The Ship Pub, St. John's, NL

After Gord and I left the regatta, we walked towards our hotel.  We stopped along the way at the Ship Pub for supper.

According to our server, Lyndsay, this is where the group from This Hour has 22 Minutes sat more than 20 years ago and came up with the show.

Gord ordered the Pan Fried Cod with Newfoundland poutine (stuffing/gravy on fries).

I ordered fish and chips.

I'm not a big fan of fish but both our meals were delicious!  Believe if or not, we were talking afterwards about where to find fresh fish in Toronto when when we get home.

There is jazz on Wednesday nights so they started rearranging the tables just before we left.

Royal St. John's Regatta, NL

Gord and I arrived in St. John's this morning.  We checked into our hotel, had lunch and then headed to Quidi Vidi to check out the Royal St. John's Regatta.

The Royal St. John's Regatta is North America's oldest annual sporting event with documented proof of 1816 boat races. There is credible contention that St. John's regattas were held even earlier than 1816, likely in the 18th century. Held on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Regatta is scheduled for the first Wednesday of August. If weather isn't suitable, and wind conditions are very important, the event is postponed until the next suitable day. Since Regatta Day is a civic holiday in St. John's, this means that the weather actually determines whether or not workers have the day off.

Crews row six-member, coxswained, fixed-seat racing shells that are as identical as possible and are the property of the Royal St. John's Regatta Committee. Men's crews row a 2.450 km course, women's crews row a 1.225 km course, and all crews are required to turn buoys and return to the start-finish line. 

We figured it would be a small event (we noticed a lot of places were closed but didn't know it was a civic holiday) ... but it was jammed!

We sat looking at the start/finish line for a while.

Then we walked around so we were looking onto the race.

We walked around to the other side of the lake.

We spent some time in the beer gardens.  It was the craziest beer garden I've ever been in!  It was packed.

There was a band playing ... they played mostly traditional Newfoundland tunes and were good.

Here are Gord and I.

There was a lot of beer and coolers drank by the crowd.

It was my first regatta and a fun time!

Sundance Bar & Grill, St. John's, NL

Once we arrived in St. John's and settled into our room this morning, Gord and I went looking for some lunch.

We checked out the Sundance Bar & Grill on George Street.

It claims that it's a beer market ... no, it's not.  It has the usual selection of big name beer ... nothing too exciting.

Because of the regatta, it was quiet.

Gord ordered Fish 'n Chips.

 It looked and tasted good.

I ordered medium wings.

They were okay.  There were only seven in the order so I was still hungry and wished I'd ordered fries too.

Nuit Saint-Pierre, Saint-Pierre

For the three days we were in Saint-Pierre, Gord and I stayed at the Nuit Saint-Pierre.

There are a handful of hotels in Saint-Pierre.  I chose this because it included breakfast and there was a shuttle to and from the airport (which is just minutes away).  WIFI is free and there is a computer upstairs if you don't have your own laptop.  The keyboard is in French, though, which was a bit challenging to use when I checked it out.

Here is our room ... we had the Lamartine Room.  It was very nice!

Here is the kitchen, which was on our floor.  There are four rooms and a suite in the hotel so breakfast was a friendly affair in the mornings.

Patricia, the owner, has a tea room on the main floor so there were croissants for breakfast, along with yogurt, eggs, toast, fruit, coffee, tea, juice, etc.

Breakfast was prepared in the kitchen every morning.  Gord had a crepe a couple mornings.

Its location is great and we were able to walk everywhere.  The boat to go to Langlade and Miquelon yesterday was just down the street, as is the ferry to Newfoundland.  The cemetery is a short walk away.  The restaurants are just around the corner.

Keep in mind that this is France, the plugs were different.  We'd brought an adapter but it didn't work.  Patricia was kind enough to lend us one.

If I could make one recommendation if you stay here, try to get a room that is facing the ocean as the rooms seem to be cooler.  Our room faced the street and it was warm.  There is no a/c but we did have a fan in our room that helped.  By the third night, we discovered the best spot for it was at the end of bed on the settee blowing at us.  In addition, we kept our room door open until bedtime to catch a cross breeze.

If/when I go back to Saint-Pierre, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Nuit Saint-Pierre.