A few years ago Cathy and I, with friends, did a road-trip around Newfoundland. This blog is about our drive around the eastern side of the island, from the capital of St. John’s up to the scenic village of Twillingate.
In St. John’s we stayed at the Chef’s Inn on Grover Street. The Inn is a bed and breakfast run by a Canadian Best Chef finalist, so you know the breakfast was spectacular. Grover Street is a pallet of color.
Heading north, we followed the coastal highway to take in the vistas, visit fishing villages, check out the sites of the first Trans-Atlantic cable crossing and Amelia Earhart’s historic flight to North Ireland, and hike the East Coast Trail.
One day at sunset, we were lucky to see the ocean waves turn silver with a run of capelin. These sardine like fish are the primary food for cod, and when the capelin arrive, the fishing gets good. Also in the mix were minke whales. The cod fishery helped define Newfoundland, and the restaurants serve the best cod I have ever had. We learned that you really want to eat cod that is caught using a hand jig (hook and line) as it is the freshest. Next best is if caught and kept alive in a cod trap. Worst is caught in a net since the cod drown and start decaying underwater. So Cathy and I are now cod snobs.
The wild flowers were in full bloom everywhere.
