Newfoundland - Exploring St. John's with the Locals

We know that the island of Newfoundland can have some nasty weather. Its winters are cold and snowy, and it gets more than its share of wind and fog. But Alexia tells us that Newfoundland is showing off for us with all this great weather. So we are taking advantage of another blue-sky day to explore with the locals more of the area close to their house while the kids are at school. We wanted to see Quidi Vidi, a little neighborhood that surrounds Quidi Vidi Lake. In case you're struggling with how to pronounce it, think "Kitty Vitty" while you are reading this blog.

Our hosts have a lovely family picture hanging in their living room that was taken here, and Denisa wanted one just like it. This is such a picturesque little village! We tried taking our picture here . . .

and here . . .

and here. Then Denisa realized that it wasn't just the back drop. Maybe their picture was better because the people in their picture were better looking.

Alexia took us up on the Sugarloaf Path that starts at Quidi Vidi for our hike of the day.

From the trail, we can see this picturesque little village, and the fish and chips food truck where we were planning to have lunch.

We can also see a fishing boat coming in from a day at sea. We talked to that fisherman later, and he told us that the only time boats could enter Quidi Vidi Lake from the ocean was during high tide when there was enough water over the dam for a boat to float over.

We took the Sugarloaf trail until we could see the inlet to the ocean between two big sea stacks. We are getting to wander among God's wonders again today!

Alexia is still trying to get that perfect picture of this imperfect couple!

Quidi Vidi Village Plantation is an arts and crafts incubator shop with a prime spot on the wharf. It was closed on the day we were visiting, but we couldn't hep but notice that many of the rocks in the flower beds had crocheted or knitted coverings.

When we looked closer, we saw that each had a QR code that explained who made each rock afghan.

We're taking advantage of the nice weather to tour some other parts of the city of St. John's with the locals. One of the things that this city is famous for is "jellybean row." These brightly painted row houses remind us of the ones in San Francisco, as do the steep hilly streets that lead down to the ocean.

The jellybean houses are all over downtown, but we found that the electrical wires stringing in all directions made for cluttered pictures of these bright row houses.

We passed the jellybeans on our way to the Terry Fox memorial situated on the harbor. Perhaps you recognize that name, as he was named "Canada's Greatest Hero" in a poll a few years ago. Terry Fox was a Canadian, who was studying to be a teacher and coach when he was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1977 at the age of 19.

The cancer took his right leg, but he continued running and developed his plan to run across Canada to raise funds for cancer research. He started that run on this spot in Newfoundland on April 12, 1980, when he dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic ocean. He was running toward the Pacific Ocean, and his run was named the "Marathon of Hope." He ran a marathon each day for 143 days before his cancer returned and he was forced to stop. What a heroic young man! Our great-nephew, Cole, was participating in a Terry Fox run at school while we were visiting.

This was also "date night" as the adults have reservations at one of the nice restaurants in downtown St. John's. The Merchant Tavern building used to be a bank, with one special table in the old bank vault.

We were seated at the "wet bar" which means that we got to watch the chefs prepare dishes like Beef Tartare or Snow Crab Clusters, or torch the top of creme brulee.

It was dark outside by the time we finished our dinner of Steak Frites and Cream Corn Agnolotti. We don't often eat at such fancy restaurants, but this is where the locals go! Afterwards, we got to see downtown St. John's all lit up.

Our last stop of the night was the local candy store, with its collection of old-school favorites that we haven't seen in years, and Newfoundland local candy that we have never experienced before. We feel so lucky to get to explore the local sights of St. John's with the locals!