Monday, October 5, 2009

Things to Do in St. John's!


While certainly no New York, St. John's and its environs have a number of fascinating and fun things to see and do while visiting the island.

No trip to St. John's can be said to be complete without the obligatory trip to Signal Hill. The hike from downtown can be arduous for those unused to strenuous activity, but the view of the city on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other will take your breath away regardless!

Likewise, the second stop for most visitors will be Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America. Here you can see a fine example of Newfoundland's rugged terrain, with majestic waves crashing dramatically on the rocks a hundred feet below your feet. (If you're lucky, as Katie and Adam were on their last trip there, you might even see whales in the ocean just offshore!)

A third must-see that Adam grew up with is now, sadly, a no-see: Fort Amherst. This site, built in the 1700s and refurbished as a gun battery during the Second World War, has fallen into disrepair and is currently off-limits to the public. (Well, you can still walk out as far as the lighthouse, but the actual fort itself has crumbled to terrifyingly-dangerous dust and rebar.)

Of course, all our guests will join us at Bowring Park for the wedding ceremony and reception, but the park is large enough to warrant a second look, with such highlights as the duck pond, the Peter Pan Statue, the Caribou Statue commemorating Newfoundland's war dead, the Fighting Newfoundlander, and numerous flowerbeds and gorgeous photo-op locations.

For those who like a little culture in their vacations, St. John's, the oldest English-founded settlement in North America, does not disappoint. The provincial museum was moved in 2005 from its longtime home on Duckworth Street to The Rooms, a controversial building placed near another local masterpiece, the Basilica-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (or simply "The Basilica" to locals). A more modern museum can be found halfway up Signal Hill, at the Johnson Geo Centre, which celebrates the fascinating geography and geology of the island.

Downtown St. John's is the oldest part of the city, and is full of quaint shops, interesting memorials, and old buildings, but when most people say "Downtown," they're usually referring to George Street and its surroundings, which is renowned as having the "most bars per square foot" of any street on the continent. A walking tour of downtown is sure to be on everyone's itinerary, both during the day and (for the more adventurous) at night.

There are also plenty of opportunities to get out of the city and away, whether it's for a bird- or whale-watching boat tour, a trip on the Scademia, or a quick jaunt out to Middle Cove for a fire.

You will love visiting St. John's, we promise.

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