We did get out and explore a bit yesterday afternoon. We went down to the center of town and walked around a bit. In and out of the stores along Water Street. St. John's came as a surprise in the way it tumbles straight down into the water. High up above the waterfront is the residential area, lower down it becomes the commercial shopping and business part of town and then immediately to the docks. It seems strange to have large commercial ships docked right there, in the middle of the city, but there they are. Pretty darned cool for someone who loves ships.
Ships in the city!
As Carol dodged in and out of the shops, Harper and I were dodging raindrops. We took shelter in an ice cream shop, it looked pretty safe. We had lots of doggie conversations with the young ladies there and got some ice cream to go. Carol found a quilting shop and we all went in and poked about. There was another puppy there and Harper had a friend for a while, and Carol found so good Canadian fabrics for some future project.
Quidi Vidi Harbor - no place to park!
We also drove over to Quidi Vidi to try to get some lunch at the brew pub there but to no avail. We absolutely could not find a single place to park the car within a reasonable walk to the pub. We will try again another day when it is not raining.
An evening at “home”.
Last night we had a lazy evening, caught up on some TV and I got my butt kicked again playing cribbage. We are keeping a running total and I am only one game ahead at this point, Carol is catching up quickly. We got to bed in good time, earlier than the night before, and sleep came quickly. This morning we took our time getting out to explore. I made pancakes and bacon to go with the morning cups of coffee.
The tower on Signal Hill.
We made plans to visit Signal Hill and all that goes on there. This is where Marconi got the first wireless signal to - from across the Atlantic. We wanted to explore the site and to do a bit of hiking. The drive was short and interesting as it passed straight through the center of downtown. As I have mentioned is very hilly, and the streets are very narrow and none of them go in the same direction for very long. Interesting driving here. The speed limit as you approach Signal Hill is 20, that's in kilometers, about 15 mph. I have a difficult time going 15 mph, but we made it without incident.
Above the city
The view from the hill is spectacular. It overlooks all of St John's downtown, the harbor and surrounding area. Spectacular!. It also highlights just how protected this harbor is. The epitome of a safe harbor. As we were exploring they fired the noon cannon and everyone jumped even though we all knew it was going to happen. They use a 3-pound Hotchkiss Gun that was once aboard HMS Calypso (1887) and have been firing a cannon here at noon since the mid 19th century. We visited the gift shop, explored the tower and hiked a bit over the edge, where Carol got a bit intimidated. We met a guy with a Newfoundland, the dog not the island. She was huge and still a puppy. He said she would still grow another 100 pounds.
Carol, Harper and the Newfie.
Preparing the Hotchkiss gun for noon.
Carol, Harper and I hiked the area and there were some very interesting trails there. As we made our way back to the car we found a Chocolate Cafe... well imagine our surprise!
Some steep trail areas.
We each had an amazing hot chocolate and shared a dark chocolate dipped oat cake. What a way to end a hike. And as we approached our car another couple came along and wanted to know all about Harper, they also have a Chiweenie and were from Arlington, Massachusetts, about an hour from home. Small world indeed.
Hot chocolates and Oat Cake back in the car!
We took a drive back through town and drove along 'Jelly Bean Row' where the houses are all painted different colors and all share common walls. Kind of San Francisco-ish.
Jelly Bean Row
Then off to the far side of the harbor just to check out the workings of the harbor. Carol and I both have a fascination with ships and harbors and especially like the working boats.
Canadian Coast Guard ship leaving the harbor.
I got in a couple of quick sketches of boat stuff. Then back to town for another walk around, then we discovered the visitor center and found out a bit about the ships in the harbor.
View across the harbor from the far side.
They are mostly Offshore Support Vessels supporting the oil rigs which are about 200 miles offshore. They had a very detailed model of a supply vessel in the visitor center, a very nicely made model. Hmmm maybe I could. . . . We did a bit more shopping this afternoon, Carol found a Newfoundland charm for a charm bracelet she has, and we made another stop for supplies before returning to our 'home' for the evening.
Streets are blocked off for pedestrian traffic.
Carol made a nice supper and then proceeded to kick my butt again in cribbage. We are now tied!
Below is a gallery of images. Click an image to enlarge.
