St. Andrews by-the-Sea has long been renowned for its golf course. Its latest addition is a new aquarium at Huntsman Marine Center. 

We were greeted by men in kilts at the area’s signature hotel, the Algonquin, popular with guests of all ages for its resort facilities and dining, including afternoon tea.

We strolled past grand historic homes on the nearby tree-lined streets and visited the Kingsbrae Gardens  before returning to the hotel for dinner. 

Ministers Island is named for the Loyalist parson, Reverend Samuel Andrews, who built a stone home in 1791 that still stands. 

It is accessed by driving or cycling over the ocean floor during low tide or kayak or shuttle boat  in between.

 It was the summer home of railway magnate Sir William Van Horn. 

Van Horn used sandstone cut from the beach to build his fifty room mansion, Covenhaven, and the circular bathhouse from which he loved to draw and paint. 

Van Horn meticulously maintained his animals, including prize-winning Clydesdale horses and Dutch belted cattle in an enormous barn. Milk, fresh butter, and fruits and vegetables were produced here to supply this and his Montreal home. 

We had the opportunity to bicycle, kilts optional, with Off Kilter Biking Tours, run by personal trainer Kurt Gumushel and artist Geoff Slater, who created area murals and is known for his single line paintings. 

They provide high-end bicycles and custom made biking  kilts, a bit shorter than conventional ones, should you choose to wear one.

The enthusiast duo combine the area’s renowned mountain biking and Scottish heritage with a tour customized to interests and ability.

We booked a Bay of Fundy whale watch aboard the tall ship Jolly Breeze... 

and spotted sunbathing seals...                                                  

bald eagles, finback whales, and sea birds. When the season is right, there are also puffins, right whales, and humpbacks. 

We learned about salmon cages and herring weirs. 

There was a touch tank as well as pirate-themed activities for children.

For dinner, there’s none finer than the Rossmont Inn on Route 127, a manor house on 87 acres that includes Chamcook Mountain, the highest point in the Passamaquoddy Bay area. 

Graziella Aerni runs the 18 room inn, and her husband,  Chef Chris Aerni creates his menu daily from the freshest available products of the land and sea--regional catches, his own organic vegetables, herbs, and handpicked wild foods like fiddleheads, and chanterelles that Chef Aerni forages from his own acreage and mountain.  Ask about the tasting menu. to savor the best of the day's finds.

New Brunswick

story by Linda Fasteson
photography by Roger Fasteson