Buffalo Brews – Sato Brewpub

During our recent visit to Buffalo, Kooks and I decided to check out Sato Brewpub as it combined the best of both worlds in the Queen City – food and beer.  Located right in the heart of downtown, Sato Brewpub is a combined Japanese izakaya and craft brewery.  The concept here is to pair food with beer using particular Japanese ingredients in both a la carte.  In other words, patrons come here expecting an experience that entices their taste buds.  This is not the place to go if you are looking to gorge on an endless supply of Japanese cuisine.

Buffalo Brews - Sato Brewpub

Despite arriving after 5pm EST on a Saturday night in mid-December, we were surprised to find Sato Brewpub to be almost half full.  Kooks and I were in town for a Tran Siberian Orchestra concert, which was really the only major event going on in Buffalo this weekend.  So, I am sure some of the other patrons were grabbing some dinner here beforehand like we were.  It was also an interesting dichotomy seeing Japanese lanterns and decorations adorning the interior of the brewpub, which was located in the basement of what seemed to be a re-purposed early 20th Century factory.

Sato Brewpub - Buffalo's only Japanese Izakaya Craft brewery

I started the night off ordering a Kabocha.  At 4.8% ABV and 20 IBUs, this light-bodied Belgian Brown Ale is brewed with squash.  It was much better than it sounded as it nicely balanced he nutty characteristics of your typical Brown Ale with sweet flavours of squash.  I thought about pairing it up with some kokoro as I missed out on the opportunity to try chicken hearts in Foz de Iguazu, but decided to stick to something more standard in case my stomach decided to turn against me for whatever reason.

Sato Brewpub - Buffalo's only Japanese Izakaya Craft brewery

Ultimately, I ordered the Tori Paitan Ramen.  It was a think and cloudy shio-based chicken broth made with Chashu chicken, green onions, corn, egg, baby bok choy, and garlic oil.  Thinking that would not have been enough to eat, I also ordered a tan-tan bowl as a side dish.  This rice bowl was made with ground pork seasoned with spicy miso, egg, and green onions.  I thought it was okay, but not overly spectacular and could have done without it in all honesty.  The ramen itself was plenty enough to eat for dinner, especially with the partially boiled egg that came with it in addition to the Chashu chicken.  Rabbit In the Moon was a very light Table Beer I ordered after dinner.  At 4.8% ABV and 23 IBUs brewed with puffed brown rice and green tea, it did not disappoint!

Tori Paitan Ramen with a side order of Tan-tan

Overall, Sato Brewpub does a good job filling a specific niche in Buffalo’s culinary scene.  It’s ascetically pleasing with its Japanese décor and rustic basement bar look.  Would I personally come back again?  Most certainly for the beer and the intimate, laid back environment.  As for the food, not so much as it is quite pricey for the portion sizes given – both our meals combined was around $75 US.  My suggestion is to come here for special date nights with your significant other.  Grab a sake, a beer or wine and maybe order a dish or two to snack on before you head off to a concert like Kooks and I did.  Or just come here with your significant other to cap off your evening together if you are looking for something more intimate, but unique within downtown Buffalo.

Buffalo Brews - Sato Brewpub

Sato Brewpub

110 Pearl Street

Buffalo, NY 14202

Phone: (716) 248-1436

Website: https://www.satorestaurantgroup.com/sato-brewpub

Hours

Monday – Thursday: 11:30am – 10pm EST

Friday:  11:30am – 12am EST

Saturday:  12pm – 12am EST

Sunday:  Closed 

Flight Report – UA 281/UA 2420 – AUS – IAH – YYZ

Even though I didn’t get to see much of it, I really enjoyed the craziness that is Austin.  Just the food, drink, and nightlife alone make this city a worthwhile visit.  But, I just scratched the surface here.  The museums, parks, and other attractions that I didn’t get around to on this trip provide a lot more substantial context to Austin’s story.  I have no idea when I will return, but it will definitely be for a longer visit combined with a few days in San Antonio.  This part of Texas is just incredibly beautiful and laid back making it a really relaxing place to vacation.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Right then, so onto to my flight home.  I grabbed the first taxi I could find at the Hyatt Regency since a lot of conference attendees were also making their way home around the same time as me.  With a late afternoon flight, I left shortly after 2pm CST.  I thought this would leave me plenty of time to check in until we hit some traffic on IH-35.  Fortunately, it only lasted for a couple of minutes.  The ride itself only took about 20 minutes, so I still had more than enough time to check in for my flight.  It was a chilly 6°C despite the sunny skies appearing above Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.  I’m just thankful that I got to experience a few good days while I was here as it could have been much worse.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Check in took only 5 minutes, which gave me plenty of time to explore the airport if I wanted to.  However, since lunch was provided at the end of our conference, I was both full and exhausted at this point.  There definitely were a few interesting dining options here, but I decided to wait until I got to Houston to eat as I had a 2 ½ hour layover there.  I did take advantage of the more liberal liquor laws of Texas, though.  You can drink alcohol anywhere you want within Austin-Bergstrom provided you are at least 21 years of age or older.  With that being said, I grabbed one more local Austin beer for the road – an IPA from Infamous Brewing Company – and just waited at my gate until boarding.  This IPA was very malty and hoppy with flavours of candied yams, lemon custard, and pepper.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

United Airlines Flight #281 had a formation of 2x2 in Business class with three rows in total.  Economy was in a 3x2 formation with 35 rows in total.  I sat in the very back in Seat 38F.  Upon takeoff, I was a bit unnerved by the amount of turbulence we encountered.  It seemed much bumpier than usual and I felt as if the tail end of the plane was going to snap off for some reason.  Yes, I know that sounds silly.  But, I have been noticing lately how much more sensitive I am to the regular nuances of flight when I am in these smaller planes now.  It gives you a greater appreciation of what these flight crews have to deal with on a regular basis.

A beautiful sunny sky en route to Houston

With a scheduled flight time of 33 minutes, there wasn’t much time to enjoy this first segment of the trip home.  I ended up drifting in and out of sleep instead, but woke up around the peak of the flight to this gorgeous sunny sky.  It was a nice sendoff for me from Texas.  We had time for one complimentary drink and a snack, so I grabbed my usual Mott’s Tomato juice with pretzels.  Upon descent on George Bush Intercontinental Airport, we experienced a dip in the weather as it was cloudy and 3°C leaving me unable to see the downtown area of Houston.  Despite the inclement weather, we had a very soft landing.  Surprisingly, no one clapped for this great landing like tradition dictates.  In any case, I was here in Houston with more than a couple of hours to spare before the second segment of my trip home began.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

UA 281 – AUS to IAH

Operated by: United Airlines

Aircraft:  Airbus A320 (twin-jet)

Depart: 04:11PM CST – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) – Gate 27

Arrive:  05:21PM CST – Houston Bush International Airport (IAH) – Gate C4

Flight Time: 1:10; Non Stop Flight – 245 Miles/394 Kilometers; Date:  November 13, 2018

Ember - One of the best Airport Restaurants in North America

Due to the near fatal mistake I made arriving to Houston a few days earlier, I decided to find my gate first for the flight home to Toronto before looking for a place to eat.  Fortunately, my gate was still in Terminal C.  So, I didn’t have too far to go to.  This time around, I decided to eat at Ember.  It seemed like a fancier place than Bam Bam and had way better service.  I’ll write a separate review on this restaurant, but it is one of my favourite North American airport restaurants to date.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

After finishing my dinner, I still had quite a bit of time to kill before boarding.  Rather than continue to wait it out at Ember, I decided to make my way near the gate to see if there was a place to charge my phone before boarding.  In fact, there was a whole section of tables with charging stations where people could also order food and drinks while they are at it.  This also included alcohol, so I decided to have one more Texan beer as a final send off to this great State.  This time I ordered a Pilsner from B-52 Brewing Company – a local craft brewery just outside of Houston.  It was very light, hoppy, and crisp.  Not bad for this style of beer!

Departure information for United Airlines Flight #2420

United Airlines Flight #2420 had a 2x2 formation with 4 rows in Business Class with a 3x2 formation in Economy.  The Captain announced that the expected flight time would be a total of 2 hours, 24 minutes with tailwind.  This time around I was willing to pay for the inflight entertainment system.  However, I couldn’t reach down to plug in my ear buds to watch movies.  And I couldn’t ask the elderly Indian man beside me to move so I could plug them in because there was a severe language barrier here.  So, I ended up sleeping for most of the flight against my better judgment.  Not much else to discuss about this flight aside from the rough turbulence we experienced just before landing in Toronto.  Everyone was getting tossed around like we are all riding bumper cars.  It was just a terrible experience.  Aside from that, I was happy to be home, but a little sad as this would be my last flight for 2018.

Descending upon Toronto

UA 2420 – IAH to YYZ

Operated by: United Airlines

Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (twin-jet); Seat: 24A

Cabin:  First Class – Dinner; Business – Dinner; Economy – Food for Sale

Depart: 07:48PM CST – George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Gate C3

Arrive:  11:56PM EST – Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Gate 193

Flight Time: 3:08; Non Stop Flight – 1380 Miles/2221 Kilometers; Date: November 13, 2018

Flight Report – UA 2424/UA 6372 – YYZ – IAH – AUS

Austin has been a city that I have always wanted to visit since I was a child.  My childhood best friend was born there.  One of my favourite movies – Dazed & Confused – was filmed there.  And Austin is notorious for its nightlife and music scene.  Finally, the time had come for me to finally visit the “Live Music Capitol of the World.”  This was going to be my last work trip for the year, and even my Manager suggested that I take some extra time off to explore this quirky little city.  So I did.  I took an extra day off work so I can have an extra-long weekend before my event was to start the following Monday.  It has been a long time since I was this stoked for a work trip.

United Airlines Flight # 2424

As usual, I opted for the earliest flight option possible so I could maximize my time in Austin.  It was an early start to the day as I left my condo just past 5am.  With virtually no traffic on Highway 401, I arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport within 30 minutes.  This time around, I would be flying with United Airlines.  For some reason, their self-service kiosks were not working.  However, it wasn’t particularly busy, either.  So, I managed to check into my flight within 10 minutes.  As an added bonus, security took less than five minutes.  But that is where my luck ended as U.S. Customs was packed and took me about 15 minutes to go through.  This left me with less than an hour prior to boarding, but enough time for me to grab breakfast.

Storm's a brewing over Toronto Pearson International Airport

I decided to give Wahlburgers another chance despite the slow service I received the last time I was there.  Once again, I opted for the Dorchester breakfast.  Service was very quick this time as I received my breakfast about 10 minutes after ordering.  However, the restaurant was about 50% full this time.  So, I guess that could explain the why it was much better this time around.  The morning also started off on a sad note as my friend and former co-worker passed away the night before.  My thoughts were with her family rather than on my plans for Austin.  Thus, I was now adopting a “go with the flow” plan once I arrived in Austin as my heart and mind were just not into pre-planning some activities with the spare time I had left prior to boarding.

A brief break in the inclement weather en route to Houston

United Airlines Flight #2424 had a formation of 2x2 with four rows up in Business class and a 3x2 formation in Economy.  While I was excited to see we had leather seats, the drawback was the lack of legroom.  I was also excited to see “Tag” was available for one of the movie options.  However, United Airlines has a partnership with DirectTV for their inflight entertainment system.  For flights over 2+ hours, such as this one, you have a package option to watch unlimited movies and television shows for $8 US.  This is a complete ripoff given the extra fees we already pay in North America for such “privileges” as checked baggage and food.  Plus, the cost of flying out of Toronto to anywhere in North America is pretty expensive to begin with.  And if that weren’t enough, even access to the UAL Flight Map requires you purchase a package!  Seriously?  You are charging passengers money to have real time access to see how far along are we on the flight itinerary.  No wonder they get slammed for their Customer Service now.  Never again will I fly United unless I have no other choices.  Such a complete and utter disappointment!

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

With no inflight entertainment system to keep me occupied, I ended up sleeping away the first half of the flight.  It was pretty smooth with the exception of heavy turbulence occurring about 15 – 20 minutes after takeoff.  I was pretty refreshed by this nap, but extremely bored sitting here through the second half of my flight to Houston.  We encountered some more turbulence about 30 minutes from landing.  Ultimately, we ended up landing about five minutes earlier than expected into some cloudy conditions.  But the 13°C weather was much better than the cloudy 5°C weather I left back home only a few hours earlier.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

UA 2424 – YYZ to IAH

Operated by: United Airlines

Aircraft:  Boeing 737-800 (twin-jet)

Depart: 07:35AM EST – Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) – Terminal 1, Gate F67

Arrive:  10:29AM EST – Houston Bush International Airport (IAH) – Gate C4

Flight Time: 3:54; Non Stop Flight – 1,342 Miles/2160 Kilometers; Date:  November 9, 2018

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

After landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, I decided to look for somewhere to eat as I had a two hour layover before my flight to Austin.  Ultimately, I settled for BamBam as it served as both a Vietnamese restaurant and a beer garden.  While it was a beautifully designed restaurant, it really lacked in customer service.  So, I didn’t bother to spend too much time here once I finished my meal.  I decided to grab a beer at Ember before double checking the Arrivals/Departures board to make sure I had time for one more.  Good thing I did as I completely misread it upon arrival thinking that I was departing from Gate C14.  However, United Airlines Flight #6372 was actually scheduled to depart out of Gate E12 – a completely different Terminal that required the use of a tram!  The confusion was caused by the fact that United Airlines had three different flights to Austin this afternoon – not two like I initially thought.  I’m not how I misread that so badly, but I will chalk it up to severe exhaustion from lack of sleep.

Never found out what "Oecke" referred to!

After settling up my tab, I ran like a bat out of Hell trying to get to Gate E12 as quickly as I could.  I had zero idea what I would have done next had I missed my flight.  Fortunately, my flight was delayed as the plane we were to take was arriving late itself.  It was kind of similar to the situation I had in Philadelphia a few months earlier, except Texas had been hit with severe rainstorms all week.  It was now time for Austin and Houston to receive this inclement weather.  Boy, was I really lucky!  Since we were now looking at another 45 minutes or so before boarding, I walked around Terminal E for a bit before I grabbed another drink at the Beer Hive – a really cool bar that numerous Houston craft beers available both on draft and in cans or bottles.  I highly recommend this bar if you ever find yourself with time to kill at Terminal E within George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The Colorado River cuts through Texas

The time had come to board my flight to Austin.  This plane was significantly smaller than United Airlines Flight #2424 with four rows of a 2-1 formation in Business class with 2-2 formation in Economy.  My window seat was at the very back, which made it very sensitive to any extreme movements during the flight.  For example, the takeoff was noticeably wobbly where I was sitting.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as that Orlando takeoff I experienced, but it was slightly unnerving.  It was still extremely cloudy, so I was unable to catch any glimpses of Houston.  It is located about 20 minutes away from the airport, so I can only imagine what it would look like either arriving or departing on a perfectly clear day.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Once we reached cruising altitude, the clouds dissipated as we experienced clear sunny skies for the rest of the flight.  This gave me hope that the inclement weather had passed Austin by now.  (Editor’s Note: It was actually 14°C and sunny by the time we landed.)  Because it was only a 30 minute flight to Austin, I decided to stare out the window and enjoy the scenery below me as there was no inflight entertainment available.  Despite the short flight, we still received complimentary drinks and free WiFi.  I was also amused by all this beautiful farmland surrounding Austin upon our descent.  It gave me this first impression that Austin was really just a small American town than a world class city.  In a matter of hours, I would be proven wrong.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

UA 6372 – IAH to AUS

Operated by: United Airlines

Aircraft: Airbus A320 (twin-jet); Seat: 24A

Cabin:  Snacks & Complimentary Drinks

Depart: 01:03PM CST – George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Gate E12

Arrive:  01:35PM CST – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)

Flight Time: 0:32; Non Stop Flight – 140 Miles/225 Kilometers; Date: November 9, 2018

Thirsty Tales | Big Tide Brewing Company

After wandering around the streets of Saint John for a bit and feeling a little peckish, I was in pursuit of some local beer.  Now I know Moosehead Brewery’s headquarters are located here, but as a macro brewer, it’s easy to find across Canada.  I wanted something different – unique.  Something that really felt like a small craft brewery that only locals would know about it.  Enter Bigtide Brewing Company! 

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

Founded in 2009 by Wendy Papadopoulos and Becky Frauley, Bigtide Brewing still remains Saint John’s only brew pub and restaurant.  Located at 47 Princess Street, Bigtide Brewing is fairly easy to find as its about two blocks east of Pugsley Wharf near the downtown area.

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

Upon entering the pub, I noticed it was relatively small and dimly lit with one main floor.  It reminded me of those mountain resort lodges for some strange reason.  It had a small L-shaped bar that could seat up to 8 people and several tables for dining with a small kitchen on sight.  Three huge flags stuck out in the back – a Canadian, an American, and a Bigtide Brewery flag – all which were of standard size. 

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

I chose to sit at a table instead of the bar so I could enjoy more of the ambiance of the pub.  The menu options presented were intriguing – everything from a New York Striploin steak to Butter Chicken; from a Yorkshire Pudding/Shepherd’s Pie combination to an Atlantic Salmon dinner.  As a seafood lover, I opted for the Atlantic Salmon dinner, which included a vegetable medley and my choice of side – a garden salad with the house dressing.  The food was very decent, so I will give it that.  As for the beer, it was time to find out!

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

Given that it was late October, I went for their seasonal of the day – Indian Beach Pumpkin Ale.  A popular style in the United States dating back late 18^th Century and commercialized in the early 1980s, Pumpkin Ales typically include a combination of pumpkin mash or artificial flavours, a Malt bill, and cinnamon.  Sometimes the cinnamon is mixed in with the ale, but occasionally bartenders will rim your glass with cinnamon instead if you’re having it in draft form, as was the case here at Bigtide.  The body is often somewhere between light-to-medium, and its finish is moderately bitter.  Unfortunately, Indian Beach was very watery with muted flavour.  I wasn’t a big a fan of this and found it to be very underwhelming from other Pumpkin Ales I have had in the past, especially those brewed in the United States. 

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

Next, I went with the Boiling Point Honey Ginger Ale.  It had a Honey sweetness that mellowed out the Ginger spiciness.  Not bad for a slight variant of the Golden Ale style.  This was then followed up by the Raspberry Berliner Weisse.  The bartender warned me that this was “super tart,” which it was, but it had a great Raspberry flavour to it. Naturally I had to mix it up with the beer styles once again and went with their FogBound Hemp Pale Ale.  And yes, you certainly can get the strong aromas and tastes of the Hemp in this one!  With some mid-afternoon jet lag setting in and finding myself starting to get a little tipsy at this point, I finished off my visit at Bigtide by having their Seaworthy IPA.  It was hoppy with a strong Malty flavour and bitter finish, but a very beautifully crafted beer, nonetheless. 

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

Overall, this brewpub was the nice little hidden gem I was looking for on this trip!  While I found the beer to be a little hit or miss, the food itself more than overcompensated for that.  It was also great to find a brewpub that tries to experiment with different styles of craft beer rather than stick with two or three standard styles.  The location is extremely convenient for tourists as its within walking distance of both the downtown area and the wharfs.  Saint John receives a lot of tourists from April through October, especially those on Eastern USA/Atlantic Canada cruises.  I was here just days after the cruising season ended, but I can only imagine how busy this brewpub can be in the heart of Summer.

Bigtide Brewing Company - Saint John's Only Brewpub & Restaurant

Bigtide Brewing Company

Address: 47 Princess Street

City: Saint John, New Brunswick, E2L 1K1

Phone: (506) 214-3311

Website: https://www.bigtidebrew.com

Scenes of Saint John

Saint John – the oldest incorporated city in Canada – was the very last place I would ever imagine to find myself in.  I have actually driven through the area a couple of times as a child en route to Nova Scotia to visit family friends.  But, I have no memories whatsoever of those earlier trips.  And to make matters even more interesting, I wasn’t initially scheduled to be here for a work conference.  I was asked last minute to attend in lieu of one of my colleagues who had a conflict they could not resolve in time.  So, here I am instead.

Saint John Airport/Aeroport de Saint John

With only a few hours to spare this afternoon before I had to report to the conference, I decided it would be great to just roam around the city and get a feel for what this place was all about.  It’s not a large city by any means with a population just shy of 70,000, so I assumed it was just an extremely walkable city with a few good pubs and restaurants worth checking out.  But my first order of business was to check into my hotel first – the Chateau Saint John.

Saint John Airport/Aeroport de Saint John

After landing at Saint John Airport, it didn’t much time for our luggage to arrive on the carousel.  What I didn’t anticipate was the lack of taxi cabs available to take passengers downtown.  There was a lineup of about 7 – 10 people deep waiting on a couple of taxis that were doing round trips every 20 minutes or so.  While chatting with some of the people ahead of me in line, it sounded like the cab company wasn’t anticipating so many people to arrive all at once for this conference and were actually short on drivers for the day.  As I got to the front of the line nearly an hour later I agreed to share a cab with another guy who was actually passing through Saint John to a small town nearby where he is from.

Chateau Saint John

It turns out that he was arriving from Western Canada where he made a living in natural resources.  It is quite common for people from the Atlantic Region of Canada to routinely fly out west to work either in the oil fields of Northern Alberta or the diamond mines of the Northwest Territories.  When it comes to these industries, it is very common for employees to work two weeks solid before getting one week off to compensate.  With the cost of living and housing prices being extremely high in this part of Canada, it makes far more sense for these employees to fly back home to Atlantic Canada on their days off instead just like this guy was doing.

Saint John, New Brunswick

During our drive into town, I tried my best to be positive and relatable to both my fellow passenger and the cabbie.  I’m sure they run into a lot of city slickers like me who come into town for a few days and just want to leave as soon as possible.  That’s kind of a horrible attitude to have, so I didn’t want to be part of the problem.  However, our conversation was so drab that they began to comment on how Saint John had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Canada, petty crime was a major issue, and too many people “get involved in your business.”  Geez, talk about getting a warm reception in a town I know so little about.

The hilly streets of Saint John, New Brunswick

We finally arrived at the Chateau Saint John where I wished my fellow passenger best wishes and thanked the cabbie for the ride.  Located on the outskirts of downtown, Chateau Saint John seemed like a quiet, relaxing place to get some rest over the next few days.  Once checked in, I asked the front desk agent how long of a drive is it to get downtown.  When told that it was only about 5 – 10 minutes, I decided to walk instead figuring it would only take double that time and also factoring how tough it was to hail a cab ride today.

Row Houses along Water Street

My first impressions of Saint John was that it was extremely hilly just like San Francisco.  I don’t know what it is about this port cities, but it always seems like a hilly landscape is a perquisite for them.  Five minutes into my walk and I already started second guessing my decision to do this.  However, I kept trucking along only to stop periodically to take photos of some of the heritage homes nearby, as well as to admire the bilingual street signs that displayed both French and English.  New Brunswick is home to a significant French-Canadian demographic – one of the largest in Canada outside of Quebec.

Saint John High School - Canada's oldest high school

I tried to figure out how close I really was to the downtown core, but my phone finally died on me.  Through the distance I could catch a glimpse of the Bay of Fundy.  For some reason I just assumed that there might be a pub or restaurant near there where I could grab something to eat while also charging my phone.  The closer I got towards the Bay of Fundy, the sketchier this section of Saint John became.  Beautiful heritage homes suddenly turned into ugly, dilapidated buildings that probably hadn’t been lived in for years.  My mind was puzzled trying to figure out exactly where I was at this point.

Facing north along Water Street - Downtown Saint John

Fortunately, there was a convenience store nearby where I could stop in to ask for directions and briefly charge my cell phone a bit.  The owner of the store was French-Canadian, probably in his mid-to-late forties, and super friendly despite the language barrier between us.  He had pointed me towards Water Street as I managed to make my way to the South End.  To put it succinctly, I spent thirty minutes walking from my hotel just off the Trans-Canada Highway all the way to the South End – a main residential area of Old Saint John.  I completely bypassed the touristy downtown core altogether.  But as I would soon find out, this accidental detour would make me appreciate the downtown core a little bit more as a result.

Theodore Tugboat - Port Saint John

Making my up North on Water Street, I finally got to see the Bay of Fundy in its entirety.  The closer I got towards downtown, the more I saw contrasts between Saint John’s past and present.  Out in the distance, cargo ships dotted the horizon of the Bay of Fundy as they carried their next shipment to their next port of call while massive cruise ships dropped off passengers at the Port of Saint John to enjoy the remaining few days of the peak tourism season here in New Brunswick.  On one side of Water Street, old heritage homes were kept meticulously neat and tidy while on the other side, waterfront condos added a dose of modernity.  I even took a few minutes to stand back and admire Saint John High School – the oldest school in Canada.

Cruise ship docked at Port Saint John

Of course, I also sampled some of the local beers while I had the time.  Big Tide Brewing was my first foray into the local craft beer scene in New Brunswick.  I spent a couple of hours here sampling a few of their offerings.  I also made my way over to Callahan’s Pub nearby the port where I had a couple of beers from Fredericton’s Picaroons Traditional Ales – Yippee IPA and Dooryard Summer Ale.  Overall, I wasn’t really impressed with any of these beers.  But at least there was more than just Moosehead available here in Saint John.  Moosehead is Saint John’s most famous brewery with its flagship beer – Moosehead Lager – being available throughout most of Canada, particularly in Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic Region.

Sunset over Bay of Fundy

By now the sun began to set, so I made my way to the port to take it all in.  The golden yellow hues shone brightly on the Bay of Fundy’s surface as the sky gradually turned into a purplish-blue hue.  It was also starting to get a little bit nippy at this point with the chill of the autumn air.  Soon I would have to meet up with my colleague so that we could make our way to over to the convention center for our event.  And just like that, my afternoon in Saint John had come to an end.  Although I didn’t get to see everything that I would like to on this particular day, what I did see was sufficient enough.  It was a good taster of Atlantic Canada and made me want to explore more of this region in the future.  But for now, I am in no rush.