St. John’s, Newfoundland: out and about in town
St. John’s, Newfoundland, is the oldest city in North America. It’s farthest east, unless you count towns in Greenland. There have been ships in the harbor since the 1500s, probably earlier. The port was critical to North Atlantic convoys in World War II. Along with enjoying Newfoundland’s rugged beauty, there’s plenty to learn by staying a while in St. John’s.
The Murray Premises Hotel is a National Historic Site on the waterfront, former warehouses that survived the great fires that you’ll learn about when you go. That sounded like a great reason to stay there. I found it to be a modern hotel that retains the character of its warehouse days, with old warehouse beams left visible. Some of the creaks are still there, too. Importantly to me, my room rate included breakfast, available only steps across a small second floor lobby from my room. The coffee and food choices were good, the staff congenial, and the room cozy. So even if it was a rainy cold day, which it was about half the time, I was fortified and ready.
Most of the big hotel brands have a mid-range property in St. John’s and there is the usual assortment of B&Bs and vacation rentals. I went on an excursion with some women who were enjoying their stay in a pretty VRBO house up the hill.
Good to know: A Lot of Uphill
If you walk around St. John’s, you’ll be walking uphill a lot. Downtown St. John’s rises steeply from the harbor. It’s hard work to walk some of the streets, but you can find stairs here and there and footpaths through some neighborhoods. Crossing streets wasn’t bad. Drivers actually stopped without threatening pedestrians in zebra crossings. Still, I looked for quiet crossings with the fewest converging streets. Why tempt drivers coming from five directions, especially when two are downhill? Above all, wear good shoes.
Also good to know: the great fires
Nineteenth century fires periodically destroyed the congested, wooden city and harbor front. The Great Fire of 1892 destroyed two-thirds of the city and several ships. That fire started in a stable (does this remind anyone of the Chicago fire?) and burned most of downtown. Down on the harbor, the Murray Premises survived, as did the Catholic (now) Basilica of St. John the Baptist on top of the hill. Government buildings that were farther uphill beyond an undeveloped area survived.
Guarding the harbor
The Great Fire of 1892 figures into a lot of conversations today. Signs and plaques describe what was rebuilt after the fire and what survived. I walked uphill just about to the corner where the 1892 fire started, but didn’t see much except an ordinary street of small buildings. Not sure what I expected to see since there’s been plenty of time to rebuild.
The Rooms – The Provincial Museum
Don’t neglect The Rooms. Exhibits cover the diverse human and natural history of Newfoundland and Labrador, a unique, faraway, big place. There’s a lot for visitors to learn. I was going to miss the summer activities that were just about to get started, but I did get a feeling for the province in this modern, open building. I saved a visit to The Rooms for a rainy day and started at the top floor, working my way down. One special exhibition along with a series of events in 2016 commemorates the centennial of the World War I battle of Beaumont-Hamel. It was brutal, devastating, bloody. The Newfoundland Regiment was almost wiped out. When roll call was taken, only 68 men answered their names – 324 were killed, or missing and presumed dead and 386 were wounded. So many from a small place touched every family. The event is embedded in the province’s consciousness. As you look at the soldiers’ and nurses’ pictures, you see they look just like us. Not old fashioned. That’s just the clothes and maybe the haircuts. Look at their faces and think how appalling it all is.
St John's harbor
Touring Around on Foot – Signal Hill and Quidi Vidi Village
I was equipped with my list from TripAdvisor and eventually got maps of self-guided walking tours from the Visitor Center. My first day in St. John’s was sunny and I set out for Signal Hill, my longest walk and highest elevation. Signal Hill is on top of the cliffs that guard the north side of the harbor entrance. From Signal Hill you see clearly how narrow the entrance to St. John’s harbor is. Hence the entrance is called the Narrows. Makes sense. You can take a trail along the cliff face, or use sidewalks. I opted for sidewalks. Well, half way there I thought I was going to croak. And when I was sure I was almost there, I crested a hill and saw the rest of the climb ahead. So think about how you get there. Taxis and excursions are available. But if you’re game, try the cliffside trail, which I am sure is much more beautiful that the sidewalks. A woman at hotel reception told me that part of the trail is a narrow ledge with the water below. “But there’s a chain you can hold onto,” she continued. I decided not. Physically, OK, but mentally, no. Didn’t want to hold onto a chain and pussy-foot along the ledge. However, some nice people from New Jersey I met did that and they were fit and happy the next day. Now I’m sorry I didn’t try it.
Colorful houses line the hillside
Once on Signal Hill the views of the ocean and harbor are stunning. You’re looking out there into the North Atlantic, and you can feel that northern-ness. Cabot Tower on the hill offers a gift shop and small museum celebrating the earliest days of the wireless telegraph. Another first – St. John’s is where Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic telegraph signal. Part way back down, there’s a visitor center with exhibits and a café.
I took trails around Signal Hill part way back before I rejoined the sidewalk. Trails are all furnished with interpretive signs. There are cannon and structures from early harbor defenses. Gibbet Hill (as in executions) is reached by a footpath and has a superb harbor view. Unless you have a fear of heights you can walk up to the edge to get a good view down at the harbor entrance. Funny that this edge didn’t bother me like the idea of that cliffside trail. Maybe it was having room behind to retreat.
Quidi Vidi Village is a sort of artists’ colony, former fishing village, home of Quidi Vidi Brewing Company and Iceberg Beer, and location of highly rated Mallard Cottage Restaurant. I walked almost all the way there but stopped a little short. The walk was mostly through neighborhoods and was not special, although Quidi Vidi Road was rather nice. There is a path around the large Quidi Vidi lake but I didn’t try that. I was getting walked out by the time I saw the way down to the lake on my way back. I eventually got to Quidi Vidi via an excursion.
Architecture and History
St. John’s has plenty of interesting buildings, although you might find many are not open for one reason or another. Some appear not to be in the best repair. In fact, there’s something frontier-like about St. John’s, that mix of polish and wear. Maybe it’s from living on the edge. The St. John’s Visitor Center has several “A Step Back in Time” self-guided walking tour brochures, which the lovely Kim, who had been a history major, explained. The “Historic East End” tour has the most impressive buildings, including the old government buildings and fine 19th century houses built by the “fairly wealthy” who wanted to “live away from the firetrap of the lower town.” That’s telling it like it is. Or was. I found East End a pleasant walk, and met two particularly nice and informative people, one at Government House security who told me a lot of the history, and another at the Old Garrison Church, who showed me inside.
Government house back door
The “Through the Streets of Old Downtown” walk includes public and commercial buildings and streets of wooden row houses painted in random bright colors. That’s one of the striking things about St. John’s – the colorful neighborhoods. Someone told me that’s because fishermen would use leftover boat paint on their houses. I don’t know – but it’s colorful, and people keep the colors up. I went by all the buildings in the brochure. I also walked along the harbor numerous times. The harbor is right there in town, in a way like a small southern town in the U.S. with the railroad running down the middle. Your curbside parking place might be 30 feet from a freighter. It gives the town an industrial feel. The harbor is the biggest thing going. It’s drama.
Lots of Churches
There are also lots of churches. The Old Garrison Church (St. Thomas Anglican), the Catholic Basilica of St. John, a National Historic site, the Anglican Cathedral of St. John, another National Historic site, and more. The Kirk is a large Presbyterian church built by a handful of determined Scots. Each church has a story.
The “Historic West End” walk proved too much of a challenge because of a bridge approach and newer, wide streets over that way. It wasn’t pedestrian friendly, but I did make it to the Railway Coastal Museum which was my main intention.
Old garrison church
Food
There seem to be a lot of good restaurants in St. John’s. My only “rules” for dining were convenience and proximity. These turned out to be my go-to places.
Rocket Bakery and Fresh Foods
I could have gone to Rocket for every lunch and dinner. Rocket is in a storefront on Water Street. Fresh, local, wholesome, creative menus. Great bakery and coffee. Order at the counter and eat in the adjacent room or take out, which I did most of the time, because Murray Premises wasn’t far away, and I could have dinner and work. (Yes, I work on the road sometimes!) I usually got a sandwich, wrap or soup and sandwich. They have salads, too. And the cookies are good.
Yellowbelly Brewery
I love YellowBelly, and the building’s great, too. It was built in 1725 and rebuilt after the great fire of 1846. All exposed stone, old bar and view of the brewery. YellowBelly fills up but I timed my visits and got a high-top in a corner both times. I could survey the whole place. I tried three of YellowBelly’s beers – it’s a craft brewery after all – and liked them all. My choices were Fighting Irish Red and YellowBelly Pale Ale. I also got a sample size of St. John’s Stout. Fish and chips one night and chowder (with mussels) and hefty salad the next. I could have gone every night. Problem, since I could have gone to Rocket every meal, too.
Adelaide Oyster House
Oh, my. What a great time. The restaurant is really small and fills up, so I went right after opening and got a seat at the bar, right in front of Paul the oyster shucker. I had eaten one raw oyster in my life before that night. I had eight. Pink Moons and Cascumpec Bay from Prince Edward Island, St. Simon from New Brunswick, Sober Island from Nova Scotia and my west coast oyster, Satori from British Columbia. Multiples of a couple. I’d always had my oysters battered and fried or Rockefeller. This made me feel grown up at last. My fish taco was good, too, and I had a terrific cocktail, El Camino, but don’t remember any ingredient beyond cilantro. It was pale green and pretty. That’s important.
Café at The Rooms
Be sure to have a meal at The Rooms. The Café at The Rooms overlooks the harbor, and even on the gray day I ate there, the view of the harbor was dramatic. It’s almost like you’re flying over it. The food’s good. Like other restaurants I went to, The Rooms uses fresh, local ingredients. At The Rooms I had eggs benedict, but they were served on fish cakes (in Newfoundland, fish=cod unless otherwise specified). So delicious and different. That and a pot of tea were the perfect meal on a cold day.
Peaceful Loft
Peaceful Loft is interesting. It’s a vegetarian and vegan café, but they have made something of a specialty of using mock-meat (textured, flavored soy) in the dishes, which are therefore intended to mimic meat dishes. If I were vegan, that might not be ideal. But it was a pleasant place – it seemed kind. The owners treated customers well. I had a salad and Kung Pao fish, and a good lotus seed bun. A group of eight near me (this is a small place – everyone’s near you) ordered a lot of dishes including plates of vegetables. I enjoyed watching them enjoying themselves. A regular came in and ordered her favorite. The owners knew what she wanted. It was a pleasant, quiet change from the lively YellowBelly and Adelaide.
Trip date: May-June 2016