St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and our home state, Maine are united in two chapters of North American history. At the end of the Revolutionary War, families who had remained loyal to the crown were essentially ostracized. Many New England loyalists made the difficult choice to move east to what are now the Canadian Maritime Provinces. A group of fishermen from Castine, Maine moved not only wives and children but also their houses to a peninsula in Passamaquoddy Bay and there founded what is now St. Andrews. Their white frame Cape Cod style homes are still visible along several streets on which we have walked. Maine at the time of the Revolution was part of Massachusetts and wouldn’t become a state until 1820 (as part of the Missouri Compromise). Even then, the northern boundaries with Canada were not of great concern (think trees!). But in the 1840s a dispute between land owners broke out that became rather grandly known as the Aroostook War. No lives were lost—it was mostly drunken brawls. The matter was settled by the Webster Ashburton Treaty of 1842, which finally fixed the borders of Maine as well as upper New York State. St. Andrews stayed in Canada by two miles.

High over the town looms the fading glory of the late 19th century Canadian Pacific Railroad resort hotel – the Algonquin –where we happen to have found a cut-rate deal for a few nights. The lawns provide nice vistas and many places to relax and for golfers there is a famous course on the property. St. Andrews, as Marty put it, is a beach town without tee shirts and taffy. Water Street has tea and coffee shops, several restaurants, and a few galleries. Primarily it looks like a really nice village Main Street. The residential area shares the quiet of the hotel grounds. In fact the loudest sounds we heard during our stay were from a lone bagpiper announcing the approach of dinner from the shuffleboard courts (in kilt, of course).

The Huntsman Marine Sciences Center is at the edge of town. Displays at their aquarium included a touch tide pool where Julia was able to study close up clams and scallops, as well as sea cucumbers and many types of crabs, sea stars, whelks, and periwinkles. With 26-foot tides, the beaches here are vast as the tide ebbs creating lots of places to explore.