Today is Sunday. Let me try to catch you up on what's been happening since Thursday evening when I last wrote. On Friday I had a delightful visit with the chair of the sociology department here at UNB. Then, back with the family, we went out for a nice lunch downtown. So far the hotel and two restaurants have had "toy chests" where kids get to choose something. You can imagine what a big hit that is! Afterwards the skies cleared and we started at City Hall - there's a tourist office there - walked past the Historic Garrison District, down to the bridge, out to the middle of the St. John river, back down a few blocks, past some wonderful old homes, and back to the car. From there we made the obligatory trip to a bookstore. All in all we had a terrific day in Fredericton and got a much better feel for the area.
On Saturday we got up early, battled a busload of tourists who were trying to grab breakfast and get out of the hotel, and went to the W.W. Boyce Farmers' Market. To say it was terrific is an understatement. Cheese, meats, baked goods, produce - organic and not, woodcarvers, Birkenstocks, photographers, earrings, knitted caps, hula-hoops... you name it. And that doesn't include the samosa, mini-doughnut, waffle, kabab, and fresh squeezed orange juice vendors - to name a few. We walked away with strawberries, kettle korn, a fabric fortune cookie, mini-doughnuts, date bars, and two samosas. But, the real surprise was the guy who had St- Viateur bagels shipped in from Montreal. I had brought some back with me last summer and E loved them! So, yes, we picked up a bag of those, too. Needless to say we wouldn't starve on our road trip, even if we did run out of gas!
Around 9 am we headed out of town. We had planned to spend the day in the St. George- St. Stephen area, but when it looked like the skies were going to remain clear we decided to go to Hopewell Rocks. Fortunately I realized that Mapquest probably only gives you the fastest or "most-highway" route and decided to veer off and down through Fundy National Park. Oh my, but when you crest the road and see the bay in front of you- wow. It was spectacular. We drove through the park and east. We then spent the day at Hopewell Rocks, arriving minutes after low tide and leaving minutes before "official" high tide. We walked several trails, had lunch, and just "hung out." 6YO used his new "bug viewer" to catch and release ants, grasshoppers, flies, etc. The big attraction is the area with the "Flower Pot rocks." We also walked down the path to Demoiselles Beach. We didn't run into a soul going down or back. Down at the beach you could see how quickly the tide was coming in. I let a wave wash over my toes. That was just fun - to have the Bay of Fundy washing over my feet. Around 6:30 we made our way back via Moncton, returning to the hotel around 9. All in all, a great day.
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