New Brunswick; home to the French Fry capital of the world, the longest covered bridge, Hopewell rocks, the World’s biggest Axe and The Covered Bridge Potato chip company and now the Big Axe Craft Brewing Company.
Recently I read on the Food Network, that Beer and Potato Chips were the secrets to a long life. (oh yeah regular exercise too…) Matilda Curcia – who lived to 100 stated “I do my exercises everyday and have my beer, and three potatoes chip every night (sometimes a few more).
Ok, this leads us to our first stop in New Brunswick today. My favorite stop on every trip through New Brunswick is the Covered Bridge Chip Factory located outside of Hartland, NB. This family owned and operated business makes an Old Fashion Kettle Style Chip with a traditional recipe that dates back to 1920’s.
If you have time take the $5 Self Guided tour it is really nice to see and also very informative. At the end of the tour you will get a small bag of freshly made chips right off the line – then you go to the topping tasting area that has a gazillion different toppings for you to sprinkle on your chips. The kids always loved this stop. Now, if you don’t have time for the tour, their store is stocked with over 20 different flavors to choose from; grab a bag or two for the road.
The next Stop is Nackawic, home of the world’s biggest axe. 15 meters tall and weighs 55 tones and 7 meters wide but the real attraction for us was the Big Axe Brewery “Beer & Saloon…. Yee-Haw”! This brewery is a Harvest Hosts member so it was our place of rest for the night as well as a nice watering hole.
The thing I love abut Harvest Host is that we can go to the establishment enjoy what they are promoting, and if it happens to be alcohol, we both can enjoy it because we don’t have to drive any further that day. They had some unique names and styles of beer and of course we both got a flight! Hops & Sickle, Lucky Draw, Sea Berry Sour, Roll in the Hay, Lizzy Bordon Red, and Shakespeare Stout. My favorite was the Lucky Draw – and got an awesome deal on the bottles I bought – because the fill wasn’t perfect! (Didn’t matter to me, as I never finish a full bottle anyway!) Steve, enjoyed the Shakespeare Stout. I don’t know how he didn’t buy any! Cheapest Harvest host stay ever; only $29.83. They even let you bring in our own food and on weekends evenings they have special events and/or entertainment. Simply a great place to stop!
So, remember the perfect pairing for Summer is Beer and Chips – And New Brunswick is the perfect spot to have both and support local.
Now, the one thing about this Harvest Host establishment is that it is located on the St. John River and the morning views of the calm and majestic looking river were spectacular. Just an awesome and motivating way to start another fabulous day. Definitely one of my favorites so far.