A Grey Foggy Day...On the Kittiwake Shore

 Summer days were warmer then
when we laughed with old fishermen
and they cursed when the fog rolled in
then they made up the hay
it's been more than a long long time
since I held you and called you mine
and we waited for the sun to shine
on a Grey Foggy Day

Happy Anniversary!  We were married 25 years ago on July 4, but we were so busy on Fogo Island that we forgot to make anniversary cards for each other this year.  Since we've returned to the mainland of Newfoundland from Fogo Island, we've had nothing but rain and bugs AND FOG -- so we decided to give each other mosquitoes for anniversary gifts.  This one got in the Jeep with us and perched on the backside of one of the Jeep ducks:

 

 

Our campground is in Lumsden, Newfoundland, on the Kittiwake Coast, which is said to be locally famous for its long, sandy beaches. We also found a wonderful Canada red chair, and a rainbow sign advising us that we've found the Lumsden beach:

 

 

Because it was so rainy on July 4, we decided on a car tour of the Kittiwake Coast, which is the region of this peninsula that lies north and west of the Bonaventure Peninsula.  We started in Greenspond, southeast along the coast from Lumsden, because we learned it has a lighthouse.  It turned out that Greenspond had more than that; as we arrived, we came to an overlook.  If the day had been clear, we would have had a spectacular view of the town and the harbor.  As it was, with the fog, we had to content ourselves with sitting in the large Muskoka chairs at the overlook:

 

 

We found a spot to get a view of the center of town despite the fog.  It was very pretty, even as Newfoundland outports go:

 

 

It is still a working fishing port, as witnessed by these big fishing boats:

 

 

We eventually found our way to a point on an island out of the main part of town, where we were treated to a foggy view of both the lighthouse (you will see it if you look carefully on the larger island in the background in the photo below) and a smaller harbor light (nearer the viewer in the photo below):

 

 

Greenspond boasts several cemeteries, including the Old St. James Cemetery.  Apparently, very few people who enter this cemetery come out alive:

 

 

Everywhere we looked in Greenspond, we found pretty scenes that are ubiquitous throughout Newfoundland:

 

 

By the time we got to Newtown, our second stop, we were hungry for a second breakfast -- having eaten a small breakfast very early before the start of our drive.  While there are not many restaurants in this area, and very few of them open as early as 9:00 am, we found the Karma Kafe --

 

 

 -- which is an eclectic, offbeat place that offers simple comfort along with good food:

 

 

Formally known as the "Karma Kafé and Find Junque," it is nestled along the ocean in an old church hall, and is filled with mismatched kitchen tables, overstuffed bookshelves, and antiques in every nook and cranny. Most thing are donated, from the dishes to the food. But there are no plastic forks or spoons to be found, due to the cafe's determination to reduce waste, says Flo Cross, a retired schoolteacher who opened the cafe in 2017. It composts everything it can, she says. There was no business plan for the cafe; it just sprouted out of the desire to spread good energy and give back.  It is owned by the young people who work there.

 

For those diners (or mere sippers of coffee or tea) who wish a more comfortable setting, comfy lounge areas are an alternative.  One guest decided to use the sofa for a quick Newfie nap:

 

 

Having finished second breakfast, we drove over to the Barbour Living Heritage Village.  We had heard that Newtown has been dubbed the "Venice of Newfoundland," and we were curious why it was so named.  Our hosts at the Heritage Village told us that it is because Newtown sits on 17 islands, which are all connected by small bridges and separated by shallow natural or man-made canals of water (called "tickles").  At one time in Newtown's history, boat rides were offered along the tickles, around the islands and under the bridges.  The Heritage Village has one of the gondolas that were built and used for these rides:

 

 

The Village features living interpretations of the lives of the Barbours, a well-known and prominent family involved, primarily as merchants, in the fishing and sealing industries in Newfoundland. There are 19 buildings in the Barbour Living Heritage Village.  The Village’s historic homes are furnished with their original contents and provide an excellent opportunity to give insight into the family life of one of Newfoundland’s most distinguished families.  They were so distinguished, that, throughout the lives of 3 generations of family members, they expected visits from the British Royal Family.  This expectation was so concrete that each house had a bedroom -- or a sitting room -- or such designated specially for the Royal Family, and these rooms were not used except for very special occasions.

As we started our tour, our guide walked us over (in the rain, of course) to a deck where she showed us a primitive anchor used by Newfoundland fisherman in areas where iron was not available.  It was constructed of wood, rope and a large, heavy stone.  Our guide explained that these anchors often didn't last long, because they would fall apart or break easily.

 

 

The central structure in the Heritage Village is the Benjamin Barbour House:

 

 

The home was originally built for Captain Benjamin Barbour and his family of nine sons and two daughters. Barbour came to Newtown from Cobblers Island in 1873. For the first two years in the community, the family lived in a "log cabin", possibly a studded house, near the site. The Barbour House was finally completed in 1875. After it was finished, other homes were built in the community to house other members of the family.

The house proved to be one of the most unique homes we have ever toured.  As it happened, the wives of Benjamin's two sons did not get along.  So the house was built almost as a twin home, but with no separation wall between the two halves.  As a consequence, it had two front doors, two main staircases --

 

 

 -- two kitchens, and two sets of bedrooms, one family living on one side and the other family living on the other, with the children free to roam, while the mothers did not have to interact!

 

Another most unusual feature of the Benjamin Barbour House was the "wake room" upstairs.  Our guide told us that the family regularly hosted wakes for members of the family or the community, where the dearly departed would lie "in state," or, more macabrely, be propped into a lifelike position with eyes manipulated open, for one last photograph in their finest clothes as a keepsake for grieving family.  Some of these funeral photos were on display and we were spooked by their eery, lifelike feeling -- the original zombies!  We speculate that the home hosted so many wakes, either to provide an important service and emotional support to the members of the community on whose business the family depended -- or as an additional side gig for profit.

 

Benjamin Barbour's grandson, Alphaeus Barbour, was a widower who married the local schoolteacher.  One of their children died, and it is said he had a magnificent house built for her to ease her sorrow.  It also sits in the Heritage Village:

 

 

The house was so extravagant, however, that it drove Alphaeus into bankruptcy, and he and his family were forced to move to Boston, selling this expensive mansion to his uncle for a mere $1,000.

The last stop on our tour was a newly-built Sealer's Interpretation Center, which includes a wittily designed scale model of a sealing schooner that we could walk through.  Kathy even got a chance to take the helm!

 

 

From Newtown, we drove northwest along the coast, past our campground in Lumsden, to Musgrave Harbour where we had intended to visit the Fishermen's Museum --

 

 

-- but we were sorely disappointed to find that it was not open for the season yet.  In fact, it looked as if it might not ever open again.  We enjoyed a late lunch at a cafe nearby, then walked along the Musgrave Harbour beach which, our waitress informed us, was every bit as beautiful as the Lumsden beach, but apparently Lumsden had a better public relations team. Being from a region with beautiful sandy beaches ourselves, we thought that it was certainly sandier than other Newfoundland beaches, but, for ourselves, we preferred the rocky ones (for their scenic beauty) and the gravel ones (for their sea glass):

 

 

One of the communities between Musgrave Harbour and Lumsden is a town called Deadman's Cove.  We could not find any information on the history of the name, so the meaning of "Deadman's Cove" will have to remain shrouded in mystery.  We didn't venture into the town itself, but we were very impressed with Rocky Pond, which is a barachois cut off from Deadman's Cove:

By the time we arrived back at our campground it was almost 4:00 pm and the rain had stopped, so we hustled into our RV through the greeting committee of mosquitoes and prepared for a walk for Ruby Cat and for a small dinner to top of the day.

Tomorrow, it's on to St. John's and the folk festival!