How the Cookie Crumbles

Life and scribbles on the far side of SIXTY-FIVE


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More Brigus and Petty Harbour

The weather had become humid and heavy with rain since before lunch.

Francis said we were on our own for supper, but I recalled the plans had been changed because we wouldn’t see whales and puffins per our itinerary. This last, added tour was too late in the season. An e-mail notice had mentioned we’d be treated to dinner instead. I asked Mary to dig up the email on her iPad. As we read it, Francis retracted his announcement. Another free meal. Yay.

Before we leave the little town of Brigus, I have a couple more interesting tidbits. We walked down the road to Brigus Tunnel. Granddaddy Abram Bartlett (to Captain Bob) had this tunnel built to avoid a busy, crowded harbor. This accommodated his trips to Labrador for summer fishing and to offload his catch without crowding when he returned.

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Once we walked through the tunnel, this is what awaited where Abram unloaded his ship.:

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On our way back to the bus, we came upon these yellow flowers. According to Norm, a member of our party, they are from the snapdragon family: called butter and eggs. The more I looked at them, the more the name fit.

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Once on the bus, Francis popped in a DVD about the resettlement from Paradise Bay. The government at work again. Sigh.

http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/resettlement-program.php

Return to Paradise for the Pomeroy Family:

Petty Harbour:

I took a gazillion photos. It’s a small world as they say. We met some people from Sarnia vacationing in Petty Harbour in a house off the harbor. Two couples in our group were also from the same city and soon all ended up chatting together.

It’s a pretty place, but we didn’t see any fish arriving nor fisherman unloading them.

Storage containers each hold 2,000 pounds of cod.They are about a yard square and so well insulated, our guide bought an old one, cut a door in it, put on a peaked roof, and his dog is comfy all winter.

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Petty Harbour Quick Facts:

  • Images of Petty Harbour
  • Gordon Pinsent made many movies here
  • Orca the Killer Whale movie made here
  • Alan Doyle (singer, actor) was in movie in his hometown Petty Harbour
  • Houses along Petty Harbour Road are more upscale, modern, vinyl-covered
  • Few houses in wood
  • Ziplining: See here and here popular (off the cliffs, Petty Harbour Road)
  • Fastest growing area
  • Building a city within a city: Costco, huge theatre
  • Areas set aside for seniors’ centers and industrial areas
  • All dairy farms around here
  • Grow cattle corn because too expensive to bring in feed
  • No railway to supplement the hay
  • Sign on the way to St. John’s: Irish Loop Drive (because it reminded them of home)
  • Reminds you why the Irish settled on the coast = looked so much like home)
  • ABC = Anyone but Conservatives (last ruling government)

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On the Lighter Side:

Mary felt her husband’s hands wander over her body. “Oh, John. I didn’t know you were feeling so romantic.”

“Go to sleep, Mary. I was looking for the remote.”

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Next time: Cape Spear and Signal Hill

© 2016 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles.

For more related posts, click on Newfoundland / Labrador tab at the top of the page

 


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Lunch and a Visit to Brigus

Lunch awaited at Skipper Ben’s Restaurant in Cupids, which is also a bed and breakfast for only a couple people at a time. Francis says he’d stayed overnight in the past. The food had been pre-ordered and arrived hot soon after we were seated. How the cook managed, I cannot imagine. The kitchen was teeny-tiny. I like a large island or lots of counter space to work on, neither of which were evident. If I hadn’t checked out the washrooms, I wouldn’t have seen the work space.

We entered through the cute side door with a plaque. The front of the building was on the other side.

Inside there were just enough tables to accommodate our reduced group of 22. Three people left on Day 7 and 6 on Day 8).

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Mary and I had been too busy talking and I forgot to take pictures of the food. We both ordered fish cakes and vegetables but didn’t taste the cod for the mashed potatoes that glued the cakes together. A fellow across from me, smiled from ear to ear, smacked his lips and said in a loud voice, “You can’t even taste any potato in these fish cakes.” I wonder if he was being facetious.

Dessert: a crepe wrapped around fruit with  phony whipped cream. I’m glad I don’t take to sweets.

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The Town of Brigus

  • Best blueberry pies anywhere
  • A popular tourist spot now
  • Quiet, quaint, colorful, and well-kept

Captain Bob Bartlett was raised in Brigus, enjoyed fishing, sealing and exploring. During one of his expeditions, his ship, the Karluk became stuck in the ice. When he realized his ship had to be given up, he played all his classical records one by one and threw each into the sea. The last one he played was the Funeral March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63B2y5RxbNs (a song about his adventures – Enjoy)

He traveled 700 miles to Alaska by sledge, obtained another ship, returned in five months and saved his crew. He lost not one man.

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The Bartlett family lived in Hawthorne Cottage between 1885 and 1946. Due to his many expeditions, and other as a child, I can’t imagine how much time he spent living in this house.

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Named for the hawthorn trees planted around the house.

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John Leamon Museum (Could not find much information about it.)

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Brigus Seafaring Families Plaque:

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Some of the delightful street names in Brigus:

Irishtown Road South Street Conception Bay Highway
Magistrate’s Hill Beaver Road Station Road
Jane’s Hill Forge Road Quigley Bay
Barrach’s Road Chapel Lane Spacklin Lane
Church Hill Station Line Keating Road
Vindicator Lane School Street Ridge Road
Water Street Blueberry Place The Old Road

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On the Lighter Side:

A guy comes into a bar and orders three beers, goes to a table, and drinks them one after another. One night, he orders only two and the bartender asks if one of his brothers died.

“Oh, no. I gave up drinking.”

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Next on July 1st – More Brigus and Petty Harbor

© 2016 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles.

For more related posts, click on Newfoundland / Labrador tab at the top of the page