A Day in St. John's

We're happy to report there were no July 4th hangovers in our family -- I don't mean the alcoholic kind, but just the general sort of malaise one feels after a day of celebrating, when you wake up and either are obliged to go back to mundane things, or wonder what more-mundane things you'll be doing that day.

We had to set our alarm clock early to get our Jeep over for its regular servicing, which, in this case in St. John's, was provided by the local Jeep dealer, The Royal Garage (it took some research to be sure this was a full-service auto dealer).  After some confusion because they couldn't find a record of my appointment, they processed it efficiently, and off we went on the adventure we planned for Jeep Servicing Day.

We started with the most scrumptious accidental breakfast diner discovery;  The Omelette Wizard, just down Topsail Road from the Jeep dealer.  Kathy had a Maple Sausage Omelette, and David had Fish Cake Bennies (eggs benedict on fishcakes rather than English muffins).  Both were scrumptious and some of the best breakfast food we've had since Betty's Sea View Diner (no, there is no sea view) in Berkeley on a visit with Katie in 2005.

Now on to the real adventure.  We discovered a rails-to-trails multi-use trail running directly from the Mount Pearl neighborhood of the Jeep dealer, down to the harbor and downtown St. John's.  We decided to do the bike ride.  

The trail is locally called the Waterford River Walk or T'Railway (get it?).  It is part of The Great Trail (Le Grand Sentier) -- formerly known as Trans Canada Trail -- a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. In some areas, it is merely an aspirational route following highways or streets with traffic, so one always has to be careful when deciding to hike or bike a section of it. The Trail extends over 24,000 kilometres, it is now the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world. The idea for the Trail began in 1992, shortly after the Canada 125 celebrations. Since then it has been supported by donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and all levels of government.

The top section of the trail was not much more than a grassy road along the beautiful Waterford River:

No sooner did we get started, then the Jeep dealer called.  Our vehicle was ready to pick up!  Up we turned and bicycled back to the dealership to pick up the Jeep, then drove back to the nearest parking lot to where we turned around, and resumed our bike ride.

Many people who visit St. John have remarked to us that they find the city itself a little uninspiring.  However, we didn't feel that way.  Our path downtown gave us interesting views of unique architecture, such as Corpus Christi Church:

St. John's is the oldest city in North America, having been settled as early as 1497 and has been denoted on maps since 1519.  For this reason, you would think there would be some amazing historic architecture, such as one finds in Quebec City or the old town of Montreal.  One reason there aren't many historic buildings is that the Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the city, which consisted mainly of wooden structures.

We considered this history as we peddled the mild railroad grade down into town.  Even within a mile or so of town, the Waterford River had a bucolic character.  Flowers are blooming and we stopped frequently to admire the scenes along the river:

Here is another beautiful church, St. Patrick's Catholic Church:

Our trail brought us down to the shipbuilding harbor and Water Street, the main street running along the harbor.  On the positive side, St. John's harbor is small and easy to explore.  We're not sure we've ever visited a city with shipbuilding should-to-shoulder with tourist attractions.  On the negative side, the presence of the working harbor presents some challenges in developing the area as a tourist attraction.  Looking out down the river, under the highway, we could count at least three ships under construction or repair:

The south side of Water Street boasts the local railway history museum.  Having seen many such places, we took a respectful pass, but admired the architecture:

An unexpected find was the Newman Wine Vaults, located in one of a handful of buildings to survive the Great Fire.  It is believed the building was constructed in the early-mid 1700's, but the history is not certain.

The origins of the practice of aging Newman's Port in Newfoundland dates back to 1679. According to tradition, in the fall of 1679 a Portuguese vessel loaded with port wine bound for London slipped its moorings. As it floated out to sea it encountered French privateers. The privateers drove the ship further off course and, in attempts to escape, it ventured out into the Atlantic. After weathering severe Atlantic storms, the captain decided to head for St. John's, where the ship stayed for the winter months. The cargo of port wine was safely stored in caves in the Southside Hills of St. John's.

The following spring the vessel finally completed its long, arduous journey to England. It was soon discovered that the port that had over-wintered in Newfoundland had acquired a bouquet, a smoothness and a flavor that it did not have before. From that point on, Newman and Company decided to age its port wine in Newfoundland. The practice continued at the wine vaults on Water Street from the early nineteenth century onwards. The wine was aged in the vaults by the Newman's until at least 1893, possibly until 1914.

The Newman warehouse still houses some of the original extra-large oak barrels or casks -- known as pipes -- in which the port was stored:

Our tour included a free tasting of Newman's Port.  Today, because of Portuguese laws prohibiting the appelation, "port" for anything not of Portuguese origin, Newman does not store its port in Newfoundland.  The port is nevertheless smooth and full-bodied.  We made sure to run out and purchase a bottle for ourselves!

Speaking of purchases, as we strolled down Water Street, we happened on an old-time music store, "O'Brien's," which specializes in sheet music, old and new musical instruments (including hand-made ugly sticks) and music in the form of CD's.  The proprietor was very helpful in consulting with us on the "best" traditional and alt-traditional acoustic Newfoundland music, which, due to the large number of Irish who settled here over the centuries, is primarily music of Gaelic origin, including sea shanties, jigs, reels and the like.

We got back to the campground just in time to meet up with our new RV friends Judy and Harry Kaplan, who, though from New York City, live in Florida and have a second home in North Carolina.  They are on a long trip through the Canadian Maritimes.  We first met them in mid-June in Codroy Valley, Newfoundland, and caught up with them again here in Pippy Park in St. John's.  They suggested we all go out to dinner at O'Reillys:

It was nothing but music and fun and singing and fun and step-dancing and fun.  While the venue was a little dark (the cause of the photo below being a little fuzzy) and a little too noisy for conversation, we still had a great time and learned more about each other.  Young step-dancers from a local school entertained us, as well as an Irish-folk quartet known as, "Conway."

One of the more entertaining features of the evening were our meals.  While Judy had a sensible burger (without bun) and salad, Harry and we two elected the Moose Stew.  As a wonderful surprise, it came with a flaky dumpling in the shape of a moose!  Of course, we couldn't resist taking photos:

All in all, this turned out to be a great introduction to St. John.  We looked forward to tomorrow's adventure, which we hope will agive us more insight into this historic and culturally vibrant city.