St. John's - Day Two

JUNE 30, 2017  FRIDAY

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day.  Still very cold in the mornings.  Decided to do outside things today since the weather is beautiful.  We drove first to Cape Spear Lighthouse.  Since we have a Parks Pass we get in free.  It was a nice drive from the campsite…not very far at all.  There is an old lighthouse as well as a newer automated one.  We toured through the old lighthouse and saw where families lived who worked the light.  At one time in history a family lived there.  There was a bedroom on the ground floor and two small ones on the upper level. 

The lights were seven oil lamps which needed to be kept fueled all night long.  They also had flags to use to signal the town on ships arriving. 

We did manage to see some humpback whales out off the cliffs.  They would come up for air but go back down.  The photos I took were not sufficient to see much.  I need a longer lens!

Leaving Cape Spear we drove to Signal Hill.  There was another gorgeous view out over the Atlantic Ocean but also a great view of St. John’s Harbour down below.  We could even see Pippy Park where our motorhome is camped.  The building at Signal Hill had an open roof top deck with flag poles.  Before modern communications flags would be run up the poles to receive and dispatch information from Cape Spear to the town below.  Of course, it had a nice gift shop too.

We went back into town to find lunch.  We had received a recommendation from the couple we met on the ferry.  Unfortunately that restaurant, The Merchant, was closed for a special event.  Probably was a wedding…we’ve seen brides and grooms and wedding parties at almost every place we’ve gone.  Canada Day weekend must be a very popular time to get married.


We did find another brewery in town and had a late lunch there.  Jim had a delicious seafood chowder.  I ordered a small flatbread pizza which was not what I would recommend.  Everything else on the menu was heavy and I didn’t want too much.  We spent the rest of the day just enjoying the beautiful weather and looking around the area.

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