[Days 8 & 9 ] Wednesday & Thursday, June 24, 25, Saint John, NB (17km)

Origin: Rothesay Motel, Rothesay, NB
Destination: 1 Chipman Hill, Saint John, NB

Route Description: We followed Hwy 100 into the commercial fringe of Saint John, continuing to enjoy the excellent bike lane provided by the town of Rothesay and fair bike lanes in the outskirts of Saint John. The route provides fine views of the lower St. John river. Not being enthusiastic about our own route to our lodging, we took a busy, urban route recommended by a local shop owner. Once we crossed the causeway and were on Union St, we recognized from our Google street views, 

the distinctive building and entry of our lodging. As in Fredericton, almost everything we wanted to see was within a few blocks of our lodging, Chipman Suites.

Both days gave us beautiful weather: sunny skies and a cool breeze.

Despite the short ride to begin our 1 & 1/2 days of tourism, our Wednesday midday departure had us refreshed and eating a late lunch of quiche and salad at the City Market in historic, Uptown Saint John about 2:30. A national historic site, named Canada's 2013 Great Public Space,

the market space is roofed with the inverted timbering of the hull of a ship--reflecting the city's golden age of ship-building. In her market wandering, Marney sampled Dulse, 

a tasty seaweed snack, reportedly harvested at low tide "only in New Brunswick and Ireland". Not wanting to be identified with the cruise ship's 2500 passengers roaming the streets, we kept a low profile while enjoying the historic center and the Harbor Walk.

Thursday morning we spent a couple of hours watching the impact of the tidal change at the Reversible Falls. At its northern extreme, the Bay of Fundy rises 52 ft. Here in Saint John, it changes about half that--still an impressive phenomenon. 

It's hard to describe how friendly, sincere and eager to inform are the people we have met in New Brunswick. A few of the many we have met in Saint John include: 
Rebecca, 
a delightful guide to the whale exhibit in the New Brunswick Museum taught us about baleen whales.
Harold Richardson, 

this bus driver brought us back from the Reversing Falls to Kings Square. In his 10 minutes waiting to begin his next circuit, he shared detailed stories about the city's places, events and people and showed us how to use the bus' bike rack.
Santos Aruyan Suarez, 

a Cachequel Guatemalan, emigrated first to Mexico in the 70's and then to Saint John in the 80's. He has a food stand in the market and owns the restaurant, Taco Pica, where we had a drink on Wednesday and dinner Thursday. We shared stories! 

Side story:
Marney, while visiting the 1904 Carnegie
Library, now Art Center, was invited to participate in the women's book group to discuss Wild. She politely declined. Then she preared to leave, a volunteer at the front desk shared one of her birthday cupcakes just presented by fellow volunteers.