Oh Canada! Our Day in Saint John

We had yet another beautiful sunrise the next morning as we cruised to Saint John, New Brunswick through the Bay of Fundy.

Almost there!

Another latte and almond croissant breakfast.  This time we went up to the buffet so I could have my latte in a real mug.

I will miss this breakfast!

We weren't getting into port until 11:00 am so I relaxed out on the balcony as we came into port.  We would be in port until 10:00 pm because the ship has to adjust to the tide schedule in the Bay of Fundy.

Today we would be taking a ship excursion where we would see the famous Reversing Rapids, St. Martin's Beach and Sea Caves, the site of an old fort and the Old City Market.  It was going to be a jam-packed day!

Let's go!  Nick had been under the weather for a few days so he and Kate were taking precautions.

Our wonderful tour guide, Marilyn.  She shared lots of interesting facts about the history of the area during our drive.

Some pictures Kate took along the way.

This is Split Rock at Duck Pond Beach, near St. Martins. Marilyn said that at low tide, you are able to walk between the rocks.

Our first stop was the Reversing Rapids, a series of rapids on the Saint John River, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. The semidiurnal tides of the bay force the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current when the tide is high. 

The rapids are at the site of a pulp mill so that was the backdrop for all the pictures.

We arrived at high tide.

The Reversing Falls Railway Bridge constructed in 1922.

Later in the afternoon, we viewed the rapids at low tide, where the river flows normally through the gorge creating rapids.

After the rapids, we drove out to St. Martins Sea Caves which are sandstone caves shaped by the Bay of Fundy.  Ben and I had worn our hiking shoes so that we could walk over to the sea caves.

This was my favorite spot of the day!

We had a lunch of chowder and a warm homemade biscuit, delicious!

Ben and I made our way over to the sea caves, a long walk over the rocks.  But when we got there, we saw it would be a very wet crossing to go all the way to the caves and we didn't want wet feet!

We had a little time to look around the village of St. Martins.  I had spied an ice cream shack so that is where Ben and and I went.  The ice cream was delicious, some of the best ice cream I've ever had!

This blew Cows away.

Since we had our hands full with ice cream, it was hard to take pictures.

But we can always count on Kate for great photos!

St. Martins has two covered bridges, the Hardscrabble Covered Bridge...

...and the Vaughan Creek Covered Bridge.

Do you see Ben?

St. Martins is supposedly the only place in the world where you can get a picture of two covered bridges at the same time. Kate got a great picture.

Next we stopped at Fort La Tour, a historic site containing replica buildings of what was once the site of a fortified fur trading post built by Charles de La Tour in 1631.  The fort was attacked in 1645 by de La Tour's rival, Charles de Menou d’Aulnay.  La Tour's wife, Françoise-Marie Jacquelin, heroically defended the fort for four days before surrendering.

Our last stop was the Saint John City Market, the oldest continuously operated farmer's market in Canada, built in 1876.

The market was across the street from Kings Square Park.

Some photos from the drive back to port.

In Canada, the McDonald's golden arches have a maple leaf.

Back in port, we saw the Three Sisters Light, which stands as a symbol of the original oil lamp that navigated vessels through the Eastern Channel of Saint John Harbor.

The lamps are in direct line with the steeple of Trinity Church, so that sea captains were able to navigate their way safely at night.

The red glass panels faced seaward and the white ones faced land.

Back on board, we all must have eaten something but I have no pictures.  I do know we all ended up back in the casino.

Back in our cabin, the Liberty of the Seas was preparing to sail away so we went out on the balcony to watch.

Ben and I  went to the Piazza to watch the house band perform their Rock Showcase.  

Then Ben and I were back in the casino.  I think this was the latest we stayed up the whole cruise!

We finally hit the elusive 4OAK!

Tomorrow would be another sea day and then we would visit our last port on the cruise!