St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada, September 3, 2017

St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada, September 3, 2017

This morning as we were having breakfast a whale appeared right next to the ship. Spot whale on trip--check. Now we didn't feel guilty about cancelling the whale watching trip we'd scheduled at this stop.

The day was sunny with blue skies so we took the tender to shore. We were parked way outside of the harbor. The harbor is large but has no dock big enough for a cruise ship. Everyone is mollified because this is the last tender port of the trip.

St. Anthony was settled in the 16th century (the Vikings were nearby around 1000 AD) as a well-protected but seasonal fishing station. There are still a number of fishing boats, although now it's shrimp and crab instead of cod, but tourism is the big industry. The excursions ranged from a visit to the Viking site at L'Anse Aux Meadows to hiking and whale watching. We, on the other hand just strolled around a bit. The town is really spread out around the harbor. The Canadians all made a bee line for Tim Horton's, a national chain of donut/coffee shops. We spent some time and $$$ in the Grenfell Handicrafts Gift Store.

As we learned from the local ladies who were handing out maps and info, they get snow here. A LOT of snow here. AND the harbor freezes. So everything in St. Anthony is seasonal. They had only seen four cruise ships over the summer but SA is on a lot of itineraries in the fall on the NY/Boston to Montreal/Quebec cruises. Wisely the residents use their down time in the winter to make stuff to sell: jams from Cloud Berries, Christmas ornaments from oyster shells, stained glass, and metal, quilted items, hooked rugs, paintings, note cards and on and on. And the stuff is high quality. They also had the usual Tshirts, magnets, post cards, etc; something in every price range. I decided to support the local arts by buying a hooked rug (actually a wall hanging about 12 x 18) of a jumping fish that will go on the Fish Wall of the beach cottage and some lovely note cards by another local artist. I do my best to extend the hand of friendship across all borders.

I asked the locals how to pronounce Newfoundland. We've heard New FOUNDland, Newfunlund, and more. They said the syllable emphasis is just as in "understand." UnderSTAND, NewfundLAND. I shall go forth and teach the masses. They also told me my rug was made in Raleigh, pronounced "Rally." We decided that was so Raleigh, Newfoundland would not be confused with Raleigh, North Carolina.

Worst part of this day? Since we're in Canada all their cellphones are up and running. Still off that grid myself.