Oh, Canada!

We made it to the province of New Brunswick and our first stop was the coastal town of St. John. Crossing over the border was as easy as could be. We were the only ones in the entire border control area and we were asked a few questions about our itinerary, items that we were bringing into the country, and then we were sent on our way.

We were even more thankful about the easy border crossing when we heard from our friends that they had spent almost an hour at the border. The agents can and will randomly search your entire rig in search for items from the U. S. that exceed certain limits or are not allowed in the country.

Our place to park in St. John was at a couple’s house that welcomes guests to stay on their property. A website called Boondockers Welcome helps to make this very simple to do. Our gracious and accommodating hosts could not have made our stay any better. With the information packet that they gave us, we were ready to explore the St. John area (a little confusing: it is St. John, New Brunswick and St. John’s, Newfoundland).

Downtown St. John

Our first stop was King’s Square that has a two level bandstand, built in 1909, as its centerpiece. This venue hosts community events and concerts during the summer months. It was named for King George III. The walkways are shaped in the design of the British Union Flag which is a reminder of St. John’s Loyalist heritage. Many of St. John’s residents fled north from the U.S. colonies following the War of Independence from the British Crown. Imagine, a city founded by American refugees.

The City Market is directly across from King’s Square. It is the oldest operating farmers market in Canada. The indoor facility is wonderful to view with its white trusses and friendly merchants. Because it was built with brick, it survived the devastating fire of 1877 that destroyed over 1,600 structures in the city.

I knew that we had made it to Canada when the merchant told me “All you need is a ‘loonie’ and a ‘toonie’.” That is a Canadian one dollar coin and a two dollar coin. When the Canadian dollar coin was introduced in 1987, it featured a common loon swimming in water.

The market is visited by tourists and locals alike. It has souvenirs, vegetables, seafood, and even some artwork for sale. Interestingly enough, one of the artist’s displays had a large selection of paintings for sale via an honor payment system.

Several of the City Market shopkeepers could not resist sharing many fun facts about Atlantic Canada and they also recommended places to visit in town. One recommendation we were given was to walk down the nearby Germain Street and view the beautiful houses. The colorful buildings, especially the front entrance doors, are a favorite subject for some local artists. From these photos you can see why.

Trinity Anglican Church

Germain Street Doors

St. John also features some colorful murals in the downtown area. We were able to view several of them.

Loyalist House

Another building that was not destroyed in the fire of 1877 was the former home of Thomas Merritt IV, a British Loyalist. The Merritt family’s Connecticut home in the US was destroyed by Patriots in 1784. That led the family to relocate to St. John leaving behind a large tract of land and the remains of their New England home. Five generations of the Merritt family lived in this house until it was sold to the New Brunswick Historical Society in 1958. It is now a museum that we had hoped to visit, but unfortunately it is not yet open for the summer season.

This has been a theme for us in the month of May. Many places do not open until late May or until school is out June 21^st. On the positive side, many places are busy but not yet overwhelmed with tourists. St. John is a cruise ship port-of-call and is especially busy when they dock in town.

Reversing Falls

The Reversing Falls is the biggest attraction in the city. The Fundy Bay tides are so extreme, many say that there is the most variation from low to high in the world, that at high tide the St. John River appears to reverse its flow. Unfortunately, high tide, wasn’t in the charts for us and we were not able to see the phenomena, but did get to see the river.

As you have figured out by now we really enjoy visiting lighthouses. The Bay of Fundy coast has plenty of them to see. There are three in the St. John harbor.

The Courtenay Bay Breakwater Lighthouse

The Market Square Lighthouse is directly in the heart of town.

The Partridge Island Lighthouse is not accessible to the public, but can be seen from a distance.

New Brunswick is considered by some to be a “pass-through” province for those making their way to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. We discovered that this part of Canada along the western side of the Bay of Fundy has a lot of offer.

Next we explore the coastline of New Brunswick with its incredible high tides and vistas.