Idyllic Seaside Village Or Gritty Industrial City?

St. Andrews-By-the-Sea, New Brunswick

Our first three days in New Brunswick were a study in opposites.  The magical charm of St. Andrews-By-the-Sea casted its spell over us while the bustling industry of Saint John made us thirsty for its great craft beers.

As I mentioned in my post, Our Canadian Road Trip, I was given the job of planning my family's trip to our neighboring country to the north.  Luckily for me, the list of places we wanted to see fell neatly into three very distinct sections: New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy, Prince Edward Island, and Québec City.

Having spent the last three years living full time in an RV as my husband and I traveled across the United States, I knew we needed to stay at least two nights in one spot if we were going to experience even the slightest introduction to an area.  Richard's schedule was not a problem.  As a middle school teacher, he had the summer off.  Jillian, on the other hand, was limited by the amount of leave time she had and even with that leave, she still needed to spend time logged into her work.  With that in mind, I mapped out our trip.

Leaving Portland, we drove four hours through the sparsely populated north woods of Maine where yellow hazard signs warned of moose crossings.  I hadn't seen such signs before, nor did we actually encounter a moose, much to Jillian's disappointment and Tim's relief.  A run-in with one of Maine's official state animals that weigh nearly 1400 pounds could have put an end to our road trip very quickly.  We crossed the Canadian border with little fanfare at St. Stephen, New Brunswick, our first saintly city.  The guard, after perusing our passports at the little-traveled post, waved us through with a welcoming smile.  Oh, Canada!  We have arrived!

I'd made reservations at a bed-and-breakfast in St. Andrews-By-the-Sea, a quaint seaside village voted Best Destination in Canada in 2017 by USA Today.  Founded by British Loyalists who fled the colonies in 1783, the names of the town's streets--William, Edward, Augustus, Frederick, Adolphus, Elizabeth, Sophia and Mary--are a roll call of the children of then reigning monarch, King George III.

After checking in to our B&B, we walked down to the harbor in search of dinner.  Our B&B host had recommended The Gables Restaurant so we gave that a try, and boy!  Were we glad we did!

With its outdoor patio and delicious menu choices, The Gables served us a scrumptious supper with a spectacular sunset as the backdrop.

Turning in the opposite direction, we could see the Pendlebury Lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor.  It was a good introduction to this charming city by the sea.

The next morning we visited the Algonquin Resort.  With its view of the Passamaquoddy Bay, this historic hotel commands the town's high ground as it has since it was built in 1889.  The Canadian Pacific Railway took over the luxury hotel's management in 1903 and holiday passengers flocked to this terminus.  Uncharacteristically, Tim and Richard passed up a chance to play golf on the resort's links, choosing instead to visit nearby Ministers Island.

Sir William Van Horne built his summer home, Covenhoven, (see above) on Ministers Island.  He was the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway who extended the railroad all across Canada in 1885, a feat he accomplished in half the projected time.

Courtesy of Proptonics
www.ministerisland.net

Visitors to the island have to keep an eagle eye on the tide charts because one must drive across the ocean floor when the tide is low enough to reveal it.  I thought the ocean floor would be muddy and sandy, but just like the biblical parting of the Red Sea, the exposed bar was firm enough for a car's passage.  The trip was worth it to see the "modest" (if you believe that a home that has 50 rooms is modest) manor of Covenhoven and its beautiful grounds.

We were most intrigued by Covenhoven's bathhouse.  This turret allows one to descend from the headland to the changing rooms at beach level.

Later we hiked a portion of the island's circumference, passing Parson Andrew's house for whom Ministers Island is named.  Now that is what I'd call modest!  However, we had to cut our hike short in order to make the trip back across the sea bottom before the tide would overrun the road.  We returned later that evening at high tide to find the causeway buried under 14 feet of ocean water, a good example of the Bay of Funny's renown tides, the highest in the world.

Photo courtesy of Kingsbrae Garden

St. Andrews has other attractions as well.  Kingsbrae Garden at the top of King Street is a beautifully designed masterpiece of perennials and sculpture gardens, made even more amazing when you consider how short the growing season is in New Brunswick.  We also made time to visit the Sheriff Andrews House, Greennock Presbyterian Church and the Loyalist Burying Ground.

After another stunning sunset, we hit the road the following morning with plans to spend the next two nights in Fundy National Park.

Lepreau Falls

Along the way, we stopped at Lepreau Falls and then Saint John, New Brunswick.  Is every town in this sparsely populated province named for a saint?  It certainly seemed that way.  Saint (which is never abbreviated!) John is a gritty industrial city with a reputation for good eats and great craft beers.

Reversing Falls

It's also the location of Reversing Falls, a geological wonder.  Water streaming out of the St. John Gorge is backed up by the incoming tide from the Bay of Fundy, making the river seemingly reverse direction.

Knowing we had time to kill before we could check into the cabins at Fundy National Park, we decided to take a tour of the Moosehead Brewery, Canada's oldest independent brewery.  Susannah Oland began brewing beer here in 1867 and six generations later Oland descendants still own and operate the business.

Throughout the tour, our guide gave us small tastings of the different beers they craft.  My favorite was their version of Radler, a brew that mixed beer and grapefruit soda, a weird combination that nevertheless was tasty.  Richard  liked their small batch Stout while Tim's and Jillian's favorites fell somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

Thankfully, our designated driver Tim did not sample all the tour's offerings and so he was fit to continue our trip to Fundy National Park.  Goodbye, saintly cities!