Worth a Second Visit

Today we went back to Minister’s Island. This island, just off the coast at St. Andrews, NB, is only accessible during low tide. You drive across the ocean bar that the tide exposes, so the hours it’s open change daily. Today it was open from 8:30 AM until 1:45 PM Atlantic Time. We got there right at 8:30 and followed these vehicles across the misty ocean floor. Turns out they all belonged to workers, as when we checked in we were given tag #1. The tags are numbered and when you leave you turn your tag back in. That way they know everyone has left the island before the tide cuts it off.

There are miles of trails on the island and the first thing Matey and I did was walk a mile loop through the woods.

The morning sun was beginning to penetrate the fog and it turned the woods magical.

This is about as far from desert as you can get. Even the lichens are green and leafy here.

My shoes were soaked from the wet grasses, but walking alone in this beautiful landscape was worth it.

There wasn’t much of a view out to sea yet, though. That’s the rocky bottom you’re seeing as the tide is quite far out.

This whole island was the summer estate of the William Van Horne family from 1890 until the 1940’s. There are still remnants of the carriage roads, walls and gates that crisscrossed the island.

After our walk we found that Bud was no longer in the truck. One of the docents told us he was touring the “cottage”, Covenhoven, so Matey and I waited on the veranda.

It was a pleasant wait.

A nonprofit organization now manages the estate. They hold concerts during the summer as part of their fundraising. The large white tent is most likely where the concerts are held, a pretty nice venue.

When Bud came out I toured the house. I particularly liked the sunny main bedrooms on the second floor.

There is only one small balcony, but the views were spectacular out any window.

We walked out to the bathhouse, which sits right on the water and is surrounded by windows. This visit I noticed the ceiling and light. The lights in the house ran on acetylene that was produced in the gas house behind the main house. I don’t know if this was an original acetylene light, but it looked like it might have been.

After a picnic lunch on the broad front lawn we went back to tour the barn. Matey’s favorite part of the whole island is all the lawns. He’s never seen so much grass for rolling. I love this spectacular barn. We had wanted to tour the creamery, the building in the foreground, but it was empty and shut.

This was a working farm and supplied all the food for the family, their guests and employees. Van Horne and after him, his daughter Addie, took great pride in their Dutch belted cattle. They even have one on the wind vane.

You can see the immense size of the barn in this shot of Matey and I at the side of it.

At the end of our time there we drove back across the bar. I took this picture about an hour before we left. The water is quite a bit lower than when we came on. We left at about 12:45; I think they close well before the tide comes up to be sure everyone leaves and to give time for the employees/volunteers to wrap up their jobs and also get off. These days no one stays overnight.

This is certainly a unique place, and worth a second visit.