Real Estate, New Brunswick style

So, the mountains of WNC are not the only place where large tracts of undeveloped land are being subdivided. But, at $75K for 10 acres, this development seems like quite a deal. And it's pretty far away from anywhere, too. Then, there was a church for sale in downtown St. John, no price listed. Can you think of something to do with an old church in St. John, NB? I can't, unless it's to open it back up as a church. Wow.

St. John

St. John was not exactly what I expected. It is a very large and industrialized city. At some point in the late 1800's, and early 1900's, there was a LOT of money pouring into the city from both the fishing and lumber industries. The architecture is simply amazing, with many fine old homes, apartment buildings and churches. St. John is also famous for Reversing Falls, where the nearly 30 foot tides cause the St. John River to reverse flow. In the town centre, I decided to walk around and do a little street photography, something I don't do very often and don't feel really comfortable doing it. Here are some assorted photos from that little walkabout. I visited an art gallery with some nice work, and the city parks are nice and well maintained, though many of the buildings are in various states of decay or reconstruction. I ended up at the St. John Market where I bought some dulse (seaweed) to eat, and encountered a friendly merchant there who invited me to go up the stairs for a comprehensive view of the market, and when I came down, he gave me a souvenir of St. John. It was a button-on-a-string toy, but the button was made of red clay from the Bay of Fund. I'll try to put up a few of the architecture photos at some point.

Friday in New Brunswick

Jo and her mentor and students headed out to Deer Island (again.)




I headed out fairly early to explore a bit. Found an abandoned bridge where I photographed loons and seaweed harvesters. I believe the seaweed is knotted wrack and is used as fertilizer in organic farming. A stop in St. George and a little accidental exploring took me to the falls and the power plant. There is also a fish ladder there for salmon and alewives. From there I went on to Beaver and Blacks Harbours. At Beaver there is a rock quarry on a cliff right next to the bay. At Blacks', there is a large seafood operation, mainly salmon, I think. The ferry to Grand Manan leaves from there as well. If you want to photograph fishing boats, or just boats of any kind, this is the place. It began to rain, so I headed to St. John, a large city that is quite a contrast to the rest of what I have seen in N.B. More on that later.

Thursday afternoon in St. Andrews by the Sea

While Jo was out with her painting group, I played hooky. Napped in the morning, then went into town for fish and chips, and a walkabout. Lots of touristy shops, a few galleries, and a bunch of restaurants. Oh yeah, and a Great Canadian Dollar Store where I purchased a couple of $1 LED flashlights with real Canadian money, and all in coin. While there are lots of great old buildings, the wharf area was pretty interesting. I talked with a fellow who sailed a quarter million dollar sailboat for the owners who are in their mid-80's. In an area like this, it's easy to view boats as more than shipping and recreation. The painting on the side of a building reminded me of this and it's easy to see why the region is called the Maritimes. There are lots of relics in the water around the wharf, visible at low tide, but most interesting was all of the sea life. Seaweed and mussels abound, but I found some sea stars congregating beneath one of the pilings. Exploring around a bit, I found a wet area around a little creek full of goldenrod, cattails and some purple flowers that I do not recognize, but it was spectacular. Tomorrow I plan to be a little more productive!

I have yet to find a way to organize the photos, they just show up where they want, in no particular order.
Ed!

Fishing vessels and lobster pots

Deer Island is as picturesque as you might imagine the Maritime fishing villages to be. You can see the lobster pounds in the background. This is where they keep lobsters alive after they catch them. Since the season is only a few months long, they can catch them now, sell them later at higher prices when they are out of season. The bird is a Bonaparte's gull in non-breeding plumage, the only gull that regularly nests in trees.

Wildlife of Acadia

We have yet to see any large ungulates or bruins, but were excited to see a LIVE porcupine (as opposed to roadkill porcs, which are fairly common--can you get a flat from running over a porcupine?) Also, a red squirrel or boomer eating a red spruce cone.

Eastport, ME, Deer Island, NB

Tuesday was spent traveling up the Maine Coast to Eastport, an old port and sardine cannery town.
There were an amazing amount of OLD structures from homes to businesses and canneries. We stayed at a B&B with some very nice folks, the house was over 200 years old and really a museum of itself. For dinner we got a good deal on softshell lobster (2 each!) Well, Jo ended up with a "squirty" one, full of green juice. Let's just say that she likes lobster, but from now on will eat the "Lazy Man's" dinner. At the restaurant, just before dinner was served, we were treated to a spectacular full rainbow in the east, and part of another one (double rainbows occur near sunset) and an orange atomic sunset in the west--I did not have my camera.... :>(

The weather today was amazing and we had the ferry to ourselves on the way to Deer Island. We had to pass through Canadian "customs" on the way. It was one guy, in a simple blue uniform, very relaxed, who asked where we were from and where we were going and what did we have to declare. I didn't even have to get out of the car, there was NO I.D. check! On the other hand, it took 2 U.S. customs agents in wrinkle-free uniforms with Kevlar vests under them and all sorts of black gadgets hanging off them (and side arms) to examine the passports of a couple on foot pushing a baby carriage which contained a poodle wearing a T-shirt. (I kid you not--see photo!)

We passed through several small fishing villages on Deer Island. Quaint might be the word. There were lobster pounds and herring weirs here and there. So far, all the Canadians we have met have been exceeding friendly and helpful. We have seen 3 bald eagles, a couple of seals, osprey, but no whales.

We are staying at the Algonquin Hotel, pretty old, no air conditioning, but comfortable enough. Jo has met her mentor for the week and will be painting with him tomorrow. I have no plans, except to take some photos.

The other photo is from Tuesday evening in Eastport, taken through the window of a waterfront business. I'll try to post more scenic photos later!
Ed