In my “Staycation NB Series,” I posted about The Mighty Miramichi River, the Acadian Peninsula, and now I will tell you about St. Andrews-by-the-Sea. I just came back from a mini vacation at the historic Algonquin Resort. It was built in 1889 and it is one of the Marriott Hotel’s Autograph Collection. The hotel was named after an indigenous tribe in Canada, “Algonquin.” The resort looks like a castle with its peak red roofs and black trim. It is a beautiful sight to see. The hotel has a hot tub that my parents loved, an indoor pool and a water slide. It has elegant rooms with comfy beds, and it also has an outdoor pool and a golf course. We come there at least once a year, and this was my fifth time. The food at the Braxton Restaurant is always delicious. Last year we had a Thanksgiving Brunch here, and the food was so good! My parents booked a King Suite so I invited my friend, Kaylia to come along and we had a great time. My dad says that we wore out the water slide because we slid on it a lot. We also got our own room with a pullout couch and TV. At night, we loaded up on snacks and went to bed at 11:00 PM. It was pretty fun!

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The Algonquin is located in St. Andrews By-The-Sea, St. Andrews is a picturesque seaside town. https://standrewsbythesea.ca/ When we stay at the Algonquin, we go to town to see the sights as well. St. Andrews is a popular spot for whale watching. We went on the Jolly Breeze Tall Ship once and it was so fun! They served us hot chocolate and pea soup because it was cold that morning. If you ever go whale watching, make sure to check the weather before you book your whale watching tour. The deckhand on our ship showed us some sea creatures. I got to hold a sea cucumber, a star fish, a sea urchin, and a lobster. As for the whales, we saw one that swam right under the ship!

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There are lots of other things to do at St. Andrews, like shopping around the main street in the many colorful shops. You can also buy some souvenirs made by local artists, and play on the awesome wooden playground. There is also a campground if you feel like going camping. It’s beautifully located overlooking the ocean. If you ever go to St. Andrews, be sure to stop at Kingsbrae Garden. There are little houses to play in, lots of beautiful plants, a gift shop, and there are tons of colorful flowers. Don’t forget to bring your camera. There are also historic houses, museums, and an aquarium to visit. I will tell you more about it in my next post.

Another place to visit is Minister Island. It was the summer home of William Van Horne, President of Canada Pacific Railway in 1888. He had the entire island to himself. You can visit the house and walk on trail along the island. To get to the island, you drive across the ocean floor. ”How do you that?” you might ask. Well, when the tide goes out, you can drive across the ocean floor. There’s this sand bar that only comes out at low tide, so when the tide is out you can go and drive across the sandbar. It’s just like a man made bridge! It was low tide when we drove by so we watched the clam diggers dig for clams. They had bucket loads of clams.

We also visited the St. Andrews Blockhouse National Historic Site. It’s a wooden blockhouse with lots of holes in the walls for guns to poke through. You can go inside, but due to COVID-19 you can’t go in right now. There are cannons pointed at the Americans because this blockhouse was built by the townspeople during the war of 1812 in anticipation of a seaborne attack. You can see from the picture below, it’s only a narrow river, St. Croix River, separating Canada from the USA.

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I hope you get to visit St. Andrews-by-the-Sea when traveling is safe. You can stay at the Algonquin Resort, and experience some Canadian Hospitality. You can visit the museums and the quaint little town. There’s something for everyone! That’s it for this post, stay tuned for more!

Pictures are edited by: Glen Rodd