The Freeze-Dried Charm of St. Andrews by the Sea

It’s been 35 years since I last visited St. Andrews by the Sea, and I’m hard pressed to observe significant change to the sleepy village. Snuggled against the state of Maine, this antique summer resort town overlooks Passamaquoddy Bay in New Brunswick’s most visited tourist area.

Founded by Loyalists, its first hundred years is a history of failure as a manufacturing centre and port. St. Andrews experienced economic success only when it started developing as a resort town in the 1880s. Beautiful white, clapboard summer homes grew up along the hillside. Gentle folk could sit on covered verandas enjoying the long maritime view unspoilt by waterside industry. It seems like the community, once born, skipped over its adulthood and just parked itself in retirement. Today, this colonial charm is freeze-dried and smartly packaged. Town planners know their tourist market.

Fairmont Algonquin Hotel

I watch as senior citizens file out of tour buses originating in Boston and claim their rooms at the gracious Fairmont Algonquin Hotel. I look past the group, over the groomed lawns appointed with Adirondack chairs. In my mind’s eye, I can see my mother in 1968 taking tea with her own mother who was near 80 at the time. Mom didn’t have a lot of money then but she splurged here. It’s the best gift she could give her aging parent, to spend time together in a place where time itself is honoured and afternoons melt slowly. I feel sad to have missed treating my mother to a weekend as she had done with my grandmother.

On this golden day in autumn, I admire the iconic face of the Tudor-style mansion which has remained largely the same for more than a century now, even though ownership has changed several times. There’s a palpable sense of continuity here. Ernesto, a young hospitality intern praises the Algonquin for how it treats its staff. He appreciates that while it’s a grand hotel, it’s not as big as others among his placements, and management can make more time for training young people.

As we walk away from the hotel, I reflect on how “time” factors into the experience of St. Andrews by the Sea.

Kingsbrae Garden

We arrive at the Kingsbrae Garden, New Brunswick’s newest attraction, just down the street from the Algonquin Hotel. Opened in 1998, the 27-acre Kingsbrae Garden is designed for the seniors’ marketplace. Its wide pathways are wheelchair or walker-friendly and there are raised beds with plantings identified in Braille. “Red Fridays” are practiced at the garden where veterans and active serving military get free admission. On July 1, the garden hosts a ceremony in front of its memorial to those fallen in Afghanistan.

It’s late for the tourist season. Many boutiques and restaurants will close up next month and the village will be reclaimed once more by its 1800 permanent residents. Locals are already starting to outnumber visitors in the diner, disseminating the latest news that a young bear was spotted on Montegue Street heading towards the public library.

As we walk, I fall prey to St. Andrews most popular, but least understood tourist trap. I start imagining myself living here. I window shop the real estate offices. I mentally try on the lifestyle when my eyes land on a four-bedroom, three bathrooms 1859 renovated property offered at $259,000. In my pre-retirement strategizing years, I wonder about running a B&B. My husband quickly gives me an antacid lozenge and the feeling passes.

There’s no epiphany for me here, no radical change will occur. I’ve learned over years of travel to just enjoy trying on a lifestyle in my head. I know that the St. Andrews by the Sea village won’t fill the next chapter in my life, but how lovely if it would. (by C. Moisse at maturetraveler.blogspot.com)

My Travel Recommendations
Fairmont Algonquin Hotel

It’s not as expensive as I feared to stay at the Fairmont Algonquin Hotel. We paid $129 for a Saturday night. The room was in the main building, updated with a view to keeping the old look and feel, comfortable enough though a bit small. At a higher price level, the rooms become more spacious and the suites on the top floor have an impressive view over the bay. Of special interest to some guests is that the hotel welcomes pets. http://www.fairmont.com/algonquin

Kingsbrae Garden has placed New Brunswick on the horticultural map. If I were touring eastern Canada's botanical gardens, I would include Kingsbrae along with Nova Scotia's Anapolis Royal Historic Garden, and Quebec's Reford Gardens.
http://www.kingsbraegarden.com/index.html