable, it didn’t disappoint.

After the beer tastings, we settled in back at home and spent some more time telling stories as we’re apt to do. Tia took her place on my lap and settled in for a bit of a snooze, clearly bored with our storytelling abilities (or maybe it’s because she’s heard most of our stories before?)

Mom did something super sweet knowing I was coming to visit. I was supposed to be visiting in February, but spikes of Covid cases made me delay the trip until April. Nonetheless, mom had saved up some of her fruitcake for me from Xmas for a holiday treat. Even though it was later than expected, it remained delicious and I absolutely devoured it.

She also whipped up a batch of the world’s best cinnamon rolls. These didn’t stick around too long. I made sure to text my sister this picture just so I could see her jealous reaction.

On the theme of good eating, I picked up some St Hubert takeout for dinner one night. Living in the rotisserie chicken abyss of Saskatoon, this is a must visit when I get back east.

Dad and I did a short driving trip to Miramichi, about an hour away one afternoon. After a bit of exploring we stopped in at New Maritime Beer Company to try some of their beers. Their taproom is a beauty place for a beer and none of these disappointed.

Rather than having lunch in Miramichi, we opted to stop back to our favourite Four Rivers brewing. We ordered a pizza from the joint that’s next door and continued to tell stories over a pint. Their Havre St-Pierre is one of the best amber ales I’ve had and no trip to Bathurst is complete without draining at least one of these.

As I write this I’m just about to buy my next set of plane tickets for a mid fall visit. While I expect that trip to be bumpier and more inconvenient than ever given all that is going on, there’s no doubt it’ll be worth any hassle once I touch down in Bathurst, hug my mom and dad, then get Tia’s famous jumping greeting. Can’t wait!