St John's is a big city, by comparison. Early excursion this morning 8:15; a bus trip to Signal Hill and Cape Spear Lighthouse.
Our ship docked right on the main street! Parking downtown! Also noticed in the harbor these very large tugs/supply ships which service the oil rigs in the North Sea.
We had an excellent tour guide and driver who gave us a comprehensive trip around the city, past parks, churches, public buildings and some beautiful old homes.
First stop is Signal Hill. Wow, what a view! You can clearly see how narrow that channel is getting into the harbor; and its the only way in out, so really protected. Story goes that back in the day flags would be flown from up here to let folks at the pier know what ships were coming in. More recently, its where Marconi had received the first transatlantic radio signal.
Then we drove about a half hour around the bend to Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America. Two lighthouses, actually, and a WWII military canon battery. Hiking trails everywhere but no time to enjoy them. Rocky shoreline was really calm today. Very picturesque!
Back to town by noon and the search for lunch/shopping. All the activity is on Water Street, which runs parallel to the street we were docked on. We found this charming little Public House called Celtic Earth and enjoyed an awesome fish and chips.
Dinner tonight in a specialty venue called The Pinnacle. We all had steak, which got so so reviews. Our evening entertainment was a return engagement of Celtic Thunder, with the energetic fiddle player.
Sea Day tomorrow as we head south toward Halifax.
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