On The Point: August 2008

Friday, August 8th, 2008 - Up the Pond

All of St. John's (and surrounding areas) woke up with relief this morning when the call came that the 190th running of the Royal St. John's Regatta was a go, finally! We left the house early for what we expected to be a lovely breakfast at Cora's. Alas, an inexperienced waitress and a clearly unskilled cook led to a near disaster. The only thing good about the breakfast experience was the company.

We left Cora's (thankfully) to go to Quidi Vidi and cheers on Uncle Rob in his rowing debut. Bomber went as a movie star.

Uncle Rob was happy to have his fans there, and one of us in particular was pretty happy to cheer him on.

And others of us were just happy.

By the end of the day, we were all in!

Thursday, August 7th, 2008 - Frankie goes to Hollywood

Vacations are for relaxing...

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 - Crazy hat lady

Several days have passed now, and we are getting mouldy. The rain, drizzle, fog and COLD have been a burden, but we have found ways to amuse ourselves and pass the time, still squeezing the most out of our dwindling vacation days. We have eaten quite a bit - from Sunday Dinner to Jigger feeds to fresh fish and new potatoes. We happily shared our fish with our Mount Pearl friends. They had a great visit in Calvert, despite the rain.

The Jigger feed on Sunday night was funny. All week, Bomber has been traumatized by specks of mushy carrots or soft bread or rice pudding not blended enough to slide smoothly into her tummy. Yet when the fries and gravy arrived around 8pm on Sunday, well, just try to match her, fry for fry!

On Tuesday we just couldn't stand to be stuck int he house anymore and we went into town for a swimming adventure. The crowds were out of control, but we still had fun. The heated kids' pool was perfect for Bomber, although she was not to fussy about the splashing toddlers who had little or no respect for her reluctance to get her face wet!

Then Wednesday Bomber and I had a real girls' day out. First we went shopping at the Avalon Mall. We bought clothes, which was nice, but the hats were way the most fun.

After we had spent most of our money we went across town to the Spa at the Monastery, one of the poshest spas in St. John's, me for a pedicure and Bomber for a manicure. There was some drama, of course, but we had a great time, side by side the spa. Bomber steadfastly refused nail polish, but was happy with the trim, the cream, the parrafin treatment...

And of course when we got home she changed her mind and wanted her nails done! Grrrr...if I didn't love her so much I would totally lose my patience!

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 - The Cove

We took our time getting ready this morning, long luxurious baths, foot massages, recreational wrestling, jokes so good we peed in our pants. After some beans for lunch we packe dup the van to go South - through Calvert, Ferryland, Aquaforte, Fermeuse, Renews, Round Cove, Cappahayden, Portugal Cove South, Biscay Bay, and finally Trepassey.

Trepassey was once a booming hub of the fishery - 2200 people living in the town itself, not to mention in all the surrounding communities. The fish plant employed as many as 1400 people, and Trepassey was home to a hockey rink, a motel, a Home Hardware, several restaurants, two schools, several garages and much more infrastructure. With the demise of the cod fishery, Trepassey is now just a shadow of what it used to be. Last year there was just one child beginning school at Stella Maris.

After taking in the beauty of Trepassey, we backtracked to the Portugal Cove Community Hall for their celebrationof Cape Race Heritage Days. There were displays on traditional themes (hooking mats, catching cod, making butter). The big decision - would we rather know how to make bread or raise a family? Tough decision.

They served lots of traditional food - colcannon, cod tongues, baked beans, toutons, mussels, homemeade bread, pea soup, raisin buns, bakeapple, partridgeberry and blueberry jams. And although none of it was as good as Calvert food, it was plenty and it was cheap. We ate well...

We came home in time to do a little relaxing before bedtime. Uncle Rob's visit was a surprise - he and Maggie hid away in Nan's room making Lego creations.

Friday, August 1st, 2008 - Balls of Dough

We were packed and ready for a boat trip around Conception Bay today but the Newfoundland weather got in the way. But seeing as how we had a change of clothes in our bag anyway, we decided to travel the Southern Shore Highway (again!) and take in a movie. Mama Mia was the choice, and although it was no Hairspray (or Across the Universe) it was a nice way to pass a couple of hours.

Then we met the other vacationers at The Rooms. Bomber was heavy into negotiations looking for the perfect person to push her chair. She was (not surprisingly) not too fussy about Silas as the driver, preferring Jenn instead. But I felt I had to attend to Josh, who is apparently not too into museums.

Anyway, eventually she settled on Natalie as a good compromise.

Afterwards we thought about going out for supper but were so stuffed from movie snacks we couldn't bear the thoughts for eating again. So we got some drive-thru for the minors and came home for a relaxing evening watching the boob tube.

Thursday, July 31st, 2008 - Lord have mercy on Twinkletoes

We took it easy this morning, recovering after all the eating we did yesterday. By lunch time we were ready to venture out again so we packed up a picnic and went off to the beach in Ferryland by the Colony of Avalon building. It wasn't the best weather - the wind came and went, and Bomber had to continually adjust her jacket accordingly.