Saint John sits at the mouth of the Saint John River on the Bay of Fundy, a city of about eighty-eight thousand with the dock cranes of a working port, the red-brick faces of a Victorian downtown and a reputation for fog that is not undeserved. The bay beside it has some of the highest tides in the world, and the effect is on show at the Reversing Falls, where the river is squeezed through a narrow gorge. At low tide the river pours out to the sea in rapids; at high tide the sea pushes upstream; and for a short time in between the water is flat. It is an odd sight, and a good reminder that the real boss here is the moon.
The city was settled in the late eighteenth century by Loyalists, supporters of the British Crown who left the new United States after the American Revolution, and it was incorporated in 1785 as the first city in what is now Canada. The old City Market, a covered hall built in the 1870s with a roof like an upturned ship's hull, still sells fish, cheese, dulse, which is dried red seaweed, and baked goods. The city has also been home to a large oil refinery for decades, and it is the headquarters of the Irving family, a name seen on petrol stations across the Maritimes.
The Fundy Coastal Drive starts here and heads east and west along the coast. East of the city, the road leads to St. Martins, a small fishing village with two covered bridges and sea caves, and to the Fundy Trail Parkway, which opens up long stretches of rugged coastline for walkers and riders. West, it runs toward St. Andrews, an old resort town on the Passamaquoddy Bay with a good waterfront and whale-watching boats. The roads are mostly well-surfaced and winding, with the grey sea always at one side, but fog can reduce visibility sharply, especially in summer, and the tide swings by more than seven metres, so be careful near the shore.
The city has every service you could need, with plenty of petrol stations, restaurants and motels. Smaller communities along the coast have fewer stations, so top up before leaving town.
Eat seafood chowder, or a lobster roll, and take it down to the harbour. If the fog lifts in the evening, the light on the water is soft and silvery.