East Coast Trip 2015: St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada - June 18

St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada - June 18 - June 19, 2015

June 18, 2015

We are heading to Canada today. This is our first day traveling as a caravan. There are very detailed directions and we had a meeting yesterday afternoon to review the border crossing etc. We will see how well we follow directions.

We made it through the boarder – however, not without having to pay some duty for the alcohol that we left Washington with and didn’t have time to drink.

At Minister's Island

When we arrived at the campground, we had the opportunity to go on an Optional Tour to Ministers Island. This is an island that you can drive to only at low tide. It was named Ministers Island, because in 1790 Reverend Samuel Andrews built a stone house there. That house is still standing. We were only able to see his house from the outside.

But the real story was when the island was discovered by Sir William Van Horne in 1890. Van Horne built the Canadian coast-to-coast railway. He build his summer “cottage” and farm here.

Interesting Door Knob Location

In addition to the house, there is a barn, bath house, “swimming pool” (which was a part of the ocean front that had been dug out. When the tide would come in, it would fill with water, and be warmed by the sun).Van Horne was an artist as well as a businessman. There are some of his original paintings in the house.

He was also an amazing forward thinker – i.e. the swimming pool. He also had a pump house that pumped water to the main house, and another building for making a gas to heat the house.

June 19, 2015

Today was a St. Andrews Bus Tour. Jeff was the driver, who has lived in St. Andrews his entire life. He is a fifth generation of family living in St. Andrews. He was assisted by Jennifer, who loves the history of the area. There are only about 1,900 people living in the area, but it is quite a tourist attraction.

We drove down to the town, and were able to walk around and visit the shops. From there we went to the Court House and jail. The jail is what many of us thought the current jails should be more like. The tour guide told us that the elementary school students are brought to the jail for a tour. Sure do hope it has an impression on them.

Stained Glass Window in the Church

The town of St. Andrews has many beautiful churches. We are told that when there was a lull in ship building, many of the workers turned to building churches. We were able to visit and tour the All Saints Church. The wood work and stained glass was absolutely amazing. Prince Charles & Princess Diana attended this church when they visited St. Andrews.

From the tour, were taken to the Kingsbrae Gardens. We started with lunch, which was yummy, including Carrot Cake for dessert, which is Stan’s favorite. While we were having lunch, they brought five Alpaca out to lunch on the grass in front of the restaurant. We were able to take a bunch of pictures, which was a real hit for Bev.