After visiting Newfoundland with Steve in September 2023 for Nancy and Chris’ wedding, I finally decided to turn my semi-regular visits into an annual event. When I decided to visit again in July 2024, I didn’t realize at the time that this would be my 10th visit to what has become one of my happiest places. Newfoundland has become somewhere that is familiar, comfortable, and relaxing.
In addition to seeing Plank alumni Nancy and Erin, I got the chance to spend some time with Nancy’s family and run into some people around town that I’ve met over the years. St. John’s is a small enough town that, after walking around for a few days, you will start to run into some of the same people on the streets.
Other than the one-day touring around the coast of the northern Avalon Peninsula — and going for fish and chips at By Da Beach Restaurant in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s — most of my time was spent in St. John’s, wandering the city. While it’s not a big city to walk in the downtown area, I built a daily routine that kept me busy and active.
The highlights of the trip were:
- Arriving at Quidi Vidi Lake at 7:45 am 😱 on my first day in St. John’s to see Nancy in their time trials for the Royal St. John’s Regatta Race. As I expected, her team won. 🥇1st Place, Time: 05:13.28, Team Volkswagen!
- Attending the NL Folk Festival over three days. The highlight was the Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris duet.
- Walking up Signal Hill three times and walking around Quidi Vidi Lake twice.
- Making it to The Merchant Tavern twice for lunch.
- Spending time with Nancy, Billie, Chris and his kids.
- Picking up breakfast and coffee at Terre Cafe and then enjoying the courtyard at the ALT Hotel.
- With my flight leaving about 90 minutes late, I appreciated having access to the Maple Leaf Lounge.
See you next summer St. John’s!
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