This past week, my partner Jamie and I have been visiting the northern half of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland. We landed in St John’s where we procured a rental car and stayed in a cute Airbnb.
The pandemic being what it is, we landed a few weeks after Newfoundland opened up their borders to tourists from other provinces. We also were lucky in getting a car: shortages due to the pandemic made it so that not a single rental was available in all of St John’s. It was only through a cancellation and Joy putting my name down on a waitlist in Mount Pearl that I was able to get one.
We spent Monday catching our bearings. We went to the Bagel Cafe where I had my first touton and later we went for a nighttime walk. Tuesday we visited Jamie’s longtime friends Melanie and James. First spending hours at their home while talking video games, anime and movies to a background of Jurassic Park and Steven Universe, we then headed to the lovely pedestrian mall St John’s set up. It was so vibrant, full of patios and music, in a way that puts Ottawa to shame. Wednesday we visited Signal Hill and then headed for where Jamie grew up: Harbour Grace, Carbonear, and Winterton. We saw the Amelia Earhart display and stranded ship of Harbour Grace, had a long walk through Carbonear to Jamie’s hiding spot where they used to rest by the ocean, and stopped by the bay in Winterton to have a gander. We had takeout that night from Ches’s where I got the salt and vinegar fish and chips.
On Thursday we brought the car back and took it easy, trying to find the feminist book store Prude, only to find it moved and then closed. We got take out again that night, from YellowBelly. I ordered salt and vinegar fish and chips again. On Friday we made our way back stopping for a nap in Bannerman Park.
All in all this was a lovely trip. St John’s is a working class town, with a storied history and vibrant life but modest architecture, reminding me of Dublin. I’m really grateful for this opportunity to have visited.