Saint John, Part One

Saint John, Part One
Saint John, Part Two

Deciding Where to Go

For years I had had some leftover Air Canada Aéroplan points.  My mother wanted to do a quick weekend away and that seemed the perfect time to use them to get away to somewhere in Canada.  She wanted to go somewhere I had never been but wanted to go.  After discussing it and looking at itineraries, we settled on a long weekend in New Brunswick.

The Travel Plan

Our itinerary would take us out of National Airport on a Friday morning at an anxiety-inducing six o’clock.  Yes, six o’clock in the morning.  We would connect through Toronto, and end up in Saint John at about noon.  We would overnight Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and fly home Monday, also via Toronto.  We decided to rent a car, since we would want to explore the Fundy Coast and just have the general freedom a car allows.  The Hilton adjacent to the old town was our lodging choice.

Getting to Saint John

Most of Friday morning was a blur, but we did make it to National, through security, and to the gate with about twenty minutes to spare.  Our DCA to YYZ leg took off with an ultra-light load of less than a third.  In Toronto, we made it through immigration and customs.  Mother claimed and rechecked her bag, we went through Canadian security, and strolled to our gate.  Since we were on a prop we were in a gate area serving several flights to different cities across Eastern Canada.

Our second flight left pretty much on-time.  Two hours later we found ourselves landing at a very foggy Saint John airport.  It was so foggy that we were almost on the ground when we broke through the cloud layer.  Deplaning was a breeze and we walked across the tarmac and into the terminal building where mother awaited her bag and I sorted out the rental car.

The drive in from the airport was down a two-lane road, though Saint John’s “suburbs.”  Within about twenty minutes we were at The Hilton, checked in, the car parked, and in our room.

Arrival Day:  The Afternoon In Saint John

By the time we got into the hotel, we had not eaten since we both got snacks at DCA, so lunch was agenda item number one.  We consulted with the front desk and ended up deciding to check out two places across the street and decide between the two.  We settled on Grannan’s Seafood Restaurant.

After lunch we struck out and set about seeing the town.  We quickly discovered that, even though Saint John does have a certain charm, it is a small place and easily seen within just a few hours.  Of note was the well-kept, old commercial buildings and the City Market Hall.

Downtown Saint John streetscape

City park

City park

Pavilion at city park

Saint John's city market

Loyalist house

Another Saint John streetscape

Another street scape, with our hotel in the background

P & O cruise ship, pushing back, with a Disney ship in the background

 By this point we had been up for a long time and we were starting to feel it.  We headed back to the room to rest a little and freshen up for dinner.  That night we ate at the other of the two restaurants we had looked at the day before, the Saint John Ale House.  After dinner, we unwound a little in the room and soon went to bed.

Saturday:  Saint John’s Reversing Rapids and Driving Up the Saint John River

Saturday was a day for sleeping in and taking it easy.  We slept late (one of us—not me!—a lot longer then the other), and had breakfast at the hotel.  After breakfast we headed for the Reversing Rapids.

The tidal variance on the Bay of Fundy is greater than any other in the world.  As a consequence of that, the water rushes out of the Saint John River when the tide goes out; when the tide comes back in, the water is forced up the river with such force that it cases rapids going up the river.

Reversing Rapids

Reversing Rapids

Reversing Rapids

Reversing Rapids

Reversing Rapids.  We could have taken the boat with all of the passengers wearing rain-gear.  No thanks

Reversing Rapids, going upstream

 Next up, we loaded up and drove up the Saint John River, which was spectacular.  The day started partly cloudy.  The interplay of the sun on the blue of the water and the green of the countryside was wonderful.  It was such an enjoyable and scenic drive.

Saint John River

Sunlight plays on the trees and water.  Gorgous

Sailboat on the Saint John River

Looking out across the Saint John River

We arrived into downtown Fredericton and its annual festival, which was a surprise to us.  The festival is such that it made the television news and the following morning’s paper.  We really wanted to explore the town a bit but, since we had gotten such a late start, we were being dogged by incoming clouds which threatened rain.  We found a restaurant that was near the parking garage that was neither very good or interesting; certainly our worst meal of the trip.

While we were eating the sky opened.  We tried to wait out the storm but finally just gave in and decided we would make do with getting a little wet.  I played gentleman and dashed across the street, got the car, and picked mother up at the restaurant’s door.  I don’t really believe in chivalry but I certainly don’t see the sense in two people getting wet.

The first half hour or so of the drive back was a little hair-raising, with torrential downpours, ponding water on the roadway, and frequent signs warning us that there were liable to be moose on the road.  We finally broke out of the storms and we made it back to the hotel just before dark, which was good because it is much easier to see a moose standing in the roadway in the daylight!

Back at the hotel we unwound a little and freshened up before dinner.  We returned to the same place we had had dinner the night before, The Saint John Ale House.  After dinner it was back to the room and, before long, off to bed.