Back through New Brunswick

This post is chronologically out of order.  After leaving Nova Scotia to meet Nicky in Maine, I had to return to the States via New Brunswick (around July 29).  Until last year, a ferry went directly between the northwest of Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine, which would have been super convenient for me.  But it stopped operating due to lack of use.  It turned out to be OK, though, as I really liked New Brunswick.

I stopped for the afternoon in the city of Saint John, which is on the coast of the bay.  I would have liked to stay there longer, as it looked like a pretty cool old town with some character, but I had a date in the States the next day so I couldn't dawdle.  So I limited myself to visiting Saint John's Jewish Historical Museum, which also houses St. John's only (I believe) synagogue.

The Hebrew School

Apparently, Saint John used to have a jewish population of about 1,500 people, but it's dwindled to about 85, mostly because the young people go off to college and don't come home.  But people at the museum told me that 11 families from Israel were about to emigrate to Canada and settle in St. John, so that ought to help boost the population a bit (until their kids go off to college...).

The museum itself was small; mostly I went because I didn't realize there were any jews in the area (not that I gave it much thought before) and I wanted to learn more.  And it turned out the museum and synagogue were in a really cool old mansion.  The building was larger than most of the homes I saw in Saint John, but it gives you an idea of what the older parts of town looked like.  Mildly ornate, and lots of character.

After St. John's I headed towards the U.S. border and stopped to camp for the night.  I did not know it was the start of the three-day weekend celebrating New Brunswick Day, but apparently the entire province was out camping that weekend because I got the very last spot at a 150-site campground.  It turned out to be a lot of fun for a few reasons.  First, I met a couple a few sites down from mine that were from St. John, and they were really nice and fun to talk to and invited me to join them for conversation and coffee a couple of times.  They had a RV, too, which was nice to sit in in a cool and rainy morning (better than my tent, that's for sure!).  I'd never been in an RV before; it was pretty nice, and theirs was not particularly new or particularly fancy.

I also went to my first game of bingo (which was really maybe 18 variations on the game, all in a row), and won $20.  Yay me!

Beginners get one grid; the pros like the girl next to me get six.

Lots of people at campgrounds will rent a spot for the entire summer, and set up semi-permanent structures like decks outside their campers, and decorate their areas with lights and classy lawn ornaments.  Like:

Not the property of my new friends from Saint John.

If you're wondering how much RVs cost, this website has some basic information.  Apparently, a lot of people buy RVs like they buy houses.  They start off small, then trade up as their income rises, and no one pays for it all at once, but they usually get 30-year loans.