To the Lighthouse

October 8

Saint John, New Brunswick

When your directions say "Take NB 1 to NB 111," we learned that NB does not mean "Northbound."  It means "New Brunswick." This confusion could cause you to miss an exit.

After a couple of false starts we were able to reach St. Martins in about 45 minutes. It was a pleasant drive - first on a highway, and then on a winding country road with numerous steep hills. There were a few farms, a few pleasant cottages, and a few ramshackle trailer homes.

Arriving in St. Martins we encountered a very small village with charming Victorian houses, white-washed churches, and stacks of lobster pots in backyards. Past the houses was a little harbor with cute little fishing boats and more lobster pots. There was a former lighthouse with a shop in it (closed), and a picture-perfect covered bridge.

The tide is on its way out.

Around another bend we found a rocky beach from which one could view the Sea Caves. They were formed by waves eroding the sedimentary rock found here. At low tide you can walk out to the caves. The Sea Caves are part of Stonehammer GeoPark.  The GeoPark consists of 7 or 8 sites in and around St. John that have geological significance. Interpretive signage, supplemented by a website, explains each feature.  If I lived here (or if I had several days here) I would explore all of the GeoPark sites.)

We stopped at the Cave View Restaurant to try out some of their World Famous Chowder. It was early and we weren't that hungry, but we couldn't go there without trying it. It was sunny and warm - around 60 F. (The ship's weather report for the day said the high would be 45!) so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the spectacular view. The chowder was thick, creamy, and delicious, and it came with a wonderful biscuit. It was made with lobster (big chunks), haddock, and scallops. The absence of clams precluded that fishy taste and smell that clam chowder tends to have.

A very short drive brought us to the entrance to the Fundy Trail Parkway. This is another GeoPark site. The Fundy Trail is a linear park following the coastline. There is a low-speed parkway for cars and a network of multi-use trails for hikers, bikers, and wheelchairs. There are numerous picnic spots and lookouts. (In Canada they are called "lookoffs.") The day was outstaanding, and so was the Fundy Trail. It was what I expected but didn't get from the Cabot Trail. The Fundy Trail is about 12 miles long. We stopped at almost every one of the 23 lookouts. Gorgeous views at all of them. The parkway dead-ends, so we turned around and drove ack, gaining a different perspective. The traffic was very light. The leaves were the most colorful we have seen so far, but still not yet at their peak. I can't recommend this highly enough for any visitor to St. John.

Flower-pot Rock

Heading back toward St. Martins, we noticed how much the tide had gone out. This shouldn't be a surprise. Doesn't the Bay of Fundy have the most extreme tides in the world?

Now comes the lighthouse part, with apologies to Virginia Woolf. As we drove back toward St. Martins we began to see occasional blue signs with a graphic of a lighthouse and an arrow. They were official signs, not commercial-type signs.  We eventually returned to NB-111, the longish country road we had come in on. At one point we came to an intersection and there was a lighthouse sign pointing to the left. There was a tour bus turning out of the road to the left and I assumed the lighthouse would be a short distance down that road since we weren't too far from the coast.  I love lighthouses, so I said, "Let's go see it!" We kept going and we were almost to the coast the road veered to the right. We thought we might have missed the turnoff to the lighthouse but then we saw another lighthouse sign pointing in the direction we were now headed. "I guess we should keep going."

Now we were driving parallel to the coast through an open low area. We had good sight lines and we couldn't see any lighthouses. The road was not exactly a back road, but it wasn't NB-111 either. It reminded me of Farmer's Loop in Palmer. By now we had been driving on this road about 15 or 20 minutes. We were tempted to turn back, but every once in a while a tour bus would pass us going the other way or we would see a blue sign, and it made us think we were close to the lighthouse, so we continued.  

We began to turn inland. We came to a settlement (it was even called "Garnett Settlement") and a few forks in the road. We always took the road that seemed more like the main road, but there was always a niggling doubt that we were lost and we would have a 30-minute drive back to where we started our lighthouse quest. Every time we were ready to turn back there would be another tour bus or another blue sign. There wasn't much on this road so we reasoned that the buses had to be here to visit the lighthouse. I kept hoping the road we were on would loop back to NB-111. It "felt" like a loop road, but maybe things are different in Canada.  So we drove some more, and all of a sudden we were back at NB-111. Yes! It was a loop.

And guess what we saw when we reached the intersection . . . A blue lighthouse sign pointing down NB-111 towards St. John. So what was the point of the loop road??? Were we being pranked?

Anyway, we continued onward until we reached the highway and we saw a few more blue signs on the highway. When we came to the turnoff for St. John there was a blue sign pointing toward St. John. O-kaaaayyy . . .

As we approached St. John, which is on a peninsula, mostly, we didn't see any more blue signs, and we didn't see any obvious lighthouses.

We did see two decorative (?) lighthouses on a pier near the downtown tourist area. (If they were real lighthouses, why would there be two together, and why would they be so small and at the bottom of the hill?)

We did see a lighthouse on an island connected to the land by a causeway. It was not open to the public as far as I could tell.

What am I missing?

So, here's a travel tip for renters of cars. Before you leave in the car, find out where there is a gas station. This will save you a lot of time.

Carleton Martello Tower in Saint John

Bought magnet in cruise terminal, got back on ship, drank cocktails. Saw comedian Tony Daro. Didn't like him, left early. Ate dinner. Saw International Crew Show. Liked it a lot. Looked outside and saw Northern Lights. Good Night!