St. ANDREWS & ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK.
Day 13 – We went to bed late last night, still not adjusting to the one-hour time change. This morning it was 38 degrees, breezy & sunny. Rob woke me up at 9:30; I could’ve slept all day! We left at 11 a.m. for an errand in St. Andrews, then off to some exploring with a drive to St. John, a much bigger city further from the U.S. border.
On the way to St. John, we stopped at Ministers Island, near St. Andrews. At low tide, you can drive across the bar on the ocean floor to reach the Island. We drove over & Rob walked up the hill (my knee said NO) and looked at the massive barn which is part of the Van Horn estate. The house was built in 1790. It remained in the Andrews family (as in St. Andrews???) until 1891 when it was sold to the Van Horn family.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
Back to NB Highway 127, we drove to the Trans-Canada Highway and headed east towards St. John. People in Canada must pay higher taxes so that their roads are kept up. The roads we’ve encountered put U.S. roads to shame. Just sayin’. The views were good – the highway was lined with forests, Osprey nests & Bald Eagle nests visible from the road, and there were few off-ramps to small towns with smaller roads running towards the coast. It was hilly and the Bay of Fundy could be seen in the distance, the water a dark blue. It was sunny and in the 50’s, not too windy.
We arrived in St. John at 1 p.m. and looked for a place to have lunch. We googled vegetarian lunch places and came up with “Vegolution”, 5 stars, in downtown St. John. After struggling to find a parking place, we came to rest across from the NB Alcohol Store, fancy that. But first we had to have lunch.
Vegolution was fantastic and we recommend it to Veggies from everywhere. A small place in a very old building across from skyscraper buildings downtown, we sat by the window and people-watched. We had the Smoked Sweet Potato Appetizer with Garlic Aioli to start, followed by The Vegolution Cheeseburger, a vegan burger made from mushrooms & grains on a buttered, fresh Brioche Roll, topped with melted Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickle, and their Vegolution Sauce. It came with a Side Salad (which I got) or Fries (which Rob got) or Soup. The Fries were very good. The Salad was fresh and it had lots of different greens, shredded carrots & shredded beets, sliced green onion, and cherry tomato, both red & orange, and was served with a Citrus Vinegarette on the side. All were excellent. Rob felt it was the best veggie burger he’d ever had. I thought it was close to best, closely following the Veggie Burger from the restaurant just below the Gunks in Gardiner/New Paltz.
Stone Church, downtown St. John, NB
Downtown, St, John, NB
We went to the NB Liquor Store across from where we’d parked to walk off our lunch, and to give Rob a chance to check out the beer offerings. I’d already bought my wine from the store in St. Andrews. He found several interesting beers to try. We happily got back on the Trans-Canada Highway and headed back to St. Andrews, enjoying the scenery and the warm weather. The high today was 60 degrees and the wind was lower than the previous two days. On the way back to the RV we stopped for gas in the Honda and drove a different way so that we could get some pictures of the Algonquin Hotel, a famous, old resort hotel in St. Andrews.
The Algonquin Hotel, St. Andrews, NB
The wind was picking up a bit, but we pulled out the red chairs and sat outside overlooking the Passamaquoddy Bay and drank our beer & wine. Meanwhile, Gracie relaxed on her heated pad and Java sat at the screened door looking at us outside. She thought we were having far too good a time without her.
Gracie relaxing
Straight in front of us in the distance we could see the water tower in Eastport, Maine. To the east of that was Deer Island, NB. The tide was coming in & some lobster boat activity was observed. We could hear the waves washing up on the shore. Tomorrow we’re leaving to go to a campground located on a peninsula east and south of St. John. We’ll be on a cliff above the Fundy Bay and the tides are supposedly higher – up to 52 feet – when they rise twice daily from low tide.
Kiwanis Oceanfront Camping: 550 Water Street, St. Andrews, NB, Canada; (506) 529-3439 or 1-877-393-7070; www.kok.ca; e-mail oceanfrontRV@gmail.com. Check-out is 12 noon. This is a very good independent campground, especially off-season. The campground is in such a good location that we can only assume it’s totally booked during the summer season! But early May we had our pick of campsites & we chose the front row with a three-sided view of the Passamaquoddy Bay. The campground was situated at the end of a peninsula surrounded by water. We could watch the tides rise & fall from the Bay of Fundy. From the campground it’s a 10-minute walk to downtown St. Andrews. Near the campground, it’s residential. The town shops, amenities, inns & restaurants are situated after the residential section. It was very quiet in the campground, but Water Street, the main street that runs through St. Andrews paralleling the waterfront, goes by the campground. In the summer months, it is probably solid cars and pedestrian activity. Still, this is a great place and we would definitely stay here again and again. Our campsite was on the water, Site #21, full hook-ups, $50 per night Canadian currency.