Welcome to the USA!
October 13
Morning in Fundy was foggy and drizzly. After a good full day of rest we headed south!
Within a short time we were whizzing past St. John in brightening skies and it's reversing river and on the way to Saint Andrew, New Brunswick, the last Canadian town before crossing the big frontier to foreign lands.
Saint Andrew is what I always thought that a maritime coastal town should be, bright sun shining, wide streets, quaint churches and buildings everywhere, very few cars and falling autumn leaves litter the streets. Everyone in town seems to know everyone else. The town is sort of shutting down for the season, the tourist related businesses at least, some places are shut, some won't.
The Algonquin Hotel looks like it belongs to a bygone Era but is in good shape and dominates the town. We had lunch in the parking lot behind the closed visitor Bureau and then strolled the streets.
Soon we were on the way to see Uncle Sam, passing the Island of St. Croix where the first French visitors spent the winter of 1604, all male, some boys as young as 12. Those that survived the winter moved to Port Royal in the spring. Nobody from Europe had experienced a Canadian winter before.
Soon we were in Calais, USA, [like the French City]. But here it is called Calus, like a blister, but spelled Calais. ???
There was one car ahead of us in the line. The US customs officer was like the pleasant people who used to work the borders around Vancouver pre 9/11, polite, friendly and made us feel welcome, he didn't even scan our passports. He asked us where we were going and said we were lucky, then he told us to stay out of trouble and have a safe journey. We spent more time at the toll bridge in St. John throwing 25c into the basket than we did at the border.
Next to the tourist office in Blister, [Calus], then to Eastport for the night, 50 K's away. We had the pick of the campsite, right on the Bay of Fundy with eagles, commorants and all sorts of good stuff in our front yard. Eastport is the Most Easterly City in the US, they proudly proclaim. There are towns more easterly a bit, but no cities. It is a very quaint seaport, stuck in the 1890s. It needs a coat of paint and a new chamber of commerce however.
Off to get groceries, inasmuch as we came across without any food in our larder to avoid being sent to Guantanamo Bay for six years for trying to bring toxins into the country. A wireless Internet connection failed to yield results after a half hour of trying. AOL and Peabody Library, built in 1897, don't mix. Oh well, at least we can have protein for dinner tonight. No mad cow down here you know.
Seriously, it's good to be here, it is indeed a good country to have as a neighbour.
Photos, Saint Andrews; Main Street, harbour front, churches, Algonquin Hotel, Eastport Harbour and our front yard for the day.
posted by Doug and Fellette @ 1:44 PM
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