First View of St. John's Newfoundland

Feeling a wee bit groggy at 5 am as we get ready to head to the airport for our flight to St. John's.  We probably should have left Bob & Sharon's 60th birthday party celebration a wee bit early LOL.  Definitely shouldn't have left the boys out on the deck with a bottle of rum.  The good thing is as we get older we don't sleep as well so there was no worry about missing our plane.

We were over the clouds most of the way and our first glimpse of Newfoundland was miles of snow covered uninhabited land.  Looking a wee bit cold.  St. John's was fogged in and we were the first flight to land, all other planes had been rerouted to Deer Lake, thank goodness we were able to land.  Although Lindsey and I both squealed as we landed as you couldn't see the runway until we actually touched down.

 First stop was to pick up the car.  I made the mistake of leaving Jim at the check-out counter.  We leave the airport and I am expecting a lovely Nissan Rogue, Jim keeps passing these lovely little suv's and stops at a freaking gigantic Ford Expedition.  I almost needed a ladder to get in the back seat.

5 Victoria St (the orange one) - a beautiful Jelly Bean house in the heart of St. John's.  As we turned onto the street Jim quickly hit the brakes and we all gasped like we had just reached the top of the roller coaster.  If someone tells you St. John's is hilly, they are right, but it is also crazy steep in parts.

I am on the downside of the car, my door whips open and I realize I almost have to lie down to get my feet to touch the ground.

One thing we learned quickly was don't take your suitcase out of the car and sit it on its wheels.  LOL.

The population of St. John's is around 112,000, a bustling little port town with container ships, oil tankers and fishing ships all parked in the harbour which today was surrounded by fog.  

Our first view of Signal Hill.  It is on our list of walks this week.

Seemed appropriate to find a big red boat called "THOR".

A little burst of spring on this 3 degrees day.

There are more restaurants than you can imagine, up and down Water and George St serving everything you could imagine.

Time for a wee cocktail at Kelly's, recommended to us by a friend of Jim's.  Time to try our first Screech - a delicious dark rum, just one :)  We continue our walk looking for a dinner spot.

 We settled on the Yellowbelly Brewery which was hopping when we tried to get a seat for dinner.  After a 30 minute wait in their lovely Underbelly Bar where I tried the signature "Shelly's Gin Cocktail" absolutely delish, so refreshing a perfect dock drink on an 80 degree day, we made our way upstairs.

Jim and I and Lindsey had fish and chips with fresh caught cod in a panko herb dressing, delish.  The Yellowbelly was the busiest restaurant on the street.  Also 5 bus tours stopped there, I gather they have 5 fine dining rooms upstairs, so it is good to have a reservation.

A wee stop at Shamrocks to listen to a little band and then off to Kelly's for a nightcap and some more Newfoundland music and then off home, in bed by 11, excited to visit our icebergs tomorrow.