Newfoundland Adventures part 4: St. John's Signal Hill Historic Site

The forecast all day was sounding iffy, but kept changing. We spent the day successfully getting ahead of the storm. In our pictures it clear the sky kept changing. After walking around the easternmost point in North America we headed to Signal Hill Historic Site. One blog I read suggesting hiking down the hill and meandering to places such as the Queen's Battery and Barracks, Ladies Lookout, and over to Quidi Vidi (sounds like "Kitty Vitty," a fun town to say). As we drove closer to the top we realized if we parked up top, we'd have to hike back up later to retrieve the car. Instead we parked at the Visitor's Center where we caught a reenactment group quietly practicing their marching. We hiked up to the Queen's Battery and up to the tower.

We climbed up Cabot Tower with its narrow spiral staircase, announcing our ascents and descents so others could time theirs. Everyone was patient.

Beautiful views!

Cabot Tower

The second time this summer I have seen a display
on the use of Morse Code

While I enjoyed the views, I did not make any notes about the historical significance of the site, nor did we go on a tour. I was reminded of a painting I saw in a café in Perth, Canada of Signal Hill and tried to find the place where the artist interpreted the scene. We realized it happened on the other side of the water -- not far as the crow flies, but at least a 30 minute drive. After lunch we drove to that site.

We worked up an appetite climbing around. Both the adventureawaits.ca and Boxy Colonial on the Road blogs highly recommended lunch at Quidi Vidi. They said don't be discouraged by the long lines, and also noted that parking could be a challenge. Both assessments were spot on. We climbed down a hill through someone's backyard to the restaurant, where we waited behind ten people for a table. I was thrilled when we were led to a spot on the deck overlooking the old fishing town. After walking past the bar and inside tables I thought I won the lottery. A week later as I read about their fires, I realized you shouldn't take life for granted.

The weather was perfect for outdoor dining. The heat lamps and plastic covers for the windows indicate that is not always the case.

In homage to the two "stages" (fishing cabins) lost to the fires, I'll share more pictures than I normally would from a lunch stop. 

I was grateful for the rental car because we kept hopscotching around St. John's. Fortunately the town does not have much traffic, making long distances easy to naviage.

After lunch we drove to The Rooms, a highly recommended museum. Due to the late hour, though, we decided to explore only the free portions. The museum was not that expensive, and they offered a decent senior discount for visitors over 60, but we passed.

Then we drove to The Terry Fox Memorial where he started his cross-Canada journey in an effort to raise awareness for cancer funding. I'm inspired every time I read his story. I was first introduced to him in a special exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History when we were in Gatineau in 2016.

Turns out there are four Terry Fox statues in Canada and we saw three of them this year (Ottawa and Vancouver have the other two, the fourth one is in Ontario's Thunder Bay).

St. John's

Ottawa

Vancouver

Back in the car, we hit our first traffic jam as we drove to the mall. Yes, New Jerseyans gravitate to the mall when we are faced with too much nature. In this case, we were looking for the local Lindt store to stock up on dark chocolate mint truffles. Canadian Lindt stores use European chocolate while American stores use the lesser-quality American chocolate. We also got ice cream at Laura Secord, something we have been craving since we were in Ottawa and the search for the closest Laura Secord on that hot day led us to the Laura Secord statue near the war memorial. It was worth the wait.

We zigzagged back to St. John's and went to Fort Amherst so we could look for the site of the graffiti bunker we spotted in that painting.

We found the sign that said no cars allowed any further. We found a lighthouse. We heard the foghorn at the lighthouse. We talked to a man we thought was a local, but turned out to be an Airbnb-er. We enjoyed walking around the car-free zone. Using the zoom on our iPhones we came to the conclusion the view was from the bunkers close to the water, a spot inaccessible to us rule abiding adults. 

The fog rolled in. The fog rolled out. The rain started. The rain stopped. The weather changes quickly in Newfoundland.

Back in the car we drove back to Signal Hill, where this post began. Don wanted to hike to a spot where he could see the graffiti bunkers. I'm not a hiker. The trail was labeled M-D, which in English means Medium-Difficult, and in French moyen-difficile. Convenient when the labels match.

After climbing down dozens of stairs and crossing through a rocky patch, I sent Don forward. I eased my way to the red chairs in the distance and enjoyed the view. As I walked back, I told myself it would all be worth it if I could find a green stone like I saw near the lighthouse I would take it as a sign. A sign of what I don't know, but I do know I smiled when it started to spritz and the grey stones turned green.

I worked my way back up to the top where I was waiting for Don as it began to drizzle then rain. We both wished I had taken the car keys when we separated on the trail. 

Don made it to the point he wanted to see. 

I saw flowers and painted rocks he did not notice at his speed. Same place. Same day. Same time. Different experiences. Another lesson to appreciate.

On the way down we posed the the famous statues of a Newfoundland and a Labrador dogs. As it was drizzling we were glad to be off the potentially slippery trail.

A quick spin through the Jellybean district.

From here we went to Brodericks, an Irish restaurant, for dinner. As we learned earlier at The Rooms, many Irish settled in the area and still have a connection with their past. The same names are found in both locations.

It was a good day, and despite the bad weather forecast, it held off. Unfortunately Monday night movie night was cancelled, but we didn't even know what movie they were planning to show, nor did we have a folding chair for the experience (only a blanket).