A Tale of 3 Cities - New Brunswick Style

We all know that Canada is a beautiful place and BC is a famously beautiful province with Vancouver being a top-rated international city. But after our trip around New Brunswick, I am starting to see just how much more Canada has to offer in its greatest city competition. Fredericton, Moncton, and St John are all amazing cities. Each has its own personality and qualities that make them gems in Canada and must be visited by any good Canadian or other traveler.  

We will start with Fredericton, the smallest of the three but still amazing. It has been the capital of New Brunswick since 1785, Vancouver became a city in 1886 over a hundred years later. French fur traders used the city in the late 1600s and of course, the Wolastoqey and Mi’kamq peoples had used the land for thousands of years before the French and British arrived. Making this city along the Saint John River a fantastic place rich with history, architecture and one of the best city walks in Canada. Let’s start with that city walk. We started on the North Side of the river with downtown across the water from us. From here it was a nice walk on the North Riverfront Trail to Westmorland Bridge which has a good pedestrian walk and bike access. The river is beautiful and you can see the old stone bridge pillars from the 1700s still in the river. Once on the other side, the South Riverfront Trail traverses downtown Fredericton. The New Brunswick Legislative Building is just a two-minute walk off the riverfront and dates back to the late 1800s. Continuing along the trail there are gardens, sculptures, and restaurants. Eventually, you reach The Fredericton Railway Bridge, now converted to The Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge, an amazing walking/biking bridge that leads to one of the best brewpubs that I have been to. It is right along the river with a huge outdoor seating area and dogs are not only welcome but they actually brew a Bone Broth Ale for your best friend. Just a fantastic spot to sit, drink, and eat. Zorro did not like his beer but the other dogs around us seemed to enjoy it. 

Next up is Moncton. Moncton is about an hour away from the Confederation Bridge to PEI and about 40 min away from Nova Scotia making it a must-stop on your maritime road trip. In April I had driven my truck up to my folks' place and left it there, my brother Brad came over and we drove back to his place in Lockepor,t Nova Scotia with a stopover in Moncton. Moncton has this really cool old town area that is full of funky restaurants, a brewery, shops and access to the Petitcodiac River. A friend of Nikki’s lives in Moncton so we met up with him at his son’s restaurant. Black Rabbit is a funky multi-course restaurant where you can just sit and enjoy the chef’s food and wine pairings. Excellent food and company made for a great night out. It is also the largest city in New Brunswick and one of the oldest, first settled in 1733, making it rich in history. Unfortunately, we only stopped here twice so we did not get a good chance to fully explore the area. Next time. 

Saint John is the second largest city in New Brunswick and is also steeped in history and stories. In fact this is the oldest incorporated city in all of Canada. First settled in 1604 by the French and given its name after Saint John the Baptist. Situated along the St John River or the Wolastoq as the indigenous peoples called it. made Saint John a major port and battleground between the French and the British, with the British finally winning. Being so close to the United States and being under British control made it a refugee center for Americans fleeing the newly independent United States of America. These people wanted to remain loyal to the British and their influx into the small city changed it immensely by making it one of the major ports of Canada. It is full of old architecture, beautiful river walks, a few remains of old forts, shops, restaurants, and breweries. Again we spent only a day here but I have it on my must-visit again list when I get back to the East Coast.  

As fantastic as these three cities are, it is the small towns and tourist stops all over the province that truly make New Brunswick a special place. In total, we drove over 1500 km around the surrounding areas that my parents will soon call home. Their home in Cambridge-Narrows on a beautiful lake is the perfect place as we are less than an hour from the three major cities and just over an hour to all these other fantastic little towns. 

The more that we see of the Maritimes the more we are falling in love with the area. Bob and Sharon arrive soon so we are off to Halifax to pick them up and start our tour of the next Maritime Province of Nova Scotia. Tune in and I will tell you all about it.