Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Limerick
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Newfoundland & Labrador
July 2014
It starts every conversation in Newfoundland and often decides whether or not many trips to the Rock are enjoyable. Since leaving NL in 2006, we never count on it being nice and usually come prepared for the worst it has to offer. This trip however, it has been absolutely amazing. I’m talking about the WEATHER of course. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the sun at least once every day since we drove off the MV Blue Puttees in Port aux Basques on July 8.
One of the reasons for our upcoming round-the-world (RTW) trip is to experience daily life in various cities, towns, countries, and societies around the globe. What better way to prepare for that than taking advantage of the diverse culture here in Newfoundland… one that’s always been at our fingertips yet so rarely have we taken advantage of it.
So, today I caught 3 codfish off Spout Cove (where my Dad grew up). Yesterday I spent the day at my pal Blair Paul’s cabin ‘seadooing’, ‘shed-partying’ and the like, and last week Jess and I drove the Irish Loop (http://www.theirishloop.com) with Jess’s grandparents Wes and Frances. In addition, countless toutons, moose sausages, fish and chips, and jam jams have been consumed and of course a few stubby neck bottles of brew. All that combined with the warm temps and ‘clean’ cool breezes off the Atlantic, this is undoubtedly the best trip home yet.
Cod fishing off Spout Cove, Newfoundland
Horsechops Pond, near Cape Broyle, NL
Jess and I with Nanny and Pa @ Kavanaghs Restaurant on the Irish Loop (website)
A hike on the East Coast Trail is still on my Newfoundland bucket list which I will squeeze in sometime before our flight across the pond to Dubli next week. Yes, that’s right, this weekend we will say farewell for now to our families, friends, and this beautiful province we will always call home no matter where in the world we land.
jess + trickett
July 3 was my last day of work so that evening Jess and I were on the road from Pittsburgh heading east toward Newfoundland; the first leg of our nearly 3,600 KM road trip. At the same time as us, Hurricane Arthur was heading up the eastern seaboard toward Atlantic Canada and we finally caught up with him in Portland, Maine. Despite the rain, we instantly felt a connection with the Portland. Perhaps it was the RDF (rain, drizzle, and fog) and the endless pubs and restaurants on Commercial Street.
A colleague of mine in Pittsburgh had been raving about the Lobster rolls in here so we braved the rain and found Dry Dock Restaurant and Tavern for a pint and delicious lobster roll.
As Arthur, Jess and I continued heading east, we decided to make a pit stop in Bangor for another lobster roll, this time at McLaughlin’s Seafood, Inc. on the advice of my barber at the mall in Bangor (it was time for a haircut). McLaughlin’s is a small seafood market with a drive in restaurant attached serving amazing fresh, local lobster and other seafood.
Overall, Maine was absolutely beautiful and we definitely could have spent a few extra days there.
From Bangor, we headed to Fredericton, NB where we decided to spend the night. Arthur had pummeled Fredericton that day so power was intermittent meaning all the restaurants were jam-packed. The Fredericton Inn had power and a room available so that’s where we decided to stay. Frankly, the place doesn’t look like much from the outside but it had an incredibly homey feel, it was clean and the service was great, despite being overwhelmingly busy. Not sure we’ll be back to Fredericton, but we highly recommend this hotel if visiting.
From Fredericton we continued east toward Halifax where we had the chance to visit my sister Melanie and some good friends before making the 5 hour drive to Sydney where we were lucky enough to visit friends there as well.
The ferry across from North Sydney to Port aux Basques was uneventful. We docked at 6 PM and made it to Aunt Donna and Uncle Rick’s cabin on Badger Lake where we spent the night, passing two moose along the way.
The drive ended in St. John’s on July 10 after a stopover in Harbour Grace. Overall it was uneventful and we were both happy to get out of the car and ready begin our journey… first stop, Newfoundland.
jess + trickett
I know we are overdue with a post about our road trip home to Newfoundland, but we’ve just finished booking our 20 day African Safari tour with G Adventures and wanted to share!
Some of the highlights of this trip include finding the Big Five in the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater, hanging out at Lake Malawi, relaxing on the beaches of Zanzibar, and ending off the trip at Victoria Falls! To say we are excited is an understatement! Luckily accommodations on the trip are a mix of camping and hotels, so we’ll get a break from tent living during the trip. 😛
Here is a map of our route (from the G Adventures website):
We leave for Dublin in just over a week, so we’ll be updating the blog with some highlights from our road trip and visit here at home in Newfoundland soon!
jess+trickett
Steven has been working in Pittsburgh for the last few months, so for his last week, I came down to hang out before our big road trip home to Newfoundland. Before coming down, I had big plans for my days while Steven was working. Heading into downtown, exploring the city on my own, taking lots of pictures, etc. etc…
How did the week actually turn out? I slept in. I watched Netflix. I did some travel planning online. I checked Facebook. I wrote a couple of blog posts. Then I checked Facebook again. I did make it to the gym a couple of times, but for the most part, my days were lazy and unproductive.
In the evenings, however, we did get out and check out some of the things that Pittsburgh has to offer. We went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park which is located on the North Shore and has amazing views of the Pittsburgh skyline from just about every seat. I’m not a huge baseball fan, but the stadium was pretty cool! They even had a gluten free hot dog stand. While it wasn’t the best hot dog I’ve ever had, they still get some bonus points.
Last night we went to a nice Italian restaurant called Mario’s Family Restaurant for a farewell dinner, as it was Steven’s last night with the guys from work. It was nice to finally meet them, as I have heard lots about them over the last few months. They are a pretty quiet bunch 😉 but we still managed to have a laugh or two. Here is a picture of the group (not the best quality from our I-Phone).
We have officially kicked off our road trip so we’ll post some updates soon!
jess+trickett
June 28th was our one year wedding anniversary. If anyone had asked us last year where we saw ourselves after one year of marriage, it definitely would NOT have been homeless, living from our car, and about to set out to travel the world! But here we are, ready to take off on the adventure of a lifetime.
In true Jess and Steven style, our last night in our first house was far from relaxing. Anyone who knows me, knows I like things organized. When we moved from Calgary to Ontario, I had a spreadsheet organized by box, with an inventory of everything in each box. Yeah, I guess things change. This time around, we were shoving things in that storage unit the best way we could and the fastest we could! We finished up around 1am and made another last minute trip at 7am the following morning.
It gets better. The morning of our closing, we locked all of the house keys in the house, not realizing that we had forgotten to leave a copy with the lawyer! We called a locksmith, who ended up drilling the lock to get it opened. Here is Steven installing a new lock in record time!
Our house closing day was also my last day of work. My co-workers had a going away surprise for me earlier in the week with an unbelievably generous gift and cards with some really thoughtful well wishes! To top it off, we also had a going away dinner with Steven’s co-workers! Needless to say, we had a great send off last week.
And now here we are in Pittsburgh for the week. I’m hanging out at the hotel all week while Steven finishes up his last few days of work.
Waking up on Monday morning knowing I didn’t have to go to work was such a weird feeling! I’ve been working close to full time hours since I started university. In my last year of university I lucked into a full time job so was busy balancing full time work and school, so there was no break between graduation and the real world for me. I am not complaining, however I am looking forward to the break over the next year, exploring new places and meeting new people!
We will post some updates from our road trip home – we’ll be stopping in Maine (and having some lobster of course!), and then Halifax to hang out with Melanie (Steven’s big sis) before we take the ferry across the gulf to NL. Already, it looks like the unpredictable weather at home is messing with our plans, as Hurricane Arthur is set to hit this weekend so stay tuned!
jess+trickett
Welcome to our blog! We are Steven and Jess, a young (ish) Canadian couple from Newfoundland, Canada. 
finelinetravels 