Atlantic Canada Vacation Thread

[NB_ExistsToo]

I'm loving the posts and updates Zoomer!

I have lived in the province for two years and you have already gotten to see more than I have! I'm already starting to plan some short weekend trips to different parts of the province

Can't wait for Saint John!

[MonctonRad]

The only reason why NB is the "drive-thru" province is because the TCH passes through the wilderness on the way to the rest of Canada. There are actually many gems in this province, as I have learned from living here nearly 30 years.

The real game changer for peoples opinions of the province will be when the final portion of the Fundy Trail is finally completed and connected through to Fundy Park, allowing people to drive from Saint John to Moncton along the Fundy coast.

The entire drive from Saint Andrews/Saint Stephen to Sackville will be spectacular and will rival the Cabot Trail but with a couple of urban interludes (Moncton and SJ) along the way. This will be a potent counterpoint to the wilderness TCH.

[L'homard]

I'm with you. People who have yet to see the completed parts of the Fundy Trail Parkway are going to be stunned to see the finished product. As an outdoors guy, this area has been a favourite playground for decades. While I hate that I now have to share it with thousands of NBers and tourists (and a road, a damned road!!!!) I love the fact that the very best part of NB will now be discoverable to everyone.

[Ire Narissis]

I love that church in St. Quentin; the colours of the stonework and roof remind me of the Assumption Parish in Grand Falls, which is easily among my favourite church buildings in the province!

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by NB_ExistsToo

I'm loving the posts and updates Zoomer!

I have lived in the province for two years and you have already gotten to see more than I have! I'm already starting to plan some short weekend trips to different parts of the province

Can't wait for Saint John!

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing your pictures posted in this thread! There is a lot to see, and some of it not obvious, but it's out there. NB really needs to do a better job promoting itself. One thing I found strange was the lack of highways signs promoting tourist attraction sites. In the cities the street signs are comically small...impossible to read or even locate in many cases.

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by Ire Narissis

I love that church in St. Quentin; the colours of the stonework and roof remind me of the Assumption Parish in Grand Falls, which is easily among my favourite church buildings in the province!

Picture of another similar church in Drummond coming up!

[zoomer]

From St. Quentin to Fredericton today.. tomorrow Fredericton, the next day Saint John at last!

This drive is gorgeous, especially on a sunny day. It's not spectacular, it's not ocean side, but it's wonderful none the less. I enjoyed it more than the drive in to Charlottetown over the bridge. It has longer vistas, big rolling hills, beautiful colours, pristine. The highway was pretty much empty, not a lot of towns along the way. I should have taken more pictures, but I'm not sure the camera would do the subtle beauty justice.

First major stop was Grand Falls (sorry, I concentrated on the falls!):













Next stop was Drummond, a tiny farming community just past Grand Falls. We were looking for the farm my mom grew up on as a kid.





St. Michel Church in Drummond:



the graveyard across the road:



Next on to the world's longest covered bridge in Hartland. Didn't seem that long driving through it, lol.







And here's a pic of a very impressive bridge taken from in front of the covered bridge.

[Taeolas]

That bridge at Hartland is the Hugh John Flemming Bridge, named after a Premier of NB who came from that region.

The TCH used to cross the river on that bridge, until the new 4 lane highway.

Coming down the Saint John river, there are more communities then you might expect; but due to the new routing of the TCH you don't notice them as much. I would highly suggest taking the old highway (the Fiddlehead trail basically, if you follow the Fiddlehead highway markers). The highway is almost as good as the 4 lane and it takes you among the villages along the river; and often gives you some fantastic river views too.

As for your pics of Grand Falls, looks like you came at a great time. Literally a week or so before you were there, that gorge was completely full of water. It drained a bit so you could see the gorge but also still had some fantastic roaring falls through the dam.

Looking forward to your next few pics. I'm in Freddy now, and I grew up in Woodstock so I'm interested to see more of your take on Carleton County and the Capital.

[Ire Narissis]

The Hugh John Flemming bridge is one of the best-kept secrets of New Brunswick infrastructure; I absolutely love that thing.

[OliverD]

I had completely forgotten that the old TCH crossed the river up there.

[Taeolas]

A few years ago, the Flemming bridge was scheduled for extensive needed renovations, that would have seen it closed for much of a summer. I know there was a lot of concern in Hartland because they would have to either use the covered bridge to cross the river, or go up to Florenceville or down to Woodstock to cross.

Since then I hadn't heard anything further; so I don't know if they actually did the needed repairs or are still pushing it forward.

In any case, the bridge certainly is a gem; the arches are very distinctive and it is nice and high up so it is noticeable. Crossing it on the other hand was a bit of a nightmare when it was the TCH; all that truck traffic on a narrow (by today's standards) bridge was scary. The Wolastock bridge and the Jemseg bridges on the old TCH were similarly scary back in the day; now they are a dream (well Wolastock is; Jemseg is permanently closed and partly demolished now )

[MonctonRad]

Was the Woolastook Bridge a suspension bridge? I have a vague childhood memory of an impressive suspension bridge over the Upper Saint John River from when I used to visit my sister when she lived in Centreville.

This was before they created the headpond when the Mactaquac Dam was built.

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Was the Woolastook Bridge a suspension bridge? I have a vague childhood memory of an impressive suspension bridge over the Upper Saint John River from when I used to visit my sister when she lived in Centreville.

This was before they created the headpond when the Mactaquac Dam was built.

Yup, it's still there and in use too. I guess it is technically the Longs Creek bridge, but the park is right next to it, hence why I called it that.

The Pokiok Bridge leading to Nackawic is a similar suspension bridge just a bit further up river, and it actually crosses the Saint John.

*Edit* I wonder if we should start a Bridges of the Maritimes thread, separate from the Highways thread? We have some impressive bridges to show off I'm sure. Like the HJ Flemming bridge, the Halifax Harbour bridges, the Centennial Bridge up in Miramichi, Seal Island Bridge in Cape Breton, and of course the Confederation bridge. I know the main Canadian section has a Bridges thread too; but it might be nice to show off locally too, and not be drowned out by Thousand Islands and Jacques Cartiers and the Vancouver bridges.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Was the Woolastook Bridge a suspension bridge? I have a vague childhood memory of an impressive suspension bridge over the Upper Saint John River from when I used to visit my sister when she lived in Centreville.

This was before they created the headpond when the Mactaquac Dam was built.

Woolastook Bridge is in pretty great condition now, I don't know if it's been repaired at all since the realignment in 2001. It's pretty popular among residents of the campground for jumping off.

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

That bridge at Hartland is the Hugh John Flemming Bridge, named after a Premier of NB who came from that region.

The TCH used to cross the river on that bridge, until the new 4 lane highway.

Coming down the Saint John river, there are more communities then you might expect; but due to the new routing of the TCH you don't notice them as much. I would highly suggest taking the old highway (the Fiddlehead trail basically, if you follow the Fiddlehead highway markers). The highway is almost as good as the 4 lane and it takes you among the villages along the river; and often gives you some fantastic river views too.

As for your pics of Grand Falls, looks like you came at a great time. Literally a week or so before you were there, that gorge was completely full of water. It drained a bit so you could see the gorge but also still had some fantastic roaring falls through the dam.

Looking forward to your next few pics. I'm in Freddy now, and I grew up in Woodstock so I'm interested to see more of your take on Carleton County and the Capital.

In this case I think my timing was perfect.. almost down to exact hour, perfect weather, everything, lol. Well, actually early in the day would have been better, taking photos into the sun wasn't ideal. Interesting point about the gorge having drained a bit to make it more spectacular. It was awesome, could have sat there a lot longer.

Freddy pics coming up!

Speaking of bridges, here's one past Bathurst, I forget the name of it and exact location.

[zoomer]

We came into Fredericton fairly late, around 9:00 p.m. at night - this time a quick Google/Yelp search failed us, the Ramada by Wyndham hotel on the other side of the river from downtown was kind of seedy. Noisy fridge, loud humming fridge, some stains on the sheets and springs poking into your back - thank goodness we were leaving bright and early the next morning.

I actually missed the best photo shot of Frederiction, across the river looking back at downtown was a great sunset right behind the city with a steeple in shadow.. but the car was going too quick.

So this hotel.. was probably very cool back in the day when it was built, especially in the cold months. How cool would it be for young kids to go to a hotel like that and look from the balcony into the covered pool. Or cool for the parents to get liquored up and watch the kids in the pool from the balcony. Now it's just weird and creepy in a seedy part of town.



On the way into town we passed through a bit of a run down area by the river, lots of debris and damaged household goods out on the lawns for pickup after the flooding. Mind you the houses were gorgeous, beautiful heritage homes, but many neglected, maybe because they're in a flood plain? Seems like otherwise this should be prime real estate facing downtown.

First thing was to find a place for coffee and a bite to eat. Johnnie's Java.. or something like that was highly rated yet again on Yelp..but it wasn't even really a coffee shop, but scent/candles type of place with some coffee at the back, but no place to sit. Walked around a bit trying to find somewhere, asked a friendly cop who recommended Chess Piece. Not a huge selection, but nice quality and yummy looking desserts. I settled for a sandwich.



View out the window:



The city felt small, but pretty.









Love this building, who wouldn't!



NB Sports Hall of Fame:



Provincial Legislature:



Easy to appreciate this beauty. I'll have to reevaluate my fav provincial legislative buildings and see where this fits. They all look much better in person. The security barriers and very small front lawn and five or six steps stands in total contrast to the BC one in Victoria. It's almost bizarre how large and grandiose the Victoria one is, construction began in 1893, the NB one opened in 1882. The population of BC in 1891 was only 98,173 (New Brunswick was 321,233), growing to 178,657 in 1901 (NB was 331,120) 392,480 in 1911 (NB 351, 889), and then steadily onwards and upwards.

Walking back towards city hall by the river we saw how high the flooding was:





Past flood markers - guess they'll need to add a new pole now:







I thought I read somewhere that there may be plans to build a pedestrian bridge over the old foundations?! If so, that would be a major tourist attraction. So many bridges..



I saw a couple new buildings so I had to walk down there and check em out being an SSPer. Westpoint apartments:



and the condo beside it:





In the last pic you can see the dude looking over his glasses at me. He came over and asked what I was taking pictures of - 'nice new buildings' I said. Then he was willing to talk - said he was the owner, or son of the owner. Said the penthouse in the apartments were renting for $4,000 per month and the whole building was rented out. They are building two new buildings and he said there are 14 others under construction now in Fredericton.

While they do look good and fit in, there are some problems with it too. Those cheap looking garages in the back seem kinda weird. Also for the condo building you'll see the ground level is not very inviting with those short windows, there is some bad rusting/corrosion/staining on some of the pillars, and I'm not sure of the quality of the materials overall. Still, they did look cool from a distance, I just hope they age well.

Some nice neighbourhoods on the way out of town and near the university:





I took a lot of photos of Fredericton in the short time I was there.. clearly I need to go back and spend more time. While it didn't blow me away right away like Saint John did, there is a lot of beauty there, maybe it took a while to sink in. It's already a nice city and only getting better.

On the way out of town.. on December 19, 1990 one of water towers totally collapsed seconds after it was filled. It was built to be a safer replacement. Not sure the purpose of water towers nowadays..?

[riverviewer]

Originally Posted by zoomer

Not sure the purpose of water towers nowadays..?

A water tower allows cities to have less pumps. When no one is using their taps, the pressure builds in the system filling the tower. Then at peak times, when more water is needed, the tower fills the need with stored water, and pressure from gravity. And nowadays is when we need to be using less energy.

Glad you are are enjoying your visit to our area! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Taeolas]

The Hotel you stayed at is one of the older ones in the city. It was a Howard Johnsons ages ago, and used to be a roadside in. I remember mom having a teachers conference back in the 80's and taking my sister and I down to stay there. We had a room overlooking the pool area, so I (maybe 12ish or so) and my sister (8ish) would climb over the railing and go hangout at the pool and pool tables.

A kind stranger actually taught me how to play pool there while mom was at her meetings.

That route used to be on the TCH until it was rerouted; the big bridge (Princess Margaret Bridge) was another TCH bridge.

That entire area is in the flood plain. You were literally within a week or two of that area being flooded. In fact the area around the hotel you were at had water over the roads during the flooding. Going northward (back towards the city) most of those roads were closed due to the flooding for 2 weeks or so.

Fredericton's northside (where you were) is generally considered the city's 'rougher' side, but that's been changing a lot in recent years. And our 'rough' side is still much better than the bad side of the tracks in most other cities.

The Carleton Street piers you took a picture of were almost completely covered during the flooding; I think just the top ridge was still visible at the peak. The city did release a report on building a new bridge across those piers, but the cost is prohibitive (45 million give or take a bit). Basically the piers have been unmaintained since the bridge was taken down in the early 80's, and while they look solid they aren't really structurally sound.

Fredericton is a city that's still working through the cusp of "Large town/Small city" to "Actual City" transition. Its dual nature, being split by the river and developing northside/southside has prolonged that transition too I think. It means the downtown skyline doesn't really have much big impact like other cities have, but that is starting to change. Those apartments you noted and the ones right next to them are brand new, just opening in the past few years. A block inward from them, the Home Hardware with the 3 floors of apartments is also brand new. And starting this summer, we have 2 new big (6-8 stories IIRC) that should be starting, and a proposal for a 3rd one that's starting to work through the system.

Also about the second condo building you pointed out, it is intended that the ground floor should be retail/office presence, with residential in the upper floors. I'm not sure how well that is coming out, but that particular building just opened last fall, so it is still being finished off.

The security barriers in front of the legislature are a recent addition; just put in in the last year or two. Before then it was wide open from the road.

[Taeolas]

And another splash of colour. These pics were taken on April 28, the first weekend of the flooding basically. The water levels stayed high for a week after that.

From the Carleton Street pedestrian bridge, looking towards Westmoreland Street Bridge. The flood markers are visible.


The Carleton Street piers:


The flood markers:


This flood didn't go as high as the highest floods ever; but I believe it was Top 3.

And this is the area near your hotel back then:

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by riverviewer

A water tower allows cities to have less pumps. When no one is using their taps, the pressure builds in the system filling the tower. Then at peak times, when more water is needed, the tower fills the need with stored water, and pressure from gravity. And nowadays is when we need to be using less energy.

Glad you are are enjoying your visit to our area! Thanks for sharing your experience.

You’re welcome! Thanks for the info, don’t see many water towers out in BC. Ironically there is one less than a km from my place in Victoria, but it was decommissioned in 2000.

Built: 1908. Decommissioned: 2000
Height: 33.22 m.
Capacity: 412,330 litres.

In 1962 they added a 22 foot neon flame. The flame is no longer working, but there has been interest in bringing it back as it was quite the landmark being on a high point of land over downtown.