St John's Newfoundland

This is what did on August 9th…..

First of all… last night a group of us went to the Mexican Restaurant in downtown St. John’s. Imagine going this far North to eat Mexican food! It was actually pretty tasty.

This morning we awoke to cool, overcast weather to take a tour of St. John’s, Newfoundland. We piled on a bus and listened to our guide to learn about this largest city in Newfoundland.

Facts we learned: St John’s is the oldest city in North America continuously inhabited by Europeans and their descendants.
It was settled in the 1519.
The Mayflower stopped here for provisions in 1620.
St. John’s and the area fisheries were fought over by the French and the British.
Newfoundland was an independent nation until 1947 when it became a province of Canada.
St John’s is at the same latitude as Seattle, Washington and Paris, France.
Newfoundland and Labrador have a population of approximately 500,000—of that number nearly 300,000 live in St John’s or its surrounding area.

Our first stop was Cape Spear. This is the eastern most land point in North America.
It was really windy and somewhat chilly but Jim made the hike out to the point.

Next we went to Signal Hill National Historic Site. Signal Hill sits on a hill (surprise) overlooking St. John’s Harbor entrance and the surrounding ocean. It served as a center for the town’s defenses. Signaling cannon was placed on the hill in the late 16th century during the Napoleonic Wars. A system of flags flown on the hill warned ships of sea and weather hazards.
The Cabot tower was built on the hill in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s discovery of Newfoundland and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

It was also on this site on 1901 that Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received the world’s first radio transmission, sent in Morse code, from Cornwall, England.

We drove through the narrow downtown streets of St John’s. Housing is row after row of colorfully painted row houses. Some of the old homes are beautifully restored.

We visited the tiny fishing village of Quidi Vidi. In addition to its charming little harbor, it is home to the oldest unaltered building in the area. It was built in 1750.
It is also home to a local brewery making some tasty beer.

We finished our day by doing a little grocery shopping. Tomorrow we are going on a whale watch boat tour. The forecast is typical “Newfie” (that’s how Newfoundlanders refer to themselves) weather: RDF (rain,drizzle,fog)