Day 8 - St. John's, Newfoundland

Not unexpectedly, I didn't really get much sleep on the ship. We arrived at the dock and by the time I was able to drive off the ship, it was around mid-morning. As I left the port, there was a visitor's information center on the road, so I decided to stop and get some ideas for what to do for the day.

The woman who I spoke with was very helpful, and gave me a few ideas which included a visit to Cape Spear, which is the Easternmost point in North America, excluding Greenland. At one time, there was a fort here that was built to defend against attacks from Europe. There's some more history to it, but what really mattered was that there was a nice lighthouse here, and the coastal views were beautiful.

After that, I went to Signal Hill, which was also used at one time as a fort to defend St. John's Harbor. Once again, the views were incredible and there's a cool little castle built at the top of it. Signal Hill was also the place where the first transatlantic wireless radio communication was received by Guglielmo Marconi. More history!

My last stop for the day was at Quidi Vidi Brewery, a local brewery named for the very small neighborhood in which it's located. It occupies a building right on the water of a small cove with docks, fishing boats, a small fish market and some other small stores. It was a really nice setting and the beer was VERY good. I didn't have their flagship beer, which is called Iceberg Lager, and is supposedly brewed with water melted from captured icebergs that float by Newfoundland. Instead, I went for the 1892 (not sure what it was named for), which was an amber beer and more in line with my preferences. After finishing my beer, it was time to find my way to Pippy Park, a provincial park located right in the city of St. John's, which would be my campground for the night.

As usual, it was dinner ... a shower ... some reading ... and then off to bed.

Tomorrow's plan called for a very long drive, pretty much across Newfoundland to Gros Morne National Park. It was expect to be about an 8-9 hour drive.