This week we visit the New Brunswick Museum, located in Market Square in Saint John. 

Being a tourist in your own town means it's time to get out and support the cultural gems you have access to.

With the weather changing quickly from sun to fog to rain here in Saint John, it's good to have a couple of rainy day activities available. One of my favourites, without a doubt, is the New Brunswick Museum. It has existed, in one form or another, for 174 years, making it the oldest museum in Canada. The NB Museum traces its history back to 1842 when Abraham Gesner opened Gesner's Museum of Natural History to the public.  

The Museum fills three stories in Market Square, which used to house factories and warehouses alongside Market Slip. There are many galleries to see and visit, Shipbuilding, Canadian fine art, Geology and Fossils, and the Hall of Great Whales. Interpreters at the museum will guide you through their halls, offering you insights to Saint John and Canada's long and varied history.

After spending a few hours immersed in history, head over to the Saint John Ale House, also in Market Square. The Ale House, as locals call it, is the only restaurant in Saint John to feature a New Brunswick wine list. Selection varies, but you can usually find at least one white wine, one red wine, and a couple fruit wines available. Of course if beer is more your style, they have 30 beer on tap and many many more bottled under the bar.

Wine Pairing: Winegarden Rubina
​Beer Pairing: Moosehead Cask Ale

​Last week I posted about the first picnic of the season at Lepreau Falls. In this series, I want to explore all kinds of places that I haven’t been in the three years since moving here to Saint John.

Stay tuned for stories across the province, including my annual lobster roll hunt.

This week, we’re staying Uptown checking out a new-to-me oyster deal.

Décimal 81 is a cozy restaurant located on Princess St. With an eye for fine dining and scratch recipes, their menu includes items like lamb, duck, and seafood. The décor is clean and classic with the bar anchoring the centre of the space. The restaurant also has a patio in the back courtyard, hidden from passersby on the street.
It’s easy to get into a “dining rut” when you live in the heart of a city. There are so many fabulous options, that I tend to linger with the ones I’m most familiar with (either the food or the staff), but when my sister invited me to join her at Décimal 81 I accepted immediately. I can’t believe I had never made it through the door before!
My sister, Nathalie, moved to Saint John a few months ago and works at Picaroons. It’s been fun living in the same city as adults and getting to hang out with each other. We’re both big seafood fans, especially when it comes to shellfish and oysters in particular. This is relevant because, Tuesday is half-price oyster day at Décimal 81!
The restaurant opens at 5pm Tuesday-Saturday, and we were there, seated at the bar by 5:15pm. There were a couple of options for oysters to choose from, but I stayed true to my Maritime roots and went with the Malpeques from Prince Edward Island. The oysters are served with a selection of accouterments including hot sauce, lemon, red wine mignonette and grated horseradish. Definitely worth checking out. And at $18/dozen, you can affordably eat your fill.
NB Wine pairing: there is only one pairing for oysters, and it sparkles. We went with a Prosecco from the menu, but an NB sparkling wine like Dunham’s Run’s Seriously would have been fabulous too

This is the first in a series of blogs about being a tourist in your own backyard. I’ll be the first to admit, it’s difficult. You have obligations: work, school, kids, parents, and you don’t have the time to find out where to go and what to do. When you think about travelling and new experiences, you may see tropical beaches, towering mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, pyramids and so on, I know I do. But here’s the thing, you can have amazing experiences in your own backyard, right here in the Maritimes.
So let’s dive in.
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First Stop – Lepreau Falls
Picnics are a favourite outdoor activity of mine and Adam’s. We regularly venture out into parks with baskets of NB cheese, meat, fruits and veg, drinks, and music to spend an afternoon relaxing in nature, and maybe hiking or swimming. The first picnic of the season is a big deal to me, it means that spring is finally here.

In the spirit of being a tourist in my own backyard, Adam decided to introduce me to Lepreau Falls. A place he had visited, but for all the reasons in the intro I hadn’t been to yet. Lepreau Falls Provincial Park is located a half hour west of Saint John and is the Western boundary of Stonehammer Geopark. The falls of the Lepreau River cascade over 300 million year old sandstone and conglomerate rocks that have eroded to create a terraced waterfall. As far as geology is concerned, waterfalls are dynamic places with changes happening all the time.

There are a handful of picnic tables at the park and a nice boardwalk that gives you a great view of the falls. The sun was out, the birds were singing, but it was cooler than expected. No big deal, we popped the back of the car and setup our tailgate picnic.

There are a few trails that take you through the woods at the park, and if you have a good pair of boots, you can scramble down the embankment and get close to the water. The water was very high, it is spring after all. I’m told that later in the season there is more of a beach you can walk along. We’ll definitely be back this summer. Maybe I’ll see you there!
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NB Wine pairing: Gillis of Belleisle 2015 Honey Rosé
NB Beer pairing: Big Axe Brewing White Birch Porter