Out and About in St. John’s

October 7, 2016 by Let's CUT the Crap! 52 Comments

The previous night we spent at Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, built on the site of Fort William and the most luxurious of the trip. Our first night had been spent at Glynmill Inn, a much older but quaint establishment. A handful of magnificent east coast art decorated the walls in our room, even in the bathroom. The bellman who delivered our bags told my sister she better take care. He guessed her bag at capacity weight, if not already over.

It’s our second last day and the morning greeted us with angry, driving rain. Boarding the bus, we were introduced to our new driver, Pete, who informed us he’s waiting to get his license to drive this tour bus. What a joker. Shawn had left for Gander the night before to return our original bus.

Peter used to work in a paper-mill until five years ago when it shut down. He started our dreary day with this joke:

Sam went to heaven and was startled by all the clocks on the walls. Some moved slowly and some not at all. That’s St. Theresa’s clock; she never told a lie. That’s Abraham Lincolns…

Hey, where’s Stephen Harper’s clock? It’s in God’s office—used as a ceiling fan.

Newman and Company

• English Winery
• 1669 ships travelled to Portugal to pick up wine in barrels, returned to refine
• Attacked by pirates, escaped
• Escaped during storm
• Made way to St. John’s. Could not return to England
• Excavated caves 20 feet in solid rock to store wine
• In spring, loaded on ship
• When began to bottle, found wine superior
• 1670 to late 1880 went to Portugal, returned with wine, stored in caves several years
• Returned again to Portugal
• During WWII, munitions stored in caves
• Wine caves sealed now
• Newman Wine Vaults

This is Mile “O” of the Trans-Canada_Highway, where Canada begins!

 

 I ran out in the pouring rain with a few other adventurous souls to take pictures of this mustard yellow building: Quidi Vidi Brewery. We were interesting in going inside, but it was closed. It would have been a treat to sample some of their famous brew. Not worth getting soaked to the skin but there you have it. I didn’t enjoy this day’s tour in the pelting rain. Lots of info given, but it came too fast and the photos were messy taken from the moving bus.

Terry Fox Monument

• Moved to current location because people had trouble finding it
• This is where he dipped his artificial foot into the Atlantic before he started

St. John’s Quick Facts:

• War Memorial Day in Newfoundland is July 1
• Newfound dogs are mascots for War Memorial Days
• The other Memorial Day is November 11^th
• Oldest wooden structure in St. Johns is Mallard Cottage, a restaurant attached to it
• Penitentiary built 1859
• 55,000 American troops stationed at Fort Pepperrell from WWII until the 1960s
• Chimney Smoke Pots: If you see 6 – 8 on a roof, each leads to 6 – 8 open fireplaces

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Next on October 14^th – St. John’s, a University Town

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