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Top 5 Travels of 2010, Strolling Kingsbrae Gardens, St. Andrews, New Brunswick

A good botanical garden has often been a highlight of my travels, from the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Capetown to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. So I was excited to walk through the Kingsbrae Gardens in St. Andrews this past July, especially after being cooped up in Down East Maine dealing with three solid days of rain. Due to inclement weather, I had to cancel a cruise to see puffins at Machias Seal Island, a sea kayaking jaunt on Cobscook Bay, and an oceanfront hike at Culter Coast Public Lands. So when the sun finally came out on the ferry ride over from Eastport to New Brunswick, I could breathe again. Those breaths of fresh air soon became flower scented as I made my way through the wave of colors from flowers in bloom at Kingsbrae. Just across the Maine border, the quiet seaside town of St. Andrews is an undiscovered gem with Kingsbrae Gardens leading the way. Hummingbirds flew under the tall chestnut trees, water lilies dotted the fountains, and everywhere you looked, there was some whimsical sculpture nestled within the 27-acre grounds. I bent down and inhaled from the sweet-smelling rugosas and for a moment, everything was bliss.

 

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Stop and Smell the Rugosas

I love stumbling upon an unexpected gem in a small community. The first time I entered the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts, I was blown away by their collection of Impressionism, with impressive works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, and a room devoted to American master Winslow Homer. I felt this same way in early July when I entered St. Andrews, New Brunswick, a seaside village of 1800 people and entered the Kingsbrae Gardens. Wave after wave of color greeted me from the bed of perennials, planted like an artist’s palette. Hummingbirds flew under the tall chestnut trees, water lilies dotted the fountains, and everywhere you looked, there was some whimsical sculpture or children’s playhouse nestled within the 27-acre grounds. My favorite section was the Scent and Sensitivity Garden, where you can smell the tangy lemon-scented geranium or the tropical pineapple sage (that really does smell like a pineapple) or touch the velvety soft leaves of lamb’s ear. On the way out, I bent down and took a big whiff of the sweet-smelling rugosas. For a moment, everything was bliss.

(Photo by Lisa Leavitt)
 

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London Walks

It’s impossible for a parent to teach his kids a British history lesson, without Junior blurting out in the middle of the Anne Boleyn beheading story, “Oh yeah, that’s cool. Can we go to the London Eye now?” So I was relieved to find an outfitter aptly called London Walks that for a mere 8 pounds per person (children under 15 are free) can educate, entertain, and keep my family walking for two hours. We took two tours with them last week, Westminster and West End and the Tower of London.  We were fortunate to have Tom Hooper as our guide on both walks. A former barrister, Hooper knows the history of the British Empire like the back of his hand. It also helps that Hooper is a wonderful orator with a booming voice and a penchant for digging into the sordid details. Like the beheading of Anne Boleyn, the beheading of King Charles the First, the beheading of Oliver Cromwell, after he died, no less. On the West End walk, we strolled from the Houses of Parliament to Westminster Abbey, all the way to Buckingham Palace, ending near Trafalgar Square. And my kids, ages 14 and 12, didn’t complain once. I quizzed them afterwards on how much they retained, asking them the names of the current prime minister and queen, and by God, they knew the answers. For that, Tom Hooper deserved to be knighted!