Long Awaited Canadian East Coast Road Trip

When I was young, I was often at my dad’s auto garage. Every week, a big white cube truck would pull up to the gas pumps. The truck was your typical white truck, not overly attractive, but it had an east coast license plate and a small sticker of a red lobster on the rear cargo door.

I wasn’t there every time, but when I was, it was an exciting time for me. All the mechanics stopped what they were doing, washed their hands and eagerly walked up to the truck.  The driver smiled, greeted us and proceeded to open up the cargo door.

As the large white creaky doors opened, a distinct coastal fishy smell emerged. The refrigerated cargo area was filled to the edges with all sorts of seafood. He delivered fresh seafood from the east coast to restaurants and local fish markets.  I didn’t really eat seafood when I was young, but it was just a special thing seeing all the types of fish he had.

After all the mechanics had made their selections, paid and walked away with bags of fresh fish for their dinner, the man looked over to me and selected something to give to me for free, to bring home.  That always made me smile.  Sometimes, he gave me a cool looking fish or a bag of mussels, but occasionally, it was a live crab or lobster.  It was really cool and of course, it was always sad when my parents would cook my new pet – LOL.  I never ate any of it.

I had visions of what the fishing boats would look like and how they’d all come in with their daily catches and it had always held a certain allure for me.  Since then, I always promised myself that I would visit but it just never happened.

Road Trip time

This year, as we discussed what we should do as a family trip over the summer, I told the kids the story about the man in the white truck.  They were sold and we decided that an East Coast Road Trip was going to be a reality.

It took a few weeks of planning but as the departure date approached, a child-like enthusiasm emerged.  We all eagerly packed our luggage as we prepared to leave.

This was a very different road trip for us.  Instead of heading south (like we usually do), this road trip is heading east and unlike when I was young, I will be eating the seafood – lots of it!

I’ll be on the coast if you’re looking for me.  (You can be sure I’ll be back to write about our adventures)

Hugs,
V