Country Roads of the Maritimes

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Falling somewhere between personal-experience travel tales and tourist
bureau fluff, this humble guidebook is intended for the person who likes
a relaxing, low-key vacation.

The guide describes 12 routes to drive—four in New Brunswick, two in
Prince Edward Island, and six in Nova Scotia. For each, there are travel
directions, a summary of the highlights of the area, and a list of key
phone numbers. All this serves to supplement the meat of the work—a
detailed, chatty essay that touches on the history, geography, scenery,
shops, activities, festivals, road conditions, parks, and possibilities
of each route.

The routes explore back roads, beaches, and rural villages,
highlighting church-basement dinners, second-hand-clothing stores,
village bakeries, and great places to observe incoming tides or to buy
an ice-cream cone. Landmarks, famous resorts or hotels, museums,
historic sites, and the usual tourist attractions are mentioned in
passing; but the underlying tone suggests that the reader is more likely
to be staying in a B&B or at a campground than at the famous hotels, and
is likely to spend more time looking at the sunset than checking out the
shopping mall.

Country Roads of the Maritimes will be enjoyed by armchair travelers,
by anyone planning a driving vacation in the Maritimes, and by
Maritimers looking for ideas for daytrips.