Our Travelogue
Canada/New England cruise on Crown Princess
Day 5 – Saint John, New Brunswick
We arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick at about 8:00 a.m. to glorious blue skies up above once again! We are so blessed with the weather on this trip!
New Brunswick is a small province in Canada that links Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada. Saint John is perhaps most well-known for have the highest tide range in the world because of the Bay of Fundy’s funnel shape.
Our American Revolution history lesson has continued here. After the American Revolution, there was an influx of colonists in 1783 when 14,000 Loyalists fled the United States. Samuel de Champlain discovered New Brunswick in 1604 and the French settled the area around 1625. In the 1930’s there were 34,000 farms – in 2011 there are only 2,600 farms.
We left the boat around 10:00 a.m. and grabbed a taxi up to town to the top of the Saint John City Market. Similar in concept to Pikes Market in Seattle, vendors set up their stands with fresh produce, baked goods and the like hoping to have a good day selling their things. In addition to the fruits, vegetables and other food items, there is also one stand that we have always visited in Saint John and that is Pat, the linen lady. Her tablecloths and napkins have decorated our holiday table since we first came here in 2005. She is a very friendly and warm woman. This year we purchased new placemats and a runner for our Thanksgiving table.
After we walked through the market we meandered across the street to Barbour’s General Store which is an authentic country store. Inside, it is much like a museum with the original wooden floors and cabinetry that we were told was stained with goat’s milk. The shelves are filled with authentic merchandise of the Victorian era including a delicately handmade Christening gown along with a top hat and several pairs of ladies shoes.
From there we walked back to the pier and caught our tour at 12:30 p.m. We enjoyed our riverboat ride down the Saint John River. The weather was outstanding. We found bench seats along the starboard (right) side of the boat up front near the bow. It was the perfect place for us to be as it was out of the sun. The day was warm and we did not need our jackets, though we had them with us just in case.
The Saint John River is where you will find the reversing rapids. Twice a day at high tide, the bay forces the river to churn through the gorge and the sight is quite remarkable. After we left the small dock, we headed up stream and soon passed our first lighthouse – Greenhead Lighthouse – which is the largest on the river. The guide did not know how many lighthouses were on the river, but during our adventure, we passed three – Greenhead, Kemnebecasis’s and the Bayside.
The river freezes in the winter and becomes an ice road in the dead of winter. The banks of the river are full of maple and pine trees. The natural color of the maple trees is orange, red or yellow. The leaves are overcome by photosynthesis and chlorophyll in the summer which turns the leaves green. The leaves return to their “natural” color in the fall. Again, we saw some bits of color along the shore, but not much.
Our ride down the river was so peaceful and pleasant under the blue skies and warm 72°. Homemade cookies were served on the boat; and you were asked to “leave a donation” for the lady who had baked them. You could purchase bottled water, coffee or soda if you wished. We were on the river for about 2 hours.
As we made our way back to shore near the end of our time on board, the Captain took us down to the bridge where we had begun and we could see the tide coming in and the effects of the reversing rapids. At that exact point the waters became very turbulent with waves crashing and spray flying high above. We only observed it from a distance as it is quite dangerous to negotiate through with the currents and rough waters. It was a great way to end our day on the river.
We were up on the deck 16 for sailaway around 5:00 today. The air was still warm and quite enjoyable. Dinner tonight for us was dinner in the Crown Grill. Nola treated us to a lovely evening. We enjoyed our table by the window in the corner of the restaurant which is located on the Promenade Deck 7. Every once in awhile we would see some people walking past the window, but for the most part the decks were empty.
After dinner we took in the show in the Princess Theater. Tonight we were entertained by Mark Preston, a member of the Lettermen. He has not lost his voice at all though he has been singing with the Lettermen for 45 years. He sang many familiar songs and we enjoyed him. He did a medley of Lettermen hits including Put Your Head on My Shoulders and Summerplace.
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