MY FAVORITE STOPS IN THE MARITIMES — PART I

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers

Members of our Fantasy RV Tours caravan, who joined us from literally the four corners of the Continental U.S. and many places in between, have now split up to return home or begin another adventure. We remain on the vibrant green pastoral Prince Edward Island to see a few more things before heading westward, with our travel trailer virtually filled with a 1) wide variety of keepsakes; 2) our external hard drives brimming with photos and, 3) our heads still savoring vivid memories.

We have parked our rig for at least one night in 21 campgrounds and on one 16-hour ferry ride, and seen, I would estimate, 10,000 memorable sights. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but 100 of those were lighthouses, another 101 were coves hugged by classic fishing villages with colorful little houses, 1,000 were beautiful ponds and lakes … need I go on?

I’ll have more about the experience as time on our trip allows – we have lots of driving ahead of us – but for now, I’m chopping at the bit to tell you about Twillingate and Bonavista, both on the “big island” of Newfoundland. And as I began to prepare this blog, I realize that just a word or two about each thing I want to write about is too long for one blog, so I’ll divide it into two, and then add some more spots after that.

We began our assault on Twillingate by wandering out of the campground, tromping across a narrow isthmus and climbing a hill bordering the Atlantic coastline. Below the cliff were a myriad of seabirds and blue-green waters at which we have marveled numerous times on this trip. On our way back “home,” we wandered into a “fishing stage,” a little shack in which seamen store some of their gear and prepare their catch of the day for selling or eating.

These rugged individuals, still wearing their typical Atlantic Ocean fishing gear, were joyfully cleaning the cod from a large bucket when Monique and I walked in, each with a camera in hand. They immediately turned the

conversation to us, without stopping their work, and proved to be like everyone else we’ve met on this excursion, both friendly and interested, with a touch of joviality thrown in.

We got to know Twillingate fairly well by walking and driving around town, and doing touristy things, like visiting a winery and premium chocolate outlet, finishing our stay there by attending the “All Around the Circle Dinner Theatre,” which is best described as the Newfoundland version of the old TV show HeeHaw. It’s local humor; yet, I think that the 42 or so of us on the caravan would describe it as very entertaining.

I’ve saved the best two Twillingate events for last. I was not looking forward to visiting a fish museum. After going there, I recommended it to everyone I met. The “Prime Berth Heritage Museum” is the creation of David Boyd, a life-long fisherman, a fishing guide, and a collector of memorabilia, which he explains and demonstrates, He’s also a pretty good poet (I bought his book of poetry). You’re probably still not sold on going to a fish museum, and rather than trying to sell you on it when in Newfoundland, I’ll just say, if you don’t go there, you’re missing a treat.

And one more thing. After hearing David’s buddy, Bill, play the ugly stick, I picked one up in the gift shop run by David’s wife and bought one for Monique. That ignited the fuse that

caused the explosion that became one of the highlights of our journey – ugly stick concerts. Seeing Monique with one, Ron bought one, and George, and Jean and Stephanie and Carol … well, actually, Carol bough two of them.  They played those ugly sticks that evening and at every opportunity after that, including with a band in Nova Scotia, where most of the folks had never seen one and others didn’t realize how much fun they could be. Ron suggests they apply for “America’s Got Talent.”

We capped it all of with a visit to the Long Point Lighthouse, where there’s a charge to enter and go to the top. It was there that we got to see our third iceberg of the trip, and while miles offshore, it still captured our imaginations as its two peaks disappeared into a plateau of ice. We also spotted the dorsal fins of a few humpback whales. Since we’d been in dozens of lighthouse by then there was no need to look at the surrounding vistas from any higher than the cliffs on which we walked, so we took off along the bluffs in one

direction, stopped to munch on fruit bars, retraced our steps and went onward to extend our hike. At every turn there was beauty in all directions. We are still cutting slices off the chunks of fudge bought there – “Buy 1 pound; get a ½ pound free.” Too good a deal to pass up, an excellent, good-tasting energy food.

We did all this and more on a three-day stopover. Multiply that by the 21 stops on our caravan tour, and you’ll get an idea of what we’ve experienced. Stay tuned for our visit to the Root Cellar Capital of the World in the next edition. Obviously we continue to be the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.
© All photos by Barry Zander. All rights reserved

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