St. John's, Newfoundland, this oldest city in North America, is a working, bustling seaport. There is nothing fancy or pretentious or quaint about this little city on the far eastern tip of North America. It is not happenchance that it is built on one of the world's most protected and beautiful natural harbors. While its natural environs beckon the travelor, its fundamental purpose is sea trade. The point being simply this: do not expect too much from this city. It is a working city with some really neat stuff to discover and experience.
Our first stop in St, John's is the Signal Hill National Historic Site and its Cabot Tower. Unquestionably the best view of the city is from the top of this rather vertical, tall, solid rock "hill" which guards half the entrance to St. John's Harbor. Both St. John's Harbor and Signal Hill maybe best identified with the great James Stewart movie about Charles Lindberg and the Spirit of St. Louis as Lindberg/Stewart flies over St. John's Harbor and past Signal Hill as he leaves the relative safety of North America for the unknowns of the first solo transatlantic flight. As an added benefit, throughout the summer, there is a military tatto at the performance field adjacent to the Visitor Centre. The combination of the panoramic views and the fifes and drums and cannons and guns of the Signal Hill Tattoo made this one of our most memorable moments in St. John's.
We headquartered for our two day visit to St. John's at the Abba Inn on Queen's Road which was close to everything, and quite nicely appointed. After settling into our room, we took off on foot for our first reconaissance trip around town. First thing we learn is that St. John's is built on the side of a hill... not on top, not under, on the side of. Be prepared for steep climbs! As we indicated earlier there is nothing quaint about the downtown city or harbor area. But it is very cool to watch the ocean going vessels go about their work right at the foot of "main street". Having explored the downtown and harbor we trudged back up the hill and dined at Chuckys Fish N Ships. Now you may beg to ask "how can someone dine at a place with such a name?" Indeed from it's exterior one might again ask that same question. Let me tell you that Chuckys comes very highly recommended and specializes not just in the freshest of fresh Newfoundland seafood but also in Moose, Caribou and other wild Newfoundland game. It's a small, family run, low key but Mighty Good place to eat and inexpensive to boot.
After a refreshing night's sleep and a hearty breakfast at the Abba, we started the day's adventures with a trip to the Cape Spear National Historic Site, the most easterly point of land in North America. Beyond that impresive factoid, Cape Spear is one of Canada's most picturesque spots. The drive out to the Cape is lovely and the short walk to the Cape itself offers up a panoramic view of the entrance to St. John's Harbor and Signal Hill from the ocean side. Cape Spear boasts two lighthouses; a newer, modern lighthouse and the oldest remaining lighthouse in Newfoundland, the refurbished old Cape Spear light. The older lighthouse furnished in the 1839 period is open for inspection and an absolutely splendid guided tour is offered by Parks Canada. The lighthouse is a traditional round brick lighthouse with a square house built around it in which the keeper and his family lived. An important responsibility of the lightkeeper at the Cape Spear Lighthouse was to signal "Signal Hill" (thence the name) by flag the arrival and identification of any ship so that proper and quick notification could be made to the ship's agent in St. John's.
After our visit to Cape Spear we decided to explore the north of Avalon. 95% of Newfoundland's population lives in the St. John's area. With this fact in mind it is not difficult to imagine how relatively densly populated this area is to the rest of Newfoundland. We found the drive north to Pouch Cove to be unattractive and filled with the suburbs of St. John's. Likewise; although the drive out to Bay de Verde was pleasant, it was not awe inspiring and the closer to St. John's the more heavily populated and congested the area became... not worth the time and aggravation; particularly when the Irish Loop in south Avalon is so pristine.Returning to St. John's after our driving tour of the north of the penisula, we took another ramble downtown to investigate another of St. John's notarities... its bars. George Street in St. John's holds the Guinness Book of Records for the the highest concentration of bars and pubs in the world or some such honor. We were not impressed except for the lure of being Screeched. A Screech-In being the local ritual of having tourists kiss the arse of a puffin or french kissing a cod in order to become an honorary official Newfoundlander. Thank God, they no longer use live puffins (nor do they use dead puffins... they use a stuffed or wooden one... couldn't tell you about the cod fish).
Diner this evening was taken at Velma's Place on Water Street in downtown St. John's. This resturant offers traditional Newfoundland cuisine in an elegant and family atmosphere. We happily recommend Velma's Place to anyone who makes their way to St. John's. After another stroll around the harbor area we returned up the hill to our lodgings and planned our next day in Newfoundland.
We woke this morning to a cold drizzle and plenty of fog which purportedly spread across the whole of Newfoundland. Our initial plan was to spend two full days driving across the north of Newfoundland to its west coast. As there was no point in sightseeing in the rain and fog we decided to dash across Newfoundland and make for Anse Aux Meadows at the northwest tip of the Viking Trail. In addition, our cruise ship L'Echo des Mers was due to visit Anse Aux Meadows in two days and accordingly we would be able to greet some old friends. Sounding like a plan in hand, we finished breakfast, packed the car, paid the bill, bid a fond farewell to St. John's, got in the car but it would not start from what we thought was a dead battery. Thankfully with a set of jumper cables, a little coaxing and a good neighbor we got underway with only a 30 minute delay. Turned out the battery was not dead but our starter was going bad. Being a Toyota Corolla, we were home and three more months gone by before that fact became apparent and a replacement installed. God bless Toyota and the folks what drive 'em.
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