Christmas in the Village

We're almost in our last month of the year 2008! In other words, Christmas is just around the corner :) Christmas shopping will keep everyone busy for sure. This weekend, Gagetown is hosting its 13th annual "Christmas in the Village." The radio commercial has been playing over and over again since the beginning of the week. I was excited about this trip and couldn't wait to check out what they've to offer there!

The Village of Gagetown is about 40 minutes drive away from Fredericton. Founded in 1783 and incorporated in 1966, it's strategically located on the banks of Saint John River, midway between Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton. We went in a group of eight and took the free cable ferry ride across the majestic Saint John River. The ferry runs all year around between Lower Jemseg off Route 715 and Gagetown on Route 102.

Gagetown is a quaint little village with gracious homes. It's the birthplace of Samuel Leonard Tilley, one of the Fathers of Confederation.

The local post office in Gagetown.

Very neat christmas decoration outside a pub.




One of the many stores that opened to the public.

Items that were on sale includes pottery items, christmas crafts, homemade jams, drawings, and baked goods. These stores located all around the village. We walked from store to store for about one and a half hours before making a quick stop for lunch at a church. Baked beans, bread, donut, and tea for $5, quite a good deal. Just before that, we were offered hot apple cider and gingerbread cookies (in the shape of christmas tree & gingerbread man) at the museum. Yummy cookies and the soothing hot cider made a perfect combination in the cool winter day!

The hot apple cider and gingerbread cookies.

After lunch, we walked around the rest of the stores for another hour or so.

Very pretty christmas ornaments, nicely laid on the stairs.

I was looking for some local goods as christmas gifts. Guess what I found? Apple ice wine ($17) and sparkling apple cranberry cider ($5.75)!

We left the village of Gagetown around 3 p.m. On our way back to Fredericton, we had a stop over at the Gagetown military base (20 km from Fredericton) in Oromocto. The Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown is officially founded in 1958. It's operated by the Department of National Defense and owned by the Government of Canada. With a surface area of 1,100 square kilometres, it boasts to be one of the largest military bases in this country.

All kinds of service are offered at the base. Medical, dental, emergency... you name it. Bank, post office, movie theatre, and chapels can also be found here. Hence, what's your excuse to leave to base then? :P

A tank with the name "Addy" (in the black box) on it. See that? I'm honoured to have a tank named after me :)