Rothesay, NB

Forty-one dollars and fifty cents to ride the Confederation Bridge! That’s one smackin’ toll, eh? There’s no longer a railroad in PEI, but they do have the Bridge. On the road: “Potted Meat for Sale,” “NFD Salt Beef.” Sorry to leave the Island behind, but New Brunswick calls.


It’s a nice drive on near empty highways today. As we get into New Brunswick we see more flashes of colour in the trees. It’s getting to be fall. Pickup trucks parked here and there along the road. There’s a three day moose hunting season, and this is it.

Michael plays the mandolin as we roll along. It's "Honky Tonk Woman" today. He's not singing, and fortunately I can't remember the words. Yet.

We find the venue in Rothesay, NB, near Saint John, without too much difficulty. It’s an amazing old mansion house converted into a small hotel. Built in 1874 the house and grounds retain much of their period character. Pretty neat. There are huge, ornate dining rooms and a small bar on the first floor, along with a showcase lobby big enough for ballroom dancing… The main problem as I see it is that none of our tour posters can be seen anywhere. My name is written on a chalk board. Michael’s is not. Could you fix this, please? I get the feeling that promotion may be a problem here, and wonder if we are going to sell many tickets. I’ve got a pretty loose deal here, and the venue has not assumed as much risk as I like to see. Increased risk usually translates into increased promotion, and a much more successful venture all around. Potentially, this is a great room for music, and the young couple running it are working hard to make it happen. The food is masterful!

We are shown to our rooms. Very nice! As we are in early we set up, check, and retire to our rooms to relax for a couple of hours before dinner. Here's the sound check:














And my room:

I choose to run Rothesay. It’s a rolling community of big old houses, some with horses in the yard. Big trees, not too many cars out on the roads. I'm out for about 40 minutes and only encounter one other person on foot. And they were walking.

The show is as quiet as I had thought it might be. We have a good time with those who attend- more folks following us from Fredericton’s Harvest Festival. We seem to have connected with a huge number of people there. We’ve been having them show up at our gigs all over Atlantic Canada. We’ll be in a loud pub tomorrow night.