I enjoy taking the old roads too.
Earlier this fall, I drove to Halifax from Moncton entirely on country roads (except for the segment of TCH over the Tantramar Marsh).
The route was via Memramcook, Dorchester and Sackville on the 106, then Amherst to Tatamagouche along the north shore via the Sunrise Trail, then over the Cobequid Mountains to Truro and then via old Route 2 to Halifax.
Very pleasant and scenic, but sloooow. If I had stayed on the TCH, I would have been in Halifax in 2 hr 45 min. Taking the old roads stretched the trip out to five hours.
If you're not in a hurry however, this doesn't really matter, and you get a chance to experience what travel used to be like in the old days, passing though pleasant farmland and all the little towns and villages along the way.
