St. John's May 18/16

Today we drove the Baccalieu Trail, which is considered to be a scenic all-day drive. We passed through many small towns with names such as Heart's Desire, Heart's Content, and Heart's Delight. We did not however go through the town of Dildo, which is just south of those previous towns. We joked about taking a picture of the sign, but in the end cut across the penninsula to go to a gallery that had some Christopher Pratt art, which Michael is very fond of. At Harbour Grace we saw the air strip where Amelia Earhart took off for her flight across the Atlantic. There was a small monument, but the site itself was poorly signed, and it seemed like no one really cared about this historic flight any more. Also at Grates Cove, a National Historic site at the tip of the penninsula, we didn't see a marker, or even any place to park that wasn't near someone's property. It's as if they didn't want you there. We saw two more icebergs on this drive, and every time we saw a new cove we looked for more. That evening we ate in a restaurant that had been recommended by a Calgary friend. The food was very good, but Michael was very sick later that evening. It had to be either the oysters or the raw shrimp, which thankfully I didn't have.

Thursday we did laundry and groceries, as we will be moving on from St. John's on Friday. Ironically today's weather was the best we've had all week, as it was sunny and actually warm enough for me to only have one sweater on! At the laundromat we helped the owner fold 12 loads of towels for a commercial customer, and she gave us a free wash in return. She was telling us her troubles - seems like she's had a tough life. Of course we put some money in her tip jar on the way out! Michael still wasn't feeling perfectly well after his rough night, so we rested in the B&B, before taking a short drive to Petty Harbour. Apparently the locals had seen a whale there in the morning, and although we didn't see that, we did see a couple of more icebergs. In a gift shop we saw mummer's dolls, which caught our attention because of the mummer's play that Michael is a part of at Christmas each year. Appartently the tradition is still alive and well in Newfoundland. The residents dress up in costumes which cover their faces. Then they visit neighbouring houses, singing or playing music, and the people have to guess their identity. We bought one of the mummer dolls - a fellow playing fiddle - to hang on our Christmas tree (although we really don't need any more ornaments!) But this is so unique to the area, and something that we're also familiar with, so it was hard to resist. For dinner we took Claire's parents out as a thank you for all of their help with planning suggestions, rides to and from the airport, dinner and our first night's stay at their house.