NEWFOUNDLAND 2025
St. John's
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The city is the easternmost city in North America (excluding Greenland). Indicated as São João on a Portuguese map from 1519, it may be one of the oldest cities in North America.
We made it to St. John's on the East Coast, and found our hotel, the Monastery Spa & Suites. Not that expensive for a big city, fairly convenient location, and our suite was across from the main hotel, so fairly quiet. It had a kitchenette, a giant tub, a nice big comfy bed, and a TV to watch the Blue Jays vs The Mariners. If Norine really wanted she could go get a pedicure and massage.
We decided to wander from our hotel, and thought we could check out the St. Patrick's Parish across the street from our hotel. Built in 1855, it is an imposing structure, but it closed in 2022 after being sold as part of the archdiocese liquidating its holdings in an effort to raise money to compensate victims of abuse. Yikes.
I made the mistake of taking the waterfront route, it's a lot of industrial and a little sketchy, we won't walk back this way. A couple things made it worthwhile though, the St. John's Railway museum (which is closed due to budget cuts) was a unique building dating back to the early 1900's, it is also the location of Mile Zero on the Trans Canada Trail. The Trans Canada Trail is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail extends over 28,000 km (17,000 mi); it is now the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world.
The other thing we found in this area was a complete accident, we just happened to poke our head into a unique looking doorway, and discover it's the Newman Wine Vaults Provincial Historic Site. The Newman Wine Vaults tell the story of a three hundred year connection between wine produced in sunny Portugal, aged in the cool climate of Newfoundland, and sipped by England's aristocracy for generations. From the late 1600s until 1996 Newman's celebrated "Ruby Port" was aged in St. John’s - much of it in the stone vaults on Water Street. We almost walked right past it, and wouldn't have gotten free samples.
Once you get into downtown St. John's the feeling is a lot different. A lot of unique and colourful buildings, with a lot of very colourful art pieces make this area very different from other downtowns.
Being evening, some of the buildings are closed, so we would have to come back on one of the other days. The area that doesn't need to be open is the area known as Jelly Bean Row. The nickname "Jellybean Row" refers to a large area of brightly colored, Victorian-style row houses located throughout downtown St. John's, not one specific street. Many of the houses were built in the Victorian era, some after the great fire of 1892. A popular theory is that fishermen painted their homes in bright colors so they could be spotted from the water in the thick fog. Another explanation is that a downtown revitalization effort in the 1970s encouraged residents to paint their homes in vibrant colors.
In amongst these colourful house is the Newfoundland National War Memorial, it represents the war effort of Newfoundlanders who were not part of Confederation during either of the World Wars. Its construction was paid for in part by community fundraising by the Great War Veterans’ Association. The memorial has the famous old harbour as its backdrop, where troops departed and returned from the war. It commemorates all of Newfoundland's wartime achievements and losses on land and sea.
Located in Harbourside Park, overlooking St John's Harbour, are the statues of a Labrador Retriever and a Newfoundland dog. Cast in bronze over a stainless steel frame, the one-and-a-half life sized dog statues at Harbourside were completed in 2003 by artist Luben Boykov. He created a second set of the statues in 2008; that pair is located on Signal Hill.
A little further down the waterfront, and almost hidden away in an industrial area is the Terry Fox memorial. Perched quietly behind the Port Authority building at the far end of Water Street, the Terry Fox Memorial in St. John’s doesn’t shout for attention—but it doesn’t need to. This is where a young man from Port Coquitlam, armed with nothing but determination, a prosthetic leg, and an unshakable dream, dipped his foot into the Atlantic Ocean and began one of the most courageous journeys in Canadian history.
Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope started here on April 12, 1980. Driven by a dream to raise one dollar from each Canadian for cancer research, Terry Fox embarked on his Marathon of Hope in April 1980. Despite having lost his right leg to bone cancer, he pushed himself to average about 42 km every day—hopping along coastal roads, highways buffeted by wind, and through towns and cities—running one marathon’s distance each day on a single leg. Though his run ended months later near Thunder Bay, his spirit never stopped moving. Today, the bronze statue at this spot, (also by Luben Boykov) doesn't just mark the starting line of that legendary run—it stands as a symbol of resilience, compassion, and what’s possible when you simply try.
"I just realize people would realize that anything's possible if you try, dreams are made if people try." — Terry Fox
It's a little hard to describe the feeling as we walked away from here, all kinds of emotions... so sad, so proud, so grateful to have seen the memorial, and to have been where it all began.
Having had enough Chowder for a while, we decided to have Sushi before heading back to our hotel for the night.
The weather turned on us today, so we explored the southern peninsula of Newfoundland known as the Irish loop. The Irish Loop is a scenic 312-km (one way) driving route on the southeastern Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, named for its strong Irish heritage. Gale force winds, torrential rain and very rough roads didn’t stop us from driving as far east as you can in Canada, finding lighthouses and colourful seaside towns
We used our GPS to plan a number of highlighted spots, and had to laugh as she described St. John's as "Street John's".
On the way out of town we stopped at a lookout that allowed us to really get a sense of the layout of St. John's and the harbour. It didn't look too bad, but definitely got windier and foggier the further south we went.
CAUTION: Trail closed due to coastal erosion
The original Cape Spear lighthouse built in 1836 was the second lighthouse built in Newfoundland; the first was built in 1810 at Fort Amherst, at the entrance to St. John's Harbour. Cape Spear was chosen as the site for a new lighthouse because it was on the rocky eastern coast near the entrance to St. John's harbor.
Because of its proximity to convoy routes during the Second World War, a Canadian-manned gun battery was installed at Cape Spear to defend the entrance to St. John's harbor. Barracks and underground passages leading to the bunkers were built for the use of troops stationed there. The bunkers and gun barrels remain in place.
Cape Spear, at a longitude of 52°37'10" W, it is the easternmost point in Canada and North America excluding Greenland.
A new concrete lighthouse was built in 1955, and the original light was moved to the new building. The original lighthouse building and the lightkeeper's residence have been restored to the period of 1839.
Inside the old lighthouse, you get a sense of what life was like for a lightkeeper.
We thought it would be a good idea to grab lunch here, a little chowder and some grilled cheese. Luckily for Norine, she chose to get a different soup, cause it was the worst chowder of the trip. Chowder should not be a broth. Our next stop was the pretty little town of Petty Harbour, tucked in a small harbour surrounded by the changing colours of the trees. If it looks familiar to you, it was used as the town where Aquaman was living with his dad in the most recent DC movies.
Our next Lighthouse was at Ferryland, built in 1870, Ferryland Lighthouse is a 25-minute hike along a walking trail from the colony of Avalon. Located roughly midway between Cape Spear and Cape Race, Ferryland Head was an ideal location for a lighthouse, It was originally made of brick, but, since 1892, has been encased with iron. The 25 minute hike took a little longer because the winds were blowing so hard. Luckily for us, about half of the trail is protected by a densely treed forest, giving us a little break.
"A battery of one 9 pdr cannon was erected on this site in 1812. As a protection against raids by American privateers and was maintained until 1815." No context, but that's what the sign says.
Continuing back on our Irish Loop, we turned off the main highway for the road to Mistaken Point and the Cape Race Lighthouse. This is the southernmost point we will reach in Newfoundland, and the mostly gravel winding round is actually in really good shape.
Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve is a wilderness area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reserve is home to the namesake Mistaken Point Formation, which contains one of the most diverse and well-preserved collections of Precambrian fossils in the world. Ediacaran fossils discovered at the site constitute the oldest known remnants of multicellular life on Earth. Unfortunately it was too stormy to explore the area, and the reserve is technically closed for the season.
In 1856, the first lighthouse was installed at Cape Race, it was a cast iron tower with a coal oil lamp turned by a clockwork. From 1872 the Myrick family operated as lighthouse keepers for more than 100 years. The cast iron tower was replaced in 1907 by a 29-metre-tall (95 ft) concrete tower and a light with a massive hyperradiant Fresnel lens. Its optic emitted a one million candle power flash, allowing Cape Race to provide the first sight of land for Atlantic travelers. The Cape Race Lighthouse was in the news in April 1912, when it received the Titanic distress call, an unusual event for radio technology of the era.
This small structure contains the controls for the foghorn alarm, it was blasting every 60 seconds. The brown and white pole on the left is the actual foghorns. There is a sign that warns of hearing damage, Norine may have told me that, but I didn't hear her.
As we are driving away from the lighthouse, there is a house on the roadside that I assume belongs to the lighthouse keeper. In the front window is a creepy man, giving us the slow wave, It felt like something out of Psycho, and I may have stepped a little harder on the gas. I'm sure he's just lonely living by himself far away from any town, but that's how those movies always start.
After all the signs warning of moose, we really thought this last stretch driving back to St. John's would be our chance... but NO.
After a long day of driving the Irish Loop, we decided to go visit the Quidi Vidi Brewery for dinner. The Quidi Vidi Brewing Company was founded in 1996 and is located in a former fish plant. A variety of different beers are brewed, including Iceberg Beer, which as I mentioned before, is made with water from pieces of icebergs harvested off the coast of Newfoundland.
Another fine meal, washed down with some fine beers and sangrias, while listening to a couple locals playing Newfie versions of classic songs... a perfect night cap to a true Newfoundland day.
Today was a day to explore the areas around St. John's, local sights, shops, and stories.
We heard about Mummers in Gander, but today we learned more about Mummers, the name is derived from the Old French word momeur, ("to act in a mime"). Mummering is a Christmas-time house-visiting tradition practiced in Newfoundland and Labrador. It typically involves a group of friends or family who dress in disguise and visit homes within their community during the twelve days of Christmas. If the mummers are welcomed into a house, they often do a variety of informal performances that may include dance, music, jokes, or recitations. The hosts must guess the mummers' identities before offering them food or drink. Once the mummers have been identified, they remove their disguises, spend some social time with the hosts, and then travel as a group to the next home. We may have a mummer ornament for the Infamous Xmas Travel Tree.
After wandering through some shops, we hiked up Signal Hill which overlooks the harbour and the city. Due to its strategic placement overlooking the Narrows, the only entrance to the harbour, fortifications date back to the mid 17th century. The final battle of the Seven Years' War in North America was fought in 1762 at the Battle of Signal Hill, in which the French surrendered St. John's to a British force, who renamed what was then known as "The Lookout" to "Signal Hill," because of the signalling that took place upon its summit from its flagmast. Flag communication between land and sea would take place there from the 17th century until 1960.
The views in all directions are pretty spectacular.
Construction on Cabot Tower began in 1897 to commemorate both the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's landfall which took place in 1497. The building was declared officially open in 1900. The practical uses of the building were flag mast signalling, and a Marconi wireless station. On December 12, 1901, the first transatlantic wireless transmission was received by Guglielmo Marconi. The transmission, in Morse code, originated from his Poldhu Wireless Station, in Cornwall, UK. This led to him being largely credited as the inventor of radio and sharing the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy".
Guglielmo Marconi at Signal Hill with instruments used to receive the first transatlantic message
Of course a trip to Newfoundland wouldn't be complete if Norine didn't make friends with a Newfoundlander.
On the other side of Cabot Tower is the North Head Trail Lookout. This trail follows the backbone of Signal Hill and offers wonderful views of the rugged coastline and seascapes. Ladies' Lookout is the highest point of land on Signal Hill. Legend has it that the women of St. John's came here to watch for ships carrying their sons, husbands and lovers, which inspired the hill's name.
Just below the Ladies' Lookout is the ruins of Mrs. Garfield's old canteen that was built in the 1830's to provide an escape for soldiers and families stationed on Signal Hill. She operated it for a number of years, likely until the 1840s when the majority of soldiers were relocated to St. John's accommodations due to the harsh climate on the summit.
From the trail lookout, we can see down into the town of Quidi Vidi, so decide to head over there and see what we can see. Quidi Vidi is a neighbourhood in St. John's. Its pronunciations vary, even amongst longtime residents, but "Kiddy Viddy" is the most common. The origin of the name Quidi Vidi is a mystery, with no definitive historical documentation to prove any single theory. However, popular folklore suggests it may have come from a variety of sources, including the Portuguese phrase "quey de video" ("what a beautiful sight"), the Latin "qui divide" ("which divides"), or even from a local woman named Kitty Vitty who ran a hotel.
From around 1600, fishermen arrived each spring on the fishing ships from Southwest England and Ireland, and made their way to Quidi Vidi harbour, where they established fishing rooms. Over the years, some began staying permanently and houses were built, and these fishermen married and had families.The town of Quidi Vidi was born.
After checking out the Quidi Vidi Artisan studios, we hiked up Sugar Loaf for even more views of the colours of the coast.
It's a good old fashioned rough trail, and the views are worth every step.
No Moose here either.
Back down the trail to Quidi Vidi, we wandered through the small town and around Quidi Vidi Lake.
This beautiful old private residence used to be a church in 1842.
We tried to go to the highly recommended Inn of Olde, but it was closed, and we were too hungry to wait for it to open. With nothing planned, we decided to go see what the cinema experience is like in Newfoundland. Same mediocre food, but comfy chairs and big screens to watch One Battle after Another with Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, and Sean Penn. 2 Thumbs up.
It was our last day in Newfoundland, so we tried to catch all the spots we missed, starting with a bunch of Hudson & Rex sets. As an example, this may just look like a bunch of shipping containers on the St. John's docks, but no, that's where Rex saved the day in Season 2, episode 3: Blind Justice.
This isn't just Memorial University and the Bruneau Centre for Research and Innovation, it's also the St. John's Police Department Headquarters seen in almost every episode of Hudson and Rex.
After discovering a Public Market and finding some snacks for the flight, and a few Oreo toys, we ventured back out for more unique buildings, yes that Winterholme Heritage Inn was used in Hudson and Rex, but I don't think the Colonial Building was.
Started in 1832, the first home of the legislature was a tavern, but they forgot to vote approval for the funds to pay rent. The Colonial Building was the home of the colonial and later provincial Newfoundland government and the House of Assembly from 1850 to 1959.
Nearby is Government House, built between 1827 and 1831, this building was the official residence of the governor of Newfoundland until Confederation in 1949, when it became the residence of the lieutenant-governor.
The gardens and park areas surrounding the "House" are quite beautiful.
The Basilica was closed when we first walked past it a few days earlier, and there is some pretty sketchy people in the area around it, but The Basilica-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is an impressive looking building. Construction lasted from 1839 until 1855. At this time, it was the largest church building in North America and remains the second largest church in Canada and the largest cathedral church in Canada. The Basilica-Cathedral is one of the few buildings in St. John's to survive the Great Fire of 1892.
When we walked in, there was a sign saying a wedding was in progress, so no photographs. There was only a security guard in the building, so I took some photos. Norine asked the guard if the wedding was over, his response... "oh no, that's just an old sign".
Our next stop had been featured in the background of many Hudson and Rex scenes, The Rooms. The structure and name is a tribute to the simple gable-roofed sheds (called "fishing rooms") that were once so common at the waterline in Newfoundland fishing villages. It is visible from all around St. John's, the facility was constructed on a hill overlooking the port city, at a historic location once occupied by Fort Townshend. The Rooms opened in 2005 and houses the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador.
All kinds of elements here, from historical information and artifacts pre-dating Canada, to the recognition of Canadian Athletes from the Newfoundland Games and the Newfoundland success stories. An entire floor is dedicated to those Newfoundlanders that fought in both World Wars, especially those fighting for Canada before Newfoundland became a Province in 1949.
The last Hudson and Rex location... I promise. We had to stop by the second of the "Our Dogs" Statues at Signal Hill, a tribute to the Newfoundland and Labrador dogs I had referred to earlier.
Recommended by so many, we finally went to the crazy Inn of the Olde pub... The owner Linda wasn't around, and apparently a Scottish bartender can't make us official Newfies with the Skreech ceremony. So we had a few drinks and checked out this crazy collection of knick-knacks, memorabilia and old photos. I'm pretty sure Linda started adding stuff from the time the tavern was opened, and has never taken anything down. We saw everything we could, but since they weren't serving food we headed off.
Highly recommended by some drunk guy on the street telling us they had the best Fish & Chips in the city, we tried to eat dinner at the Duke of Duckworth, but there was not a seat to be found...must be really good.
The Cornerstone building built in 1861 in downtown St. John's, was built by the Fishermen’s Society as a hall and exhibition centre for fisheries and agriculture produce, but it became a important venue for theatre, special performances and bazaars. It is the oldest surviving theatre in the city. In 1872, ownership of the hall was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. John’s and the building was dedicated as St. Peter’s Church. The upper floor was used as a church for Catholics awaiting the completion of St. Patrick’s Church and the ground floor held a school operated by the Sisters of Mercy. What was once a church, among other things, is now a strip club and sports bar. We didn't eat dinner here either.
Where we did end up, was an Italian restaurant called Oliver's, and it was delicious... The starter of Scallops with a Maple Bacon sauce were A-Maze-ING! What a great place to have our last meal in Newfoundland!
Morning came, and it was an early rise to pack up our bags and drop our rental car off at the airport. Long before most people were awake, we were through customs and having breakfast at the Yellow Belly Brewery.
We had one last chance to pickup souvenirs like a Frozen package of seafood? We already had enough Ornaments for our Infamous Xmas Travel Tree, so we boarded the flight. We had a brief stop in Calgary where we had to run through the terminal and board another plane, we made it just in time, and were home by 1:00 in the afternoon. It's amazing how a 4.5 hour time difference between one side of Canada and the other makes travel seem so much quicker.
Having never been to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, after seeing New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island, what a special treat it was to spend more time in Newfoundland. A chance to explore this province of wonderful people, great food, and amazing scenery. It would have been perfect, if only we could have seen a Moose!
