Today, we drove into Saint John to take a look around and find out where we needed to go tomorrow for our historic walking tour. We quickly realized that this is not the Saint John from the television program The Republic of Doyle. That St. John must be the one in Newfoundland.
This Saint John is a busy port city located on the Bay of Fundy.
According to Wikipedia, it is Canada’s oldest incorporated city, established on May 18, 1785. It has a population of about 80,000. The port is Canada’s third-largest by tonnage, and the city has a strong industrial base. This is no quaint fishing village, despite the constant cries of seagulls.
I didn’t take any photos while we were walking around. Although there were lots of beautiful old buildings, I didn’t see anything that would make a pretty picture.
After our brief walk around Saint John, we headed to Rockwood Park, a large park located within the city. Our destination was Lily’s Restaurant, where we enjoyed a seafood lunch.
At the table next to us, there were two ladies speaking in French. I was startled when they gave their order to the waitress in perfectly unaccented English. I expect French-speaking people to have French accents. LOL
Interestingly, our waiter told us that there were a lot of people visiting from the states back in the early spring. They were all looking to buy property in Canada. Gee, I wonder why?
Our original plan had been to take a hike along one of the trails within the park after lunch, but we were so full and sleepy that we headed back to the camper for a nap and a quiet evening.
It’s too bad, because according to the park’s website, Rockwood Park offers 2,200 acres of unspoiled natural beauty, with ten lakes and 55 trails and footpaths for walking or biking. Its billion years of history can be seen in unique rock formations, caves, and waterfalls. I’m sorry we missed it.
Along the way home, we decided to make a stop at the local lighthouse. The signs led us off the main road and down a gravel road that was under construction for about 10 miles before dumping us back onto the main road again. The lighthouse signs continued, so we know that we didn’t miss it by mistake. Why we had to drive 10 miles along a dirt road for no reason we will never know.
Anyway, at that point, I looked up the lighthouse on Google Maps and discovered that it was in the opposite direction from our campground. Ugh.
Meanderings & Mind Munchies 