FREDERICTON – Residents of New Brunswick will be treated to a once-in-a-lifetime event, Monday, when a total-solar-eclipse will lead it to welcome thousands of outsiders who actually want to be there.
“This is wild!” exclaimed hotel proprietor James LeBlanc. “When I started getting a bunch of vacancy inquiries from folks from across the borders, I thought to myself ‘Gas can’t have gotten that expensive, can it?'”. While Miramichi resident, Sandy Liu, found herself similarly confused. “I figured maybe the CFL season was starting super early”.
Many visitors also expressed their surprise. “Until now I thought New Brunswick was just the name of the highway between Nova Scotia and Quebec,” said Dave Morgan of Antigonish. “But then I heard about the eclipse! Did you know there are whole COMMUNITIES there?! They have homes, cars, people! Real people with all kinds of different jobs, not just road-side diner waiters and gas station attendants”.
Mr. LeBlanc excitedly espoused the province’s virtues “It’s a lovely place. Come for the eclipse, take in some scenery, enjoy some Maritimer hospitality. Then, when your journey comes to an end, you get to experience the best part of living in New Brunswick: The fact that we enjoy the least distance to travel through it to get to some place interesting!”.
Ms. Liu further explained the province’s unique place in the national travel scene, “Generally speaking, we’re where people go to when Nova Scotia doesn’t have something. In this case, the only location in our neighbouring province that has a view of totality is in Cape Breton, which is just about the only place Haligonians would want to visit less”.