Newfoundland!

Steve and I both slept well in our micro-room on the ferry last night and were upstairs having coffee by 7:30 this morning.   Right on time, our ferry docked in Newfoundland at 9:30. It was a gorgeous morning so our first views of this large island were wonderful.  There were no issues with driving off of the ferry, and before we knew it we were on our way.  

Our destination today was only about 80 miles.  We are staying in St. John’s which is the largest city on the island.  It has a population of about 100,000 people.  The name of our campground is Pippy Park.  I just love that name! The drive here was really pretty… if that’s even a hint of what’s to come, this is going to be a beautiful visit.  There are lakes EVERYWHERE, and we were told there are more moose here than people.  Some have said not to drive at night.  There’s just too much risk in hitting one.  We were told their eyes don’t glow in headlights like deer do and are therefore even harder to see.  They are so huge that they can total a semi truck cab.  

Our campground is very nice which is great because we will be here four days.  Once we got set up, Steve and I headed downtown to check things out.  It was crazy-busy as a street festival is going on and a cruise ship was in port.  We did eventually find a parking space and walked around a bit.  Lots of Irish pubs everywhere and many have live music going on.  There was an outside stage, too, and we were able to get a table in a pub overlooking the activity.  Our server, who was super nice, explained that they were very limited in what they could serve alcohol-related because of the festival.  They were required to serve only alcohol that is sponsoring the event… so we were in an Irish pub and couldn’t get a Guinness!  We landed on two white wines.  As we perused the menu for an appetizer, the following caught our eye and I asked our server about it… 

Yep, it’s pretty much what you think it is… the inside of a cod’s mouth.   She said it’s more the throat than the tongue, and said it tastes just like cod only gelatinous.  She was laughing as she told us about it (probably at the looks on our faces) and it didn’t seem to me that it was her favorite thing on the menu either.  Scruncions are fried pork belly - kind of like bacon bits. 

Bridie Malloy’s… a pub with a view

Get your mind out of the gutter!  Dildo is a small town in Newfoundland.  And believe it or not, there is a nearby town called Spread Eagle.  

After that, we headed back to the campground for a group pizza dinner and trip log meeting.  We went through the itinerary for the next several days so we won’t have to do one again for a while.  We have quite a bit of free time while here which we are really looking forward to.  I think there will be lots of fun places to explore!