St. Johns

August 2

Well, here I am in the Newfoundland capital city. About 100,000 folks live here. The downtown area is made up of restored buildings turned into restaurants and gift shops. It's on the waterfront, which is quite small. St. Johns is surrounded by mountains with old gunneries on the tops. There is only a narrow passage between the hills to get in to the harbor, so it precludes cruise ships and other humongous vessels. A small river runs through the city and, opposite the downtown area, is Pippy Park.

This has been designated one of the nation's best urban parks. It has a large campground (where I'm staying), a botanical garden, a pony farm with rides, mini-golf,lots of trails and the Fluvarium. With all this and seeing the various historic sites, there has been something new every day.

And guess who else was at the park. The Holiday Rambler folks! Good fun.

I had my autoharp tuned up at the famous O'Brien's Music Store. Between sights, it's been fun to play. I also purchased a kid's guitar to try to get back in to that. My new repetoire of songs lends itself to those instruments nicely. Tonight is a concert by Shanneyganock, a well known group that plays traditional music. Tomorrow is the annual (since 1818) Regatta on Quiddi Vidi Lake in downtown St. Johns. This coming weekend is the Newfoundland/Labrador Folk Festival---a nice way to end my stay.

Have been reading the Steig Larssen mysteries voraciously. They are hypnotizing. Also found a biography of Brasseur and Eisler, a wonderful pairs skating team from the 80s and 90s. Unfortunately, NL does not seem to have an arena to cultivate hockey teams or figure skaters. I'm getting tired of panfried cod and lobster season is over. The chowders continue to be delicious and I have yet to sample peas pudding.

All in all, this is a very relaxing time. But next week,the trip south begins. First thing on the agenda will be Prince Edward Island. I miss home and folks, but not all that heat. Hope to see the Northern Lights and stars before I go.