St. John's, the Friendliest Town on the Planet

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September 20, 2013

This may have been my favorite day of the trip so far!

Started off with a breakfast of eggs, bacon, yogurt and granola and lots of fruit and coffee at the Rendell-Shea B&B and interesting conversations with our fellow guests, a diamond broker from Belgium here on business, an owner of an herbicide company and his wife from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and four people from Calgary. It was a lively discussion and a fun way to start the day.

As you can see by our photos, the buildings of St. John's are painted bright colors, probably to make those long cold winter days seem less depressing. Our street consists of colorful historic row houses with the harbor at one end and the large Military Park at the other end. We walked two hours up and down Water Street and Duckworth Street, the two main streets filled with fun shops and restaurants. We checked out many shops (I bought a hat) and we had an espresso and mocha at The Second Cup. The people is this town are so friendly and talkative. Nobody is in a hurry and more than willing to help out, even walking with you to show you a particular place. I could live here (in the summer).

We walked back to the B&B to get the car and then drove to the other side of the harbor and up to Signal Hill Historic Site, one of the main attractions in the town. This place celebrates the rich communication and military history of St. John. When we get back home and I have time I'm going to read more about Marconi and his contributions to wireless communications here. That guy was a genius. From Signal Hill there are tremendous 360 degree views. We met another couple from Maine that will be on the same ferry with us tomorrow night so we have plans to meet up and they are going to help us plan our Maine itinerary.

We spent several hours in the tiny community of Quidi Vidi talking with locals. We went into the Iceberg Brewery and bought some beer that is supposedly made with 25,000 year old iceberg water. A guy working there took us upstairs and showed us around the brewery giving us a running history of the brewery and Quidi Vidi. Again, can't say enough about how personable the people are.

Next stop and a totally different experience was "The Rooms." Hard to explain this place but it's architecturally magnificent. It's a huge building that has a gallery, museum, restaurant, special exhibits and it seems to be a place where special events are held. The exterior is unusual in that it looks like three or four normal houses except that they are giant sized. Again, extremely nice people helped us.

Back on Water Street we just had to eat at Ches's, the "World Famous Fish and Chips" cafe. I had steamed cod and a salad and Joe had the seafood platter of cod, scallop, and shrimp bites with fries covered with stuffing (as in Thanksgiving style stuffing) and gravy. Sounds extreme, but was pretty good. Joe couldn't begin to finish it, so I had to help him out. Ches's give you a free cupcake and a certificate as you leave. Fun place. Need I say, the waitresses (all three) that helped us were cute and friendly?

Last stop was George Street, a street with nothing but bars, pubs, and restaurants. In the evening it is closed to traffic. We stopped in Bridie Molloy's, an Irish Pub, for our George Street experience. If we were 30 years younger, I'm sure we'd still be there now.

Our host, Earl, greeted us back at the B&B and offered us drinks in the parlor. Earl went out to a play, I have no idea where the other guests are (probably on George Street), and Joe went to bed. I'm still in the parlor sipping sherry, pretending this grand old home is mine. The mayor of St. John's used to live here in the early 1900's, must have been quite the showplace back then.

We leave St. John's tomorrow (sigh) and will head to Argentia to catch the 16 hour overnight ferry back to Nova Scotia. We really messed up with this segment of the trip, should have allowed at least two weeks for Newfoundland. It's really that wonderful.



Captain Frank tells about a guy from Wichita, KS, that fishes in Quidi Vidi.

We get a geology lesson at the Iceberg Brewery in Quidi Vidi.

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Photos

Rendell-Shea B&B
Good breakfast, good conversation.

Rendell-Shea B&B
St. John's, Newfoundland

Cochrane Street, St. John's
Our B&B is on this street.

Kings Street, St. John's
Pretty front porch.

Cape Spear from Signal Hill, St. John's
Can barely see the lighthouse.

Signal Hill
We kept running into these girls all over St. John and Joe would always take a group photo for them. I decided to take his photo with them.

Comments

[Lois Settles]

Loved the videos you included. I think I could vacation there, too. Looks lovely and interesting.
Thanks so much for the great commentary and all the pictures. Experiencing through your eyes and writing. Great stuff.

[jane and dave]

Love St. John's
Wow, it looks a lot like San Francisco and lots to see and do. We want to go there someday. So, how do they pronounce Prescott? Great commentary and pics. Thanks, Judy and Joe

[J J]

Prescott
No idea how they say "Prescott" here, we didn't ask. Yes, everyone should visit this place. We are loving it.

[Barbara]

Prescott St
Do they pronounce it "Preskitt?"

[Barbara]

Marconi
If your fascinated by Marconi, try reading the novel, "Thunderstruck." I loved it and I learned so much!

[J J]

Marconi
Thanks for the book tip, will do. I have no idea how they pronounce Prescott here. Funny, Jane Bender asked the same question.