Our main reason for coming back to Canada was to visit with Family and friends.  There are some people you can go months or even years without seeing, but when you finally get together, it feels like it was only yesterday when you saw them last.

We landed in Canada and our first stop was to visit our daughter Janice and son-in-law Scott in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Of course we also stopped along the way to enjoy a Timmy´s.

It was great spending time with them and enjoying their company.  One day we decided to head out toward St. Andrews and visit Ministers Island and the home to the  Van Horne Estate.

Now, visiting an island sounds pretty straightforward but this one was different.  Ministers Island is known as a tidal island, which means the road to the island is actually exposed ocean floor. We had to time our visit with the tides because, unlike most roads, this one disappears with high tide. we arrived early in the morning and there was a heavy fog along the coast. We drove along the Ocean floor and eventually reached the island. This was a unique experience and interesting to say the least.

In 1891, Van Horne purchased land on Ministers Island and turned  it into his summer retreat.  The estate had the main house, gardens, farmland, a huge barn, dairy, carriage house, windmill, bathhouse and even a gardener’s cottage. At the island our first stop was at a very large Barn.

We explored the barn and it was interesting to note that this barn was considered the most modern style with a built in elevator and scale system. However the main attraction on the island is the Covenhoven.

The former summer home of Sir William Van Horne. If that name sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. Van Horne was one of the key figures behind the Canadian Pacific Railway and served as its president. He is in the historic photo of the last spike in the Canadian Pacific Railway.

We explored the Covenhoven and walked trough the many different rooms. It was like walking through a piece of Canadian history.

It was a perfect day to explore the grounds of the estate and so we walked throughout parts of the island. We came upon one of the locals who simply watched us walk by.

We went to see the stone bath house and decided to head to the base which leads to the shore overlooking the water.

The views were beautiful and the air was crisp and fresh.

Our trip to Morrison Island and the Van Horne estate was a great way to spend a calm and relaxing day with family and some Canadian history.

“Enjoy life every day”