The Gadabout Granny: St. John's

It's the biggest city in Newfoundland (big enough for a Costco!!) and the source of several great adventures. The Costco adventure was kind of funny – my membership card worked just fine, but none of my credit or debit cards would work with their machines. I found this out while trying to get gas – no luck. When I went inside to ask about it, they told me the only way to get gas, or anything else there, was cash or a Costco cash card. Luckily they had an ATM and I was able to get cash right in the store, then buy a cash card at the register. Then back to the gas station. It was a bit later in the day now, and LOTS of people wanted to buy gas at Costco – the line was 6 deep for each pump, each side, plus a line that stretched about 200 yards down the road leading to the pumps! But I had that cash card so I was determined to use it. It took 25 minutes to get to the pump, but I got my gas!

The gas line at Costco

That taken care of, this first day was going to be major sights day – the local cultural museum (called the Rooms), Signal Hill, the highest point in the city and the place where Marconi got the first transatlantic wireless signal, and Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America.

The Rooms was a fascinating place – lots of artifacts from early settlers, and things found in other parts of Newfoundland, including things from the sunken ships in Red Bay Labrador. They also had the native animals (stuffed) and several art exhibits. But the part I had the most fun with was the interpreters who had set up little booths on the second floor and were sharing different aspects of the Newfoundland culture with people who were interested. I was!

One lady was focused on crafts – sealskin mittens, beaded clothing, a crazy quilt (in very bad shape), and knitted items. One of those was a mitten with a thumb, one finger, and the remaining fingers together in it's own section. It was a shooting mitten – one could shoot a gun without removing mittens.

Shooting mitten

Another person dealt with language, and the different meanings of words, and different words altogether, that were common in Newfoundland. We had some fun with me trying to guess what they might mean – I wasn't very good at it!

But the best one of all was a retired cod fisherman who had worked all his life in the cod processing business. He told me that his group processed 15-20 thousand pounds of cod each day. He had a canvas replica of a cod and showed how it was gutted, cleaned and salted, in preparation for market. I can't imagine doing that with 20,000 pounds of cod in a day. He was a real character too!

Cod fisherman

Signal Hill was interesting but very crowded, so that finding a parking place was difficult. But the views from the grounds of the fort were quite beautiful.

View from Signal Hill

Monument on Signal Hill

Cape Spear was lots of fun, especially since there was a wedding about to take place. The trail from the parking lot down to the edge of the cliff was gravel, and there were rock outcroppings on either side of the path. The wedding was taking place on one of those outcroppings. Everyone had gathered and they were waiting for the bride. My jaw dropped when I saw her – she was beautiful, in a navy blue gown, and 6" heels. OMG, she was going to walk down that gravel path and climb up onto that rock outcropping in those shoes! I watched her walk down about half way, but then decided that I had seen enough, and didn't want to watch her fall!

The Lighthouse at Cape Spear

Day 2 dawned sunny and pleasant, so I decided to drive around the Avalon Peninsula to a beach where I had read they often saw whale right off the beach. It was a very pretty drive, and on the way I saw a moose! I had seen the "Watch for Moose" signs all along the roads, kind of like promises of sights to come, but hadn't seen any. I was going to be very disappointed if I had to leave Newfoundland without seeing a single moose! But there he was across a small river browsing in a field. I had to turn around to get his photo, but here he is! Along the way, there were several signs for fish and chips at a particular restaurant, so I stopped and got an order to take out, then made my way to the whale beach (St. Francis). No whales that day, but the fish and chips were great!

Fish and chips, yum!

Moose, for real!

Day 3 was a very different kind of adventure. At a campground before I got to St. John's, I met a couple who lived in the area and they suggested that I do a tour to Bell Island, a little north of St. John's. It had been a major iron ore mine from the early 1900's to 1966, and now it was open for tours. The main floor above the mine was dedicated to the only German action in North America during World War 2. Four of the ore ships were torpedoed by German U-boats and sunk. Lots of artifacts from the time were on display, gut the mine tour was the highlight. I had never been inside a mine before, so was not sure what I would see. I knew it would be dark and cold, but it was also very wet. The tour was very instructive, and the guide had lots of stories to tell. It turns out that his great grandfathers and his grandfathers worked in the mine, and shared lots of their stories with him. It sure brought life to the mines. They even had horses that lived and worked down there – they worked 30 days in the mine then 30 days above ground, rotating every month. Sadly, the miners didn't get to do that….