Oh Canada! Where Pines and Maples Grow!   Yes!  Another Canada Adventure!  This time to a never been before Providence,  New Brunswick.  The Bay of Fundy has been on my “to go” list for awhile.  
I found a Friendship Tours/Peter Pan Coach trip with a great itinerary.  Two of my “gripes” with group travel, by Coach (not bus, Coach has a “facility”,  WiFi and very comfortable seats) #1  is not having enough time at stops … #2 is sitting on the Coach (not couch, the seats aren’t that comfortable) for long periods of time.   No “griping” this time! 

Day One – Our Lunch stop is in Portland, Maine.  We have two hours to get lunch (on our own ) and explore this cute “fishing village”.

    I’m traveling with my brother, Dave.  We are both “picky, picky, picky” eaters.  No “griping” here, every culinary cuisine is covered..  We chose Three Dollar Dewey’s, 241 Commercial St..   Great food!  A bit more than $3, but reasonable.

First night .. Holiday Inn 404 Odlin Rd, Bangor Maine – just a clean place to lay our heads.  Dinner and breakfast were included and the food was good and our “pickiness” accommodated. No griping!
Day 2
Entering Canada … A very weird Border Stop.  When we pulled up we thought the crossing was closed.  No cars, no people, the doors were locked.  We didn’t have a reservation!  We didn’t have forms (now required) filled out.  We were treated very kindly, allowed entry without incident, without delay.   The current political tension between Canada and the U.S. is very disconcerting. BUT, throughout our entire time in Canada, not once did we encounter anything but friendliness, kindness and respect.  Hopefully, we all left the same impression of Americans.   
 First Stop … Kingsbrae Garden 220 King Street, St Andrews New Brunswick, Canada ….Two and a half hours to tour the Gardens and get lunch on our own.  The sculpture gardens were my favorite.

We had plenty of time to tour the gardens and take a quick 5 minute walk to Downtown St Andrew, another quaint fishing town.  We had packed a picnic lunch from “breakfast leftovers” and ate on a picnic table Oceanside, but there were many restaurants to choose from.

Our hotel for the next three nights is the Hilton St John, 1 Market Square, St John, New Brunswick the only hotel in St. John right on the water/Harbour Passage Du Port (Bay Walkway that goes from Downtown to the Reversing Falls). A real novelty, is the hotel is attached to the “Pegway System, which runs underground to the City Market and shopping mall.  This type of system is common in Canada, making it easier to get around during in-climate weather.    My favorite “walk to” is the “506 Container Village”, an outdoor plaza of shops and restaurants surrounding a stage area used for performances.

Day 3   We have an awesome Local Hop on Tour Guide, Mike, for a very interesting/historic tour of St John, the City Market and Reversing Falls.  Silly me, I thought the “reversing” was done at the same time.  I was wrong, it reverses every 6 hours with the tides, so we were only going to get to see low tide, one way, BUT, our awesome Coach Driver, Phil, offered to take us back 6 hours later so we could see the reverse high tide. When we arrived at 9:00 a.m.  there was a very thick fog cover. 

Imagine our surprise 6 hours later when we arrived with no fog!  A big old ugly pulp plant!  But, the flow was reversed.

Although, the view through the fog was more appealing at low tide (more rapid like  )  at high tide (calmer water) entertainment was provided by seals and cormorants swimming backwards catching and eating fish. It was amazing.  
Suggestion:  if you go and can only see one tide, go to high tide.  While walking the Au Du Port Passage  we walked by a wandering deer. 

 Lunch is on our own and we chose Rocky’s Sports Bar, 7 Market Square. 
Dinner was at  Lily’s Lakeside on … Lily Lake!  

Day 4   
Full day Tour … Bay of Fundy … Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!  Hopewell Rocks National Park is not in St John near the Reversing Falls.  Silly me, again!  I thought Bay of Fundy was quite a bit smaller.  Nope, in order to  “Walk on the Bottom of the Sea”  it’s a 2 1/2 – 3 hour ride from St John!  Yes, it was worth every minute of the ride.  The photos don’t do the experience justice.  Walking along the bottom of the sea through the mud, rocks and seaweed was amazing.  
The sculptured rocks must be Mother Natures ruse to keep Poseidon at “Bay”.  Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!  



Our Lunch Stop was at The Albert County Museum. A delicious buffet lunch was served in the historic County Meeting House. Then we were escorted through several of the Museum buildings.  I loved the Courthouse and “Goal” (jail)

Day 5
Border Stop … Leaving Canada is the same “ghost town” as when we arrived.  The Duty Free shop had only one employee and very little inventory.  
Next stop … Downtown Bar Harbor for 3 hours to Walk along the Ocean find lunch and shop. 

Our home away from home for the next two nights … The Atlantic Oceanside Hotel 119 Eden St Bar Harbor, Maine  Wow! Wow! Wow!  Below is the view from the balcony of our Oceanside room! 

And then the fog rolled in!  still beautiful! 

Day 6
Acadia National Park … Our hop on tour guide, Mark, did a fabulous job entertaining 40 Tourists for 3 1/2 hours touring Acadia in a fog sometimes so thick you could cut it with a knife!  We were entertained and learned a great deal of history, but a little disappointed.  
That afternoon as the fog lingered about, the rest of our travel companions chose to go on the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company Lobster and Seal Watch Cruise that was part of the itinerary.  Dave and I chose to adventure out on our own and head into Acadia via the Free Island Explorer Shuttle System.  in my opinion this is the BEST way to see Acadia.  The shuttle system offers routes through Bar Harbor, Mountain Desert Island and Acadia.  We went into the park and got off at Sand Beach, then walked the 2.2 mile Ocean Path to Otter Point. If you don’t do anything else in Acadia, do not miss this.  Even with a bit of fog still around the views were breathtaking! 

Day 7
The fog has lifted, with still some cloud cover, but we could not miss the opportunity to catch the sunrise and then head for home.  Another amazing adventure!