Scenic St. Andrews by the Sea

We had a 140 mile drive to St. Andrews by the Sea, in New Brunswick, Canada.  It was a pretty drive as we followed fellow caravaners on the road.  

There was a traffic jam at the last fuel stop in the USA.  Diesel fuel was 2.93/gal. and they tell us it will be much more expensive in Canada, so everyone stopped to fill up both the RV and the car before we hit Canada. 

Seems like we always have a story about crossing the border, and today is no exception.  The guard pointed out that our passports weren’t signed!!  We’ve made two border crossings with that passport and nobody mentioned it.  With such a detailed review, I wonder if the guard has accounting in her background?  We signed the passports before being asked the standard questions.(but, no questions about fruit and vegetables, and we were able to tell them no pepper spray).  As she was clearing us to go, she asked about the vehicle height which we were able to tell her right away because we have it posted on our dash.  12’8”.   As we looked ahead, we saw the arched pass with a posted clearance of 12’6”.  Aargh!  She had to call another officer and two came out to meet us-- they stopped traffic and directed us around the side through an alternate exit.  Whew! 

Apparently we didn’t consume enough wine last night.  The couple in our group that treated us to the wine was pulled over to pay duty on excess alcohol (or give it up).  It cost them $142, which they decided was cheaper than having to buy it again!

We finally arrived at Oceanfront Campground which certainly fulfills its name.  It’s a stretch of land that is surrounded on three sides by the sea…just beautiful!  There is a nice, almost cool breeze coming across the water, but the sun warms the air. The city of St. Andrews by the Sea is small and picturesque. 

Our adventure for the day did not begin until 6pm.  We had to wait for the tide to go out so that we could drive across a sandbar to Minister’s Island.  This huge island estate was the summer home of Sir William Van Horne, builder of the Canadian Pacific Railway.  Even though we drove ourselves across the sand bar, we had a guide, and part of her responsibility was to get us back before the tide came in; otherwise the path would be under water and we would be stuck for the next 6 hours until the tide goes out again!

It was almost eerie driving across the sandbar, knowing it had been under water just an hour ago.  I thought it would be mushy, but it was not, even though there were occasional puddles of water along the way, and lots and lots of seaweed.

 

 

We arrived at the island and went on a tour of the 50-room house which had unbelievable views.  What a great summer “cottage” this would have been. 

 

 

 

 

It used the windmill to pump it’s water from a well, and the water was stored in an old tanker car that was buried underneath the ground, and the water was piped to the house! (Being the President of the railroad, he knew where he could get one of those cars!)   The property included a 3-story horse barn, a creamery, a carriage house, a bath house, a garden house and a greenhouse.  What an interesting place, and hard to imagine that it was built in 1892! 

We will have more time tomorrow to tour the city of St. Andrews by the Sea and enjoy the beautiful scenery.