Saint John 2022 Random pictures of people and places

Just a collection of random pictures from a recent trip back to the hometown

 Here's an up and coming mini mall from converted shipping containers on the harbor to cater to nearby cruise ship passengers.  

It's a nice idea, quite colorful, part of the recent gentrification of downtown Saint John but unlikely to become a stomping ground for locals.  It screams wealthy yuppie.  Incidentally, the city center was always "downtown" but now every announcement refers to it as "uptown".  It's all part of the re-branding of the city.  Never mind the reality that unemployment is high as it ever was and a lot of people struggle to pay their rent if they are lucky enough to have an apartment.  

All the same, kudos to the artist.

Saint John High School

This tiny park behind Prince Edward Square mall (if they still call it that) was once a baseball diamond.  One afternoon, at 15, I was walking from a monster movie matinee at the Odeon when I saw a group of kids gathered around a boy laying the ground.  He wasn't moving and they kept kicking him and telling him to quit faking and get up.  I went down to intervene. 

These kids were scary.  I was told to mind my own fucking business and they kicked him again.  I asked if anyone there was a friend of the one on the ground and one frightened boy raised his hand.  You could tell right away he wasn't one of the gang.  "I think we should take him to the hospital."  "Ok" Leaving him there certainly wasn't an option and I wanted to get away from these vicious feral ghetto children ASAP.  There was some pushing and shoving from the brats but the two of us managed to get him on his feet and walk him out of that park with rocks flying at our backs.  The whole time the boy between us never woke up but he sort of shuffled his feet as we carried him along.  I caught one on the shoulder while more went sailing past us.  "Just keep going.  We just need to get up on the street and out of the park.  We'll be fine."  They never chased us.  I don't know what we would have done if they had.  

The old General Hospital was still nearby off Waterloo Street.  As we shuffled along, the other boy explained they had been taking a shortcut through the park.  The gang had been hanging out on some bleachers and one of the two girls of the group had asked the boys to beat them up for her entertainment.  

Ten minutes later, we walked inside the emergency department.  Nurses took care of him immediately and he was wheeled away on a stretcher.  I stuck around until his father arrived, called in from work.  By that time, he'd regained consciousness but they were keeping him at least overnight.  

Marsh Creek

Rothesay Avenue is not the fast food strip it once was.

You really can't complain about the tap water in this town.

Poutine has become a big deal in Saint John.  It was around in the 90s but not like this. I remember there was a little street stand in Fredericton in the bar area late at night, when and where people are most apt to make bad decisions.  Now, people eat it for their lunch, maybe even breakfast.  God help us. This is extremely unhealthy food.  Did I mention this city has a high rate of obesity?  Gee, I wonder why.

Honesty in advertising.  That's something.

I was drawn to this forlorn corner of the harbor for some reason.  I really didn't expect to see other people but a young couple who lived nearby came along.  We talked about the gentrification of downtown Saint John and the man told me it had him worried.  He'd been gentrified out of one neighborhood already.  The wealthy move in and the working class are priced out. 

This is an interesting place I've never been to before.  It's rather bleak.

Are you ready for this?  They call it a beach!  Tin Can Beach.  It's only a beach by name.  You wouldn't go swimming there or build sandcastles with children.  

This could be the world's ugliest beach.  I had only heard about it a week before from some Ukrainian immigrants I met by the breakwater to Partridge Island.  They said they walked here every day but were getting a little tired of the view.  Can you blame them?  And people come here to walk their dogs or whatever. 

Enjoying a day at the beach.

A new theatre company where an old friend works as a sound technician.  Two old crusty derelicts were sitting outside on the doorstep of a cheap apartment building across the street, the kind of guys it's best to just ignore, watching me take pictures of everything.  "What's the matter?  Never seen Saint John before?"  I ignored them.

   

Backstreet Records is still there.  It hasn't changed since the 80s.  I assume the same man still owns it.  Back in the day, it was a place to find affordable used vinyl.  Now, there is no such thing as affordable vinyl.  It's purely a collector's market.  Good for Gordon for sticking it out all these years when the demand for cds took over the market.  Diehards still had this place and now I expect the collectors value of his old stock is considerable. 

That's Nipper, the RCA Victor dog, if you have ever wondered.

The two derelicts came around the corner.  "What's the matter?  Ain't you seen Saint John before?"  He must say that to every tourist he sees.   Twice if you ignore him the first time.  I ignored him again.

Oh, what about people?

Babies!  My sister, Sherry, and my brother, Paul.  I'm the littlest.

Grown-up Sherry provides the family a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner.  I am not kidding.  It was truly gourmet.

Dad helps me find a practical place to put the bike in the garage.

That's how you do it. Well done.

Enjoying a beer with Joe.  This guy is already a grandfather! If he can quit that vaper, he might see great grandchildren some day.

And check out this nifty sheet metal poster I found outside the dumpster the night before the night I left.  That was definitely going in my backpack.  Alpine is just a typical beer, nothing special but it is a Moosehead brand that is sold only in New Brunswick.

Enjoying road food on the road.  Sardines, crackers and eggs.  Yum!