June 26, 2023-St. John, New Brunswick, and Bar Harbor, Maine

June 26, 2023

We started the morning with a guided bus tour of St. Johns, learning about its very interesting history. St Johns is the only city located on the Bay of Fundy. On the other side, the St John River meets the Kennebecasis River. So lots of water. The Irving family (Irving gas stations) owns a big, paper mill there. The river was critical in transporting timber up/down the St John river. It became the biggest employer in the area. There are definitely issues with "depositing hazardous substances" into the environment. Their website, however, touts that due to their "long-term strategy to reduce, reuse and recycle, the Pulp & Paper Division is ahead of the environmental targets".

We went to the Fallsview Park, which overlooks the St Johns River as it flows into the Bay of Fundy. At this point, the tides from the Bay force the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current when the tide is high. The "Falls" are created by a series of underwater ledges, thus the name The Reversing Falls.

We crossed the border back into the US at Calais, Maine. Then drove on to Bar Harbor. We had the afternoon and evening off, and our Inn was right on the water- the Mt Dessert Narrows. We had a 4th floor room with a balcony with rocking chairs overlooking the ocean. It was a bit foggy and overcast, so the sea and the horizon blended together. A lot of Road Scholar folks went into touristy Bar Harbor to explore, but we had been there before, so chose to "take the time off" I had a nice walk along the grounds of the inn, along the water. We decided to just eat dinner in the bar/lounge of the Inn. When we walked in, we discovered that a lot of other Road Scholar folks had come back from town and had decided to do the same thing. So, we had a nice, chatty dinner.

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