Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

“Like any seaport worth its salt, Saint John is a welcoming place.”

Siversea

Today, our cruise ship, Royal Caribbean, the Adventure of the Seas, docked at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. I am very excited to be here as my great grandmother on my grandfathers side was born and was raised here. How amazing to get to see this city. Looking out over Saint John, it looked like a small city with Canadian Flags flying proudly over many of the buildings. Joe and I have booked a tour through Cruise Compete to see Saint John. As we excited the ship, a bagpiper played us onto Canadian soil. I loved that. It made me think of my mom, Aunt and Grand mom who cried every time they heard the bagpipes.

After we went through customs, we headed out to find our bus for the tour. We were told Cruise Compete tours were not allowed in the parking lot where the excursions from the ship were picking up passengers. We thought that odd, but maybe that is why the excursions can be cheaper. We met up with our bus, right across the street. Our guides were very nice and told us to get comfortable in the nice smallish bus. As soon as we were all loaded up, we took off with our tour guide telling us about the sights as we went along.

We started our tour driving by some older buildings like the New Brunswick Museum (which has genealogy information), nice homes, and even a McDonald's. Note the Canadian Maple Leaf on the arches. If I had more time, I would spend it in the New Brunswick Museum looking up genealogy information about my ancestors. I guess that means another trip – hopefully driving to spend all the time we want. As we drove through historic downtown, Saint John we found out that locals call this “Uptown.”

First we went to see the Reversing Falls Rapids. They were fascinating. To see more about that stop, check my earlier blog. After leaving the falls, we headed back into the town of Saint John, which is the oldest of the five incorporated cities in Canada which includes, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Lloydminster. Saint John was founded in 1785 and looking at the city from our ship was saw it was a hilly area and looked like a fairly busy city. We drove by the City Market and were disappointed to see it was closed since it was Canada’s Labor Day, they same day as it is in the US. That was supposed to be one of our stops and our tour guide apologized profusely.

The population of Saint John is about 67,500 and is Canada’s third largest port by tonnage. Our guide told us about the 1877 fire in Saint John that started when a spark fell into a bundle of hey in Henry Fairweathers Storehouse and ignited. Nine hours later, that fire had destroyed 200 acres, 1612 structures, and killed 19 people. How awful. During the early 1800’s, many Irish immigrants came here and Saint John became nicknamed Canada’s Irish City.

He pointed out the island just off the coast of Saint John and told us that it was Partridge Island that was used to process and treat immigrants. During the 1840’s during the “Great Famine” in Ireland, they processed and treated 30,000 immigrants by visiting physicians. During the Typhus epidemic, this is the island they used to treat the illness and 1,196 died around 1847. During the 1890’s, the island processed 78.000 immigrants a year that came here for a new beginning and were examined and some treated for illnesses. There is a lighthouse on the island now and in 1927 they put a 20 foot Celtic Cross Memorial for all those who died.

Our guide, excitedly told us they had opened the City Market for a few hours so we headed to the market to check it out. This market is the oldest continuously operated farmers market in Canada. The first building was built in 1785, but was destroyed by a fire. The city market was rebuilt in 1876 and is now an attractive large brick building that was designed by J. T. C McKean and G. E. Fairweather. This newly built market was lucky enough to make it through the 1877 fire where 40% of the buildings in town were destroyed.

As we were heading to the market, our guide told us there are three things that the folks in Saint John are really proud of and are made locally. They are; Pal-o-Mine, Chicken Bones, and Dulse.

Pal-o-Mine is the first candy bar that was individually wrapped in North America and is a chocolate bar with a peanut fudge middle covered with dark chocolate and was invented back in 1920. It is produced by Ganong, which is the oldest family owned and operated chocolate company in Canada. Ganong was established in 1873 and is located in St. Stephen, New Brunswick Canada. Check them out at: www.ganong.com. It is rumored the name, Pal-o-Mine came from when Ganong and his fishing friend, Ensor would come into town they would give their left over candy to local children. One little girl would always say, “you’re a Pal of mine” every time she got a piece of this wonderful candy. Of course we bought a few of those to sample and found it is a flavorful candy bar that I would by again.

Chicken Bones is a cinnamony candy outside with a bittersweet chocolate filling inside and was invented in 1885 and is a Canadian must have for Christmas. It is made by cooking the candy in copper pot and then pouring it out on the table where it is hand kneaded. The man who hand kneads the candy is man of great prestige in the company. It is said to be an honor to be chosen. Then they place the bittersweet chocolate on top of it and put through a pulling machine. They are then cut to the perfect size. These are also made by Ganong. They are pretty good and very different. It is not overly sweet and the cinnamon adds a great flavor.

Lastly, he mentioned the Original Grand Manan Island Dulse, which is a dried red seaweed and is an acquired taste, no doubt. It is an excellent source of Vitamin B6, B12, iron and is very high in potassium. They brag that the Dulse from the Bay of Fundy is the best. It grows in the shade so as not to be sun burnt, pulled straight from the sea and placed out in a field to dry. I tasted it and was not a big fan. Joe on the other hand thought it was pretty good.

Walking through the busy market, when you look up you see it has a unique roof that is designed like an inverted ships keel and made of wooden trusses. It is an amazing structure that brings back one of the things Saint John was known for – ship building. The market is a great place to sample local and international delicacies and where the chefs come to buy the freshest meat, seafood, and produce. It is open Monday through Saturday and on occasion like today if a cruise ship is in port, it will sometimes open up for a holiday or on a Sunday.

Before getting back on the bus, Joe and I walked across the street and took a walk through King Square which was established in 1785. The King Edward VII Memorial Bandstand sits in the middle of the park and is a beautiful and unique two tier structure designed and built in 1908 for the City Coronet Band by Neil Brodie, a local architect. This is one of only two in the world like it. The other one is in Santiago, Chili. A year later after it was built, it was donated to the city of Saint John in the name of Edward VII of England. It has been used for decades. It is just beautiful and very unusual with a fountain underneath. This peaceful park was lovely with beautiful flowers and memorials. Once again we were just amazed by how well the flowers grow this far north.

This was a great tour and we learned so much about the history of this area. If you are looking for a great tour, this one is worth your time. We give it a big thumbs up. We enjoyed Saint John and hope to be back. Good bye for now.