So what do you do in times of Covid in New Brunswick when you need a little getaway? Keep visiting Saint Andrews. We waited until we saw a nice weather forecast and booked for two nights.
Back in our happy place...
Jim brought an Outcast beer for his "beer on the balcony" time...
Definitely low tide...
Time for dinner with the sun setting and the tide coming in...
Mmmm...sunset!
See the teeny, tiny lighthouse circled on the right? That was our planned walk for the morning.
Down to the wharf...
"All Done"...sums up how we feel about the pandemic!
Lots of shops and restaurants...hopefully, this summer we will be open to the Atlantic bubble and provinces beyond.
The next morning was beautiful and sunny. We walked to Centennial Park, because although we've passed it many times, we have never gone through the park.
Nice little trails...
This looked like it might have been private property...
We decided to head towards the lighthouse. Neat door ornament!
Arriving at the little lighthouse...
That beautiful sky...
Lovely houses around the point...
This house had many beautiful bird carvings on it. It also had two big dogs, so I decided not to antagonize them. There were cute owls on the trees, but the dogs won out over my desire to take a photo of them.
After a good walk, we headed to Ossie's for lunch. Mmmm...I was looking forward to yummy scallops.
They had just opened for the season the day before, so they weren't too busy.
Gak! Here's where we hit the first snag. Cash only! I think I actually knew that, but for some reason had decided to leave my purse at the hotel. Jim had $25, but with tax and a tip, that wasn't going to get us too far.
Oh wait! There was an ATM, except Jim's debit card wouldn't work (pays to check the expiry date)...and, you know, I had left my purse behind.
So we shared one delicious order of scallops with homemade tartar sauce. They were so good!
Lots of sheltered picnic tables...
We saw this cute little church on the way back and pulled over to check it out...
It was built in 1842. I remembered looking up Chapel of Ease after seeing one in Brighton, England. That made sense for this area.
A cool mural on the water tower. It depicts part of the beautiful Kingsbrae Garden.
Not all the restaurants were open, as tourist season is barely starting after the winter, so we went back to our favourite Red Herring Pub. The food and service are always great.
Another lovely sunset...
I'm sure we'll be back to Saint Andrews again before the year is out! Fingers crossed that we can eventually travel again, but in the meantime, we're happy we live in such a beautiful province.
It was another day of the kids trying to amuse themselves in our hotel room. All those years of Lego have done Alex well. He was the only one who could figure out how to make a decent vehicle out of these magnetic shapes!
Apparently there weren't enough chairs in the hotel room...
A game of hide and seek...Sawyer was pretty pleased with his hiding place.
And it was off to the taproom to do some last minute tidying before Patrick and Krysten's investors showed up for their first look at the space and some of Patrick's amazing beer. A few items of merchandise...many more boxes in the back room.
A great crowd of people showed up. Patrick and Krysten did fantastic fund raising. Some people sought them out and offered money. That's rare! One thing is sure...they all believe in Outcast Brewing and their ability to make a go of it.
Dean has helped Patrick out immensely over the years. Patrick worked at his tiling company in between jobs at different breweries and he supported Patrick in his dream of brewing his own beer. These are good peeps!
Patrick and Ryan breaking in the crib table. Patrick served two great beers...one was a pale ale and the other was a yummy berry one that I loved.
We babysat the kids the next day while Patrick and Krysten ran errands. Miss Hailey has decided that maybe we're OK after all.
The dogs ended up in time out for a while. I don't know how Patrick and Krysten manage...three kids, two dogs, a brewery...I'm tired just thinking about it!
Cinder has calmed down a bit from her puppy stage when we saw her last year.
Hailey was quite pleased with her mac and cheese. She was pretty much delighted with everything.
A play set for the kids in the backyard. Lots of swings, a slide, climbing wall...fun!
Some swing time...
Sawyer insisted on killing a daddy long-legs spider and then was fascinated by one detached leg that remained on the wall and kept wiggling. To be a kid...
I took them to the park to burn off some energy. One thing we did discover was a skateboard park where you can borrow helmets and skateboards. Well, alrighty then. I think we had a plan for the next day! Sawyer claimed Hailey's stroller...
Back at home, Charlie was patiently waiting for Patrick and Krysten to return. He does love Patrick...
We finally gave in and let the kids have the tablets. Whatever amused them...that's what grandparents do, right?
After babysitting, we headed back to the Blind Beggar Pub where we were meeting our friends, Lorie and Flemming, for dinner. Krysten had pointed out these black bunnies somewhere else. Apparently there are a lot of them around...
Back to the patio where we had dinner the first night...
We would be long gone before the live music!
Amusing ourselves (or amusing me!)...
Our good friends, Lorie and Flemming. They used to be the supers in our building in Fredericton, but moved back to Calgary to be closer to family. We do miss them and it was great to catch up.
The next day you could be sure that Alex and Sawyer had not forgotten about the skateboard park. Love Alex's helmet!
It is really close to their house and there are jumps for every level of skateboarder.
Sawyer was working hard...
And checking out the girls!
Alex was working up a sweat. Apparently his helmet is a little dirty inside! They had so much fun.
A video collage of our day at the park...
They were having a skills competition, which we stayed to watch. Sawyer was not happy at being a spectator.
After the competition, it was back to riding.
And then time for a last visit with everyone. Krysten made an amazing shepherd's pie. OK...slightly out of focus, but still a memory!
And a belated birthday celebration for Patrick. We were so happy to be with him on his birthday.
Hailey was pretty happy too...
The next morning, it was goodbye to the family and to Calgary. We had such a great visit. Can't wait for the taproom to be officially open.
Crikey...this was the wait to go through security.
We had an uneventful flight to Montreal and enough time for dinner in the airport before our flight to Fredericton. Goodbye Montreal...
Thanks to the kids for a great week. We were so happy to share their new adventure with them. Best of luck, Outcast Brewing!
