We did a Maritimes cruise back in October 2019, but the itinerary didn’t include St Pierre or Newfoundland, so that’s the reason we booked this one, because we’d get to see both. And while we enjoyed St Pierre, I doubt we’d go back. Newfoundland, on the other hand, was worthy of a return trip someday.

The capital, St John’s, not to be confused with Saint John, New Brunswick, is chock full of “jelly bean rows” - multicoloured row house buildings lining the streets. Whether residential or full of quaint little shops and restaurants, they give the whole city a joyous vibe.

We poked around the shops and other oddities in the main streets. I noticed that there are at least two or three pubs on every block, at least in the part of town near the harbour. Some of them are hundreds of years old and probably have stories to tell.

We chose a lunch spot, but it didn’t open until noon, so we popped into Tims for a coffee to pass the time and do some people watching. Tims coffee isn’t the best - it’s not even as good as the coffee on the ship - but sometimes you just need a Tims fix and a dark roast double-double does the trick.

It turns out that we were just a few blocks from the beginning of the Trans-Canada Highway, one of the longest roads in the world at 7,467 km (4,645 mi). It seemed significant enough that Rob even let me get him in the picture for a change.

Then it was off to the Saltwater Pub for lunch. We chose this place because they advertised lobster rolls on the sign outside… but once inside, we noticed that the lobster rolls were $57. Um… no. So Rob had fish and chips (which he said were some of the best he’s had) and I had blackened cod tacos, which were also really good.

After lunch, Rob headed back to the ship and I decided to walk up to the Cabot Tower on Signal Hill. The map said it was only 2km or so up there, so I figured I’d just walk it rather than get an Uber. And true, it was about 2km… almost all of it a very steep climb.

Got my steps in as well as a good cardio workout. The last 800m or so was the worst, but once up top at the tower, the view made it all worth it.

As I plotted my way back to the ship, I noticed that the Terry Fox memorial wasn’t that far out of my way. Now, I know that most of the American readers are thinking, “Terry who?” and I was no different when I moved here 11 years ago. But now as a proud Canadian, it would feel like sacrilege to be this close and not go pay my respects.

Terry Fox is a Canadian national hero and it’s a shame that more people around the world aren’t as familiar with his story as we are up here in the land of moose and maple syrup. If you’re not familiar, look him up. Truly inspiring.

Hmm… looking through my pics, I see that I took one of Cabot Tower on Signal Hill from the ship early this morning. If I’d seen it from this vantage point at first, I probably would’ve taken an Uber up there after all!

Oh… you might recall from a few posts back when I visited Parliament Hill and commented on how fugly the Supreme Court building was there… Ottawa should’ve taken a hint from Newfoundland, because THIS Supreme Court building would fit in quite nicely there.

St John’s, like Calgary, has a huge public art scene happening on the sides and ends of buildings. There are giant murals and art pieces on almost every block, but this one really caught my eye, primarily because of the mer-mooses, a thing I didn’t know I needed in my life, but I’m here for it.

And wouldn’t you just know… the mer-mooses are behind the damn traffic signal in my photo. You can kinda see one of them directly below the yellow submarine.

Went up on deck as we left St John’s to get some pics of the Cabot Tower from another angle… which I did.

But something else happened, too… at first, it was a lone guy waving a Newfoundland and Labrador flag and yelling to us, “thanks for coming, I hope you enjoyed your day!”

…and that would’ve been really nice. But as we sailed on through the narrows, we noticed more people. They had looked up the ship schedule and made it a point to take time out of their day to stand along the streets as we sailed away, wave, and tell us, “bon voyage! Come back any time!” There were people all along the road from the harbour to the lighthouse on the point.

Not gonna lie, I got a bit choked up. As of the time of this writing, the world seems to be increasingly filled with hatred towards one another. Politicians are openly targeting minorities and a far-too-large section of the population is gleefully cheering them on. Basic human rights are being trampled on and not in an underhanded way, either. It’s all out in the open and some people are celebrating it.

But here, in this seaside city, people took time to find out when the ship would sail and they came out to wish us well and welcome us back another day. It was a simple but beautiful gesture and it seemed to be the sort of thing you’d expect from the people here. Nowhere in our excursions today did we meet any locals who weren’t genuinely friendly. And as much as I loved the scenery, the painted houses, the food, and the history of the place, that one tiny little gesture as we were leaving is what I’ll take with me and remember when someone says, “Newfoundland.”

ABSOLUTELY, I’ll be back someday.

Raced down off the deck to dinner, where the whole crew was already seated. Most of us had chilli prawns on black rice, which was very tasty.

The show tonight was an encore performance by Jason Lyle Black, still dazzling us with his keyboard prowess. And of course, he had to do his signature “playing upside down” thing, which is seriously impressive, but tonight he also did “playing behind the back” as well as “playing from the floor, upside down and backward.”

And I know you’re thinking, “ok, that’s a neat gimmick, but…” and I’ll stop you right there by saying that if you weren’t looking at him, you wouldn’t have known that he switched from regular playing to gimmick playing, because the quality of his playing didn’t change. That was the most mind-blowing part. He played just as well in the awkward positions as he did sitting at the piano like a normal person. It was madness.

Caught a glimpse of the sunset through a window, then hit the sack (after I finished writing this, that is).

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