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A Signal Experience in St. John's NL
Jun. 15th, 2019 03:37 pmOn Thursday, June 6, I flew out to St. John's to attend the annual conference of the Atlantic Provinces Library Association. It was held on the Signal Hill campus of Memorial University and I stayed nearby at the Sheraton (on Cavendish Square, just on the edge of downtown). This was my first visit to Newfoundland and it leaves me with just two Canadian provinces I have yet to visit - New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. Here are some of the highlights (and a couple of lowlights) of my trip.
First, some overall impressions. The residents were VERY friendly and helpful. If I looked slightly lost at any point, there was always someone there offering to orient me and tell me how best to get to where I wanted to go. But when I wanted to just explore and poke about a bit on my own, that was fine with them too. They seemed to have a good sense of just how much personal space I needed - something that seems incredibly rare in this day and age. The downtown area had lots of great places selling local products and art and crafts - good authentic stuff for the most part too, not trashy or tacky-touristy. I was a little worried about how vegetarian-friendly their cuisine would be, given how important fish and seafood are to their local economy. But that concern proved groundless - in fact, I ate at two superb restaurants along Duckworth Street (The Peaceful Loft Vegan Cafe; and Seto, another Asian-oriented restaurant) and enjoyed a very nice black bean burger at the hotel's restaurant. The Peaceful Loft was rated #1 of around 300 St. John's restaurants on Tripadvisor (though I didn't know that at the time):
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154964-d7356906-Reviews-Peaceful_Loft-St_John_s_Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html
and Seto was also reviewed favourably there:
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154964-d10076471-Reviews-Seto_Kitchen_Bar-St_John_s_Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html
At Peaceful Loft, they were playing Simon & Garfunkel while I was there and I overheard the proprietor telling two other diners that he was 64 years old, had been an engineer in (I think) Korea (don't know if that was North or South) but cooking was his passion. And the food was indeed good - he served me soup and tea as soon as I arrived and I ordered the "peaceful rolls" from the menu.
At Seto, I was the only diner there at first, which suited me nicely as I had gone there to escape some of the Friday evening rowdiness of the George Street bar district. I sat by the window and watched the world go by. My server (who may also have been the cook) asked me straightaway whether I had any allergies. I ordered the vegetable fried rice and treated myself to their one dessert which that day was a sort of blueberry fritter with a small scoop of ice cream.
The conference itself was quite small, although aside from the keynote presentations there was some choice of sessions to attend. I went to sessions on diversity, "art hives" in libraries, and dealing with book donations. The closing keynote was on ensuring authentic indigenous content (I missed the opening keynote as I didn't arrive until Thursday afternoon). The "lightning talks" on Saturday morning were excellent, particularly the one on the Gander "flybrary", a kind of little free library located at Gander airport. The inspiration for it came with the events of September 11, 2001, when large numbers of international travellers found themselves stranded in Gander (a fairly small centre, population ca. 10,000) as a result of all the flights that were grounded. The conference also featured a small exhibits area, where Ex Libris had a table.
When the conference ended at midday Saturday, I decided that since I was already half-way up Signal Hill, I might as well climb the rest of the way up there. I made it as far as the uppermost "Ladies' Lookout" and really wanted to climb up higher to see if there were any "gentlemen's lookouts" or perhaps "hiker-men's lookouts"? But once I saw a plaque commemorating the Battle of Signal Hill and noticed that the weather seemed to be turning nastier and foggier, I decided it was time to head downwards again. I went from the Ladies' Lookout Trail to the Burma Trail, which snaked downwards into Quidi Vidi Village. By this time I was tired and hungry and I could see a bus-stop. A passing walker informed me that there was a bus due quite soon, although it was usually a bit late. That took me right to the edge of Cavendish Square, where I could walk across a park to my hotel.
Since I had all of Sunday "at leisure" (as they say in the tourist brochures) I decided to book myself on an O'Brien's boat cruise out to Witless Bay where there are many different species of local birds. Some of the brochures mentioned a "bird sanctuary" out there (though I don't think it was much of a sanctuary for one unfortunate puffin we saw being unceremoniously scooped up and devoured by a gull!) We saw several icebergs and a couple of people told me they had actually spotted a whale - or part of one, anyway. I'd call it a fish story except for the fact that whales aren't fish!
There was a bar on board where I sampled an Iceberg Beer and several of us got ourselves "screeched in" and left the boat in yellow Sou'westers emblazoned with the O'Brien's logo, proudly clutching our certificates.
I had paid for the shuttle to drop me back at the hotel afterwards, but the driver was also willing to drop us off at alternate locations. I decided that "The Rooms", a kind of museum to end all museums, was at the top of my must-see list and asked to be let off there. It was about 2:30 PM and I spent the rest of my afternoon there until it closed at 5:00 - in fact, I could easily have spent a day or two there if I'd had time.
So those were the highlights; now for the lowlights. First off, the weather. It rained every day I was there. Thursday and Friday were almost complete washouts; Saturday and Sunday were mixed - at least there was some good weather Saturday afternoon for climbing and exploring around Signal Hill. There was a power failure at my hotel Thursday evening and my TV and remote didn't work properly all the time I was there. But at least the hotel staff were pleasant and tried to be helpful - kudos to the bellhop who managed to tune my TV to Bravo so I could watch the season opener of Handmaid's Tale. "That's Margaret Atwood, right?" he said to me. He then mentioned that he'd met her once and that she had stayed at the hotel a few times. He said he had also met Farley Mowat.
There WERE some hotel amenities I did appreciate - the fridge in my room and the pool, sauna and hot-tub on the lower lobby level which I visited once.
Another lowlight occurred on the plane trip. I had decided I didn't want to deal with checked baggage and all it entails in terms of delays at the airport, extra charges and the possibility of it being lost or damaged. So that meant travelling fairly light. For reading matter on the flight to St. John's, I had settled on a slim Ngaio Marsh paperback, Singing in the Shrouds, that fit quite nicely in my purse. Halfway through the flight, somewhere in chapter 5, I turned a page... and realized that the book was mis-bound, with one section appearing twice over and some 30 pages missing altogether! Now that has happened to me before, though never when I've been suspended in mid-air, so I suppose I should have examined the thing before choosing it as my travelling companion. Aaaaarghh!! I ended up leaving it in St. John's (it can't be returned to the store because I got it second-hand to begin with, and a long time ago at that) and on the way home, I read a book called Corner Boys, a memoir by someone who grew up in St. Johns in the 1950s and 60s. But I got my happy ending - yesterday at the Friends of the Experimental Farm annual booksale, I managed to find a copy of the same Ngaio Marsh book, same cover, same edition - except that this one had all its pages.
So all in all, it was a good trip. I didn't see everything I would have liked to see nor did I get beyond the St. John's area, but I made the most of the time I did have.
First, some overall impressions. The residents were VERY friendly and helpful. If I looked slightly lost at any point, there was always someone there offering to orient me and tell me how best to get to where I wanted to go. But when I wanted to just explore and poke about a bit on my own, that was fine with them too. They seemed to have a good sense of just how much personal space I needed - something that seems incredibly rare in this day and age. The downtown area had lots of great places selling local products and art and crafts - good authentic stuff for the most part too, not trashy or tacky-touristy. I was a little worried about how vegetarian-friendly their cuisine would be, given how important fish and seafood are to their local economy. But that concern proved groundless - in fact, I ate at two superb restaurants along Duckworth Street (The Peaceful Loft Vegan Cafe; and Seto, another Asian-oriented restaurant) and enjoyed a very nice black bean burger at the hotel's restaurant. The Peaceful Loft was rated #1 of around 300 St. John's restaurants on Tripadvisor (though I didn't know that at the time):
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154964-d7356906-Reviews-Peaceful_Loft-St_John_s_Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html
and Seto was also reviewed favourably there:
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154964-d10076471-Reviews-Seto_Kitchen_Bar-St_John_s_Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html
At Peaceful Loft, they were playing Simon & Garfunkel while I was there and I overheard the proprietor telling two other diners that he was 64 years old, had been an engineer in (I think) Korea (don't know if that was North or South) but cooking was his passion. And the food was indeed good - he served me soup and tea as soon as I arrived and I ordered the "peaceful rolls" from the menu.
At Seto, I was the only diner there at first, which suited me nicely as I had gone there to escape some of the Friday evening rowdiness of the George Street bar district. I sat by the window and watched the world go by. My server (who may also have been the cook) asked me straightaway whether I had any allergies. I ordered the vegetable fried rice and treated myself to their one dessert which that day was a sort of blueberry fritter with a small scoop of ice cream.
The conference itself was quite small, although aside from the keynote presentations there was some choice of sessions to attend. I went to sessions on diversity, "art hives" in libraries, and dealing with book donations. The closing keynote was on ensuring authentic indigenous content (I missed the opening keynote as I didn't arrive until Thursday afternoon). The "lightning talks" on Saturday morning were excellent, particularly the one on the Gander "flybrary", a kind of little free library located at Gander airport. The inspiration for it came with the events of September 11, 2001, when large numbers of international travellers found themselves stranded in Gander (a fairly small centre, population ca. 10,000) as a result of all the flights that were grounded. The conference also featured a small exhibits area, where Ex Libris had a table.
When the conference ended at midday Saturday, I decided that since I was already half-way up Signal Hill, I might as well climb the rest of the way up there. I made it as far as the uppermost "Ladies' Lookout" and really wanted to climb up higher to see if there were any "gentlemen's lookouts" or perhaps "hiker-men's lookouts"? But once I saw a plaque commemorating the Battle of Signal Hill and noticed that the weather seemed to be turning nastier and foggier, I decided it was time to head downwards again. I went from the Ladies' Lookout Trail to the Burma Trail, which snaked downwards into Quidi Vidi Village. By this time I was tired and hungry and I could see a bus-stop. A passing walker informed me that there was a bus due quite soon, although it was usually a bit late. That took me right to the edge of Cavendish Square, where I could walk across a park to my hotel.
Since I had all of Sunday "at leisure" (as they say in the tourist brochures) I decided to book myself on an O'Brien's boat cruise out to Witless Bay where there are many different species of local birds. Some of the brochures mentioned a "bird sanctuary" out there (though I don't think it was much of a sanctuary for one unfortunate puffin we saw being unceremoniously scooped up and devoured by a gull!) We saw several icebergs and a couple of people told me they had actually spotted a whale - or part of one, anyway. I'd call it a fish story except for the fact that whales aren't fish!
There was a bar on board where I sampled an Iceberg Beer and several of us got ourselves "screeched in" and left the boat in yellow Sou'westers emblazoned with the O'Brien's logo, proudly clutching our certificates.
I had paid for the shuttle to drop me back at the hotel afterwards, but the driver was also willing to drop us off at alternate locations. I decided that "The Rooms", a kind of museum to end all museums, was at the top of my must-see list and asked to be let off there. It was about 2:30 PM and I spent the rest of my afternoon there until it closed at 5:00 - in fact, I could easily have spent a day or two there if I'd had time.
So those were the highlights; now for the lowlights. First off, the weather. It rained every day I was there. Thursday and Friday were almost complete washouts; Saturday and Sunday were mixed - at least there was some good weather Saturday afternoon for climbing and exploring around Signal Hill. There was a power failure at my hotel Thursday evening and my TV and remote didn't work properly all the time I was there. But at least the hotel staff were pleasant and tried to be helpful - kudos to the bellhop who managed to tune my TV to Bravo so I could watch the season opener of Handmaid's Tale. "That's Margaret Atwood, right?" he said to me. He then mentioned that he'd met her once and that she had stayed at the hotel a few times. He said he had also met Farley Mowat.
There WERE some hotel amenities I did appreciate - the fridge in my room and the pool, sauna and hot-tub on the lower lobby level which I visited once.
Another lowlight occurred on the plane trip. I had decided I didn't want to deal with checked baggage and all it entails in terms of delays at the airport, extra charges and the possibility of it being lost or damaged. So that meant travelling fairly light. For reading matter on the flight to St. John's, I had settled on a slim Ngaio Marsh paperback, Singing in the Shrouds, that fit quite nicely in my purse. Halfway through the flight, somewhere in chapter 5, I turned a page... and realized that the book was mis-bound, with one section appearing twice over and some 30 pages missing altogether! Now that has happened to me before, though never when I've been suspended in mid-air, so I suppose I should have examined the thing before choosing it as my travelling companion. Aaaaarghh!! I ended up leaving it in St. John's (it can't be returned to the store because I got it second-hand to begin with, and a long time ago at that) and on the way home, I read a book called Corner Boys, a memoir by someone who grew up in St. Johns in the 1950s and 60s. But I got my happy ending - yesterday at the Friends of the Experimental Farm annual booksale, I managed to find a copy of the same Ngaio Marsh book, same cover, same edition - except that this one had all its pages.
So all in all, it was a good trip. I didn't see everything I would have liked to see nor did I get beyond the St. John's area, but I made the most of the time I did have.
