What to do on a rainy day at the RV park

Thursday turned out to be a real washout as in rain all day long and the following night. It rained so heavy at times that we didn’t want to go anywhere. But, after some thought and a little break with only a light drizzle that lasted about a couple of hours, we took a trip to the Real Atlantic Superstore, a large grocery store in St. Stephen, to stock up on some goodies. 

 

Upon our return to the RV Park we settled in for a lazy day. Benno had a book to finish reading, I played a puzzle on the iPad and later on after a nice dinner and dessert of Tiramisu, we watched the 2014 movie “The Monuments Men” it is based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history.  Played by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett. If you haven’t seen it, I can recommend it.

 

Next morning there was fog rising from the bay. The rain had finally stopped and some spots at the campground were pretty soggy. Had we stayed at the swimming pools we would have had to wear boots or go barefoot in flip-flops to wade through the puddles. Our goal was to pay the “Ganong” chocolate museum in St. Stephen a visit.

 

We’ve noticed the modern and large Ganong factory on 1 Chocolate Drive close to the Atlantic Super Store. Their old factory building downtown in St. Stephen had been converted into a chocolate museum and a retail store at the corner sold some of their products. 

 

It turned out that we had to book a guided tour. The first one was held in French so obviously we took the next one held in English 30 minutes later. In the meantime I took the dogs for a walk along the paved pedestrian walkway at the Saint Croix River. At a municipal parking lot was a motorhome parked that seemed to have spent the night there overlooking the river and the park bench in front. Then it was time to visit the museum.

 

We learned that the “Ganong” chocolate factory is Canada’s original and longest standing family-owned and operated chocolate company. It was established in 1873 in St. Stephen, NB. In detail we saw the process of making chocolate and all their products from its very first beginnings to today’s process. A lady demonstrated the hand dipping and decorating of chocolates. Yes, she dips the praline with her whole hand into the warm chocolate mass to coat it and then while placing it at the tray sprinkles an ornament on top. At the end of the tour we each got a small package with two chocolates and a map of the town.  At the store I contributed to the local economy and purchased a box of Ganong chocolates, which I am not afraid to admit didn’t last that long in our trailer.

 

In St. Stephen there are three border crossings to the USA, which are presently closed to the public. Before Covid, locals would regularly drive across to Walmart Supercenter and other stores for shopping. At the town center’s park there were tents with vendors of handmade art and goods as well as some food stands that display their wares every Friday. The little town had some charm and we enjoyed our visit very much.

 

Thanks for dropping in again and look for my next post.