Fog, Bibimbop, and Brew in Saint John, New Brunswick

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Last night we could see the lights of the city of St. John below us. During the night we heard the trains running on the tracks below the bluff we are camped on. Tonight we are in pea soup fog, and can barely see the next trailer. The day started out lightly misting. We decided to walk the mile and a half from our campsite in Rockwood Park to Uptown St. John, which is the oldest part of the city. Parking would be a problem, so Greg convinced me we could walk. We put on our raincoats and hiking boots and set out. We had to cross over two main highways, but the bridges had wide sidewalks. Then we took the most direct street over to the waterfront area. It went up a steep hill, through a rundown area and past the big social services building. We later found another route home that took us through a less sketchy area with beautiful Victorian mansions.

We emerged at the City Market, Canada's oldest continuous farmer's market in existence since 1876. We took a quick look around and walked across the street to a shopping mall to locate a bank. We used the ATM to get some Canadian currency and asked the teller to change some paper money into “loonies”, which are $1 coins with loons on them. We'll need them to do laundry. Then we went back to the market to find lunch. The Market reminded us of the old city markets in Baltimore. There were food booths, produce stands, butchers, fish mongers, bakers, and souvenir and gifty things. Greg kept commenting that everyone seemed to be having an early lunch. We found a Korean food booth and I ordered Bibimbop, and Greg had Spicy Pork. We sat at a small table and chairs in the front of the booth. The owner struck up a conversation with us and wanted to know where we were from. While we were eating, Greg suddenly realized that people were not eating lunch early, we had gone the wrong way with our time change yesterday, and changed our watches to an hour earlier instead of an hour later. So we were two hours behind!

The City Market's roof is designed to look like a ship's hull.

Korean 

Food Booth

Lunch!

City Market

 After lunch we went looking for a wifi hotspot. The campground wifi still was not working, so Greg brought his tablet to Uptown, and we checked for a connection at the library. Theirs was down too, but the librarian put us on a library computer even though we didn't have their library card. We checked e-mail and posted on Facebook, Then we walked around the old restored area with stores and restaurants. We checked out the waterfront and saw the cruise ship terminals. By this time it was getting foggy and misting heavily. We could have taken the Pedway that connects the main buildings and shopping malls by tunnels or enclosed pedestrian overpasses, but we wanted to see the city.

Market Square sculpture

Model of the Marco Polo, built in St. John, and the fastest ship in the world for its time!

Inside courtyard, view from the Library balcony.

Art donated by the Moosehead Brewery

Fog on the waterfront

Tug heading out

Sidewalk sculptures

Steep cross street in Uptown

Typical shops and restaurants

 We decided it was time to get inside and dry off, so we went to The Big Tide Brewing Company, the only brewpub in St. John. They have a basement restaurant and brewery. We tried the IPA and the Blueberry Ale, which had blueberries floating in it. I always try the unusual “girly” beers! When we were ready to leave, the brewmaster, a very young Canadian named Tom, with a baseball cap and a red beard, asked if we wanted a tour. It didn't take long. They had a half dozen tanks in a small room with glass windows looking into the bar. They brew twice a week. He was obviously very proud of their operation.

Mural of famous St. John residents like Donald Sutherland and Walter Pigeon.

Big Tide Brewing

 

Satisfied Customer

Small but tasty!

Tom, the Brewmaster

It was beginning to mist harder and get foggier as we walked back to camp. We were rather wet by the time we got back. The temperature has been consistently around 50 degrees all day and night, but we had so many hills to climb that we didn't get cold. In fact, we were overdressed, and the locals were dressed for spring or summer. We both wanted showers when we got back, to take the chill off and clean up after all the exertion from the hill climbing.

We're hoping that the fog clears out by morning. The weather forecast keeps adding in more days of rain. There are some outdoor activities and an interesting nature preserve we could visit, but not in this fog. We don't know if it will be much better at Fundy National Park, but we're ready to move on tomorrow, if the fog clears!

Friday, May, 24, 2013

Well, after fog and rain all night and looking at the forecast, we decided to stay two more nights. We moved to another site closer to the wifi and the laundry. I've been fighting the strong winds and rain and fording the “river” over the gravel parking area to carry laundry back and forth. I'm glad I brought the L.L. Bean Maine hunting boots that Greg bought me after we started dating. They're keeping my feet dry but not the bottom of my pants! (I won't melt...I won't melt...).

The maintenance guy I talked to said it never rains for this long a time. A few days in a row, but not a solid week, which it's been so far. The rain isn't supposed to let up until Sunday. This is part of the massive storm system that's been creeping up from the South, to the Mid-Atlanic, New England, and is covering the whole Canadian Maritimes. Newfoundland just had snow. So we'll stay put, catch up with a few postings, and relax. Watch for the rest of our Florida travels from last December coming soon.