St John, New Brunswick

Someone who reads my blog regularly said they were not quite sure where the Maritime Provinces are, so I've included a map. "B" is St. John, New Brunswick, "C" is Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, and Halifax is in Nova Scotia.

Our drive from Bar Harbor on Monday, was easy and uneventful. We were the only vehicle crossing the border at Calais. Nice! 

I found Rockwood Park in the Good Sam Directory. It is right in the middle of St. John and easy to get to. Some spaces are shady, but we are in the full hook-up area for larger rigs which is just an open gravel lot. That's fine as far as we are concerned because the satellite reception is better without trees. The park does have free WiFi, but it is a bit finicky. The WiFi antenna is on the laundry building about 300 feet from us, where reception is great. Sometimes it works in our coach, and sometimes not. I doubt it works very well elsewhere in the park, but the Laundry is always open and there is a place to sit and use your computer.

The park is very large, including several lakes and a zoo. 

We didn't go to the zoo, but we did walk around one of the lakes. It seems that ever since our disastrous walk at Black Mesa State Park,  in Oklahoma, a few years ago, "walking around the lake" is something we always check out.

It was only about a mile around Lily Lake. Just right for a foggy morning.

I had a list of things to do and see in St John. We nixed a self-guided walking tour because we got a pretty good overview of the city by driving around lost several times. Even with an onboard GPS, finding places can be a challenge, especially when the GPS takes you to the wrong location!

One was the Reversing Rapids, also called the reversing falls. The Bay of Fundy has the largest tides in the world, and the rapids between the bay and the river change directions. When I think of rapids, I think of water rushing by and splashing over exposed rocks. I'm sure there are rocks in these rapids, but the visual impression the water made was that it was confused as to exactly which way to run, and was fighting with itself. It made whirlpools, eddies, and upwellings in addition to splashes and visual current paths. 

We went there near Low Tide.

The New Brunswick Museum was also on my list. Although not large, it had some quaint exhibits. 

There were many scale model ships, boats, and scenes from daily life of the early settlers. Some of the boats had little hand carved people aboard. 

The exhibits illustrating the geological history of New Brunswick were very well done.

The display and explanation of the fossil prints of plants and animals found in the rock layers showed how the climate has changed over the eons. 

I thought the unusual fish in this mural had delightful expressions!

The Museum building, the City Hall, and the City Market building are connected by sky bridges and a shopping mall.

Image from the Web

I expected the City Market to be much bigger than it was. Perhaps that is because I have been spoiled by some of similar markets we have visited. But Craig did find some nice fresh English peas and an "artisan" loaf of bread for our picnic sandwiches the next day.

I usually do not buy souvenirs. But I was caught by a card with a cut-out-yourself puffin printed on it. He is only three inches tall. 

Do you collect anything?