Rapher's Log: Stardate July 4/24
Day two of our Big Saint John Baycation! Plans today were to head into the historic area, dubbed 'Uptown Saint John'. Day started out rough...
The standard thing referred to is a crappy night's sleep. Both of us had bad nights. The AC didn't seem to come on, the pillows were a little too soft, my knee & hip were cranky... We were up around 5:00. Downstairs for breakfast a little around 6:30. Standard sort of foods - muffins, waffle makers, cereal, fruit, breads/bagels/Eng muffins, juice/coffee/tea, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, grated cheese, sausage patties, hash browns and baked beans. After eating, we went back to the room to relax until heading out a little after 9:00. My plan was to park in the garage at Market Square (last time, we did Brunswick Square). Getting out of there was a bit of a challenge, construction, etc. Walked back up to Union Street, then uphill to our first stop - Loyalist House. Last visit, I had to cut my tour short as I wasn't feeling well. They asked if we wanted guided or self tour, Sandra said we'd been there before so we'd do the self tour. One of the guys made a point of bringing that up when they saw us in the house. Hey, at least I got through the whole tour this time.
Left there and wandered down Germain Street to the Saint John City Market. Didn't buy anything but we did look around a fair bit. Sat outside there for a bit until a lady who was cleaning up let us know that she'd be spraying water in the area where we were sitting, so we might want to move. That served as a good motivator to move, so we headed on down the street, planning on going into the Obscurity Shop. Which opened at 11:00am. It was 10:55. Hung out in the area, took some pics of the Trinity Anglican Church while we waited. It's a cool looking church, on a bit of a hill. We'd taken pics last time and I asked if we'd gone inside. Sandra didn't think we had, I couldn't recall us going inside either, so we figured we hadn't. (checked the pics after the fact and, yep, we'd gone inside...thanks memory, appreciate you working so well for me *G*) By now, the store had opened up so we went in. Some interesting items that we might have bought, had they been a little cheaper.
Next up, going back the way we came and stopping to relax in Kings Square, then going across the street to the Loyalist Burial Ground. While visiting these two places, we were both starting to feel the effects of the crappy night's sleep. There were still stores we wanted to shop at, as well as visiting the Area 506 Container Village. We called it quits. The Container Village was the biggest stop and it seemed like it was more food spots than shopping. We decided to go back to the hotel area and get lunch at a restaurant, so we went back to the car, stopping in Freak Lunchbox on the way. $7.50 for parking (which was better than we'd expected) and we headed back. For the second time in a row, I didn't follow Rothesay Ave all the way back (not by choice) and ended up on Thorne Ave/Loch Lomond Rd. This time, I had consulted the map and found my way (surprisingly easily too) to Westmorland Rd, which is the way back to the shopping area. Settled on East Side Mario's for lunch - they still had the blue raspberry iced tea. Sooo good. I got a calzone which was quite big but good.
One last stop for the afternoon was "Treasure Trove on the Grove", a 2nd hand place just a bit off the beaten path. Which I, naturally, drove past on the first attempt. Came back, parked, looked at the store and decided they probably wouldn't have what we wanted, so we left. It just gave off unwelcoming vibes... Back to the room for some relaxing again, until about 4:30.
Headed out for some last shopping - Indigo, Wheaton's & Michael's. Bought stuff at the first two locations. Yay! Shopping wasn't a total bust! We were back to the room by 6:00, I think. On the way in, the desk clerk welcomed us back (same guy that had checked us in) and one of the gentleman sitting in the lobby said "You're back!" I replied "What's wrong with my back?" but he didn't get the joke. *G*
Super early night for bed, somewhere between 9:00-9:30. We were both so tired. Figured out at least one issue, messed with the pillows to get a better mix of firm/soft. And I took some Advil before bed.
As I tend to put for this post "Home again, Home again"...but the return was not without disappointments, issues and...other stuff...
The standard thing referred to is a crappy night's sleep. Both of us had bad nights. The AC didn't seem to come on, the pillows were a little too soft, my knee & hip were cranky... We were up around 5:00. Downstairs for breakfast a little around 6:30. Standard sort of foods - muffins, waffle makers, cereal, fruit, breads/bagels/Eng muffins, juice/coffee/tea, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, grated cheese, sausage patties, hash browns and baked beans. After eating, we went back to the room to relax until heading out a little after 9:00. My plan was to park in the garage at Market Square (last time, we did Brunswick Square). Getting out of there was a bit of a challenge, construction, etc. Walked back up to Union Street, then uphill to our first stop - Loyalist House. Last visit, I had to cut my tour short as I wasn't feeling well. They asked if we wanted guided or self tour, Sandra said we'd been there before so we'd do the self tour. One of the guys made a point of bringing that up when they saw us in the house. Hey, at least I got through the whole tour this time.
Left there and wandered down Germain Street to the Saint John City Market. Didn't buy anything but we did look around a fair bit. Sat outside there for a bit until a lady who was cleaning up let us know that she'd be spraying water in the area where we were sitting, so we might want to move. That served as a good motivator to move, so we headed on down the street, planning on going into the Obscurity Shop. Which opened at 11:00am. It was 10:55. Hung out in the area, took some pics of the Trinity Anglican Church while we waited. It's a cool looking church, on a bit of a hill. We'd taken pics last time and I asked if we'd gone inside. Sandra didn't think we had, I couldn't recall us going inside either, so we figured we hadn't. (checked the pics after the fact and, yep, we'd gone inside...thanks memory, appreciate you working so well for me *G*) By now, the store had opened up so we went in. Some interesting items that we might have bought, had they been a little cheaper.
Next up, going back the way we came and stopping to relax in Kings Square, then going across the street to the Loyalist Burial Ground. While visiting these two places, we were both starting to feel the effects of the crappy night's sleep. There were still stores we wanted to shop at, as well as visiting the Area 506 Container Village. We called it quits. The Container Village was the biggest stop and it seemed like it was more food spots than shopping. We decided to go back to the hotel area and get lunch at a restaurant, so we went back to the car, stopping in Freak Lunchbox on the way. $7.50 for parking (which was better than we'd expected) and we headed back. For the second time in a row, I didn't follow Rothesay Ave all the way back (not by choice) and ended up on Thorne Ave/Loch Lomond Rd. This time, I had consulted the map and found my way (surprisingly easily too) to Westmorland Rd, which is the way back to the shopping area. Settled on East Side Mario's for lunch - they still had the blue raspberry iced tea. Sooo good. I got a calzone which was quite big but good.
One last stop for the afternoon was "Treasure Trove on the Grove", a 2nd hand place just a bit off the beaten path. Which I, naturally, drove past on the first attempt. Came back, parked, looked at the store and decided they probably wouldn't have what we wanted, so we left. It just gave off unwelcoming vibes... Back to the room for some relaxing again, until about 4:30.
Headed out for some last shopping - Indigo, Wheaton's & Michael's. Bought stuff at the first two locations. Yay! Shopping wasn't a total bust! We were back to the room by 6:00, I think. On the way in, the desk clerk welcomed us back (same guy that had checked us in) and one of the gentleman sitting in the lobby said "You're back!" I replied "What's wrong with my back?" but he didn't get the joke. *G*
Super early night for bed, somewhere between 9:00-9:30. We were both so tired. Figured out at least one issue, messed with the pillows to get a better mix of firm/soft. And I took some Advil before bed.
As I tend to put for this post "Home again, Home again"...but the return was not without disappointments, issues and...other stuff...