At the Top of Newfoundland

 

St. Anthony sits near the northern tip of Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula. To get there we knew that it would be a long drive day, but we were motivated. The plan was to just take our time, and enjoy the journey.

During the first part of the drive, we slowed to enjoy each small fishing village we passed through. But the farther north we drove up the peninsula, the quieter things became. The villages became farther apart, stretches of wilderness seemed to go on forever, and there were times when it felt like we had the road entirely to ourselves.

We began to realize just how remote this part of Newfoundland is..

St. Anthony is the largest community in the Northern Peninsula but "largest" is definitely relative. It's still a quiet fishing town, surrounded by rugged coastline and endless ocean. It also serves as the gateway to L'Anse aux Meadows, the only confirmed Viking settlement in North America. And as it was the reason for making the trip that far north, I'll save that incredible experience for my next post.

By the time we arrived, it really felt like we'd reached the edge of Newfoundland, and we were happy to be greeted with more iceburgs.

The next morning, we woke up to rain and cold temperatures. It wasn't exactly ideal sightseeing weather, but we'd already learned that you take Newfoundland weather as it comes.

We had originally hoped to spend more time outdoors, but the low clouds and mist had other ideas.

Instead, we decided to simply explore by car.

We drove around the area, stopping whenever an iceberg caught our attention or there was a view worth taking in. Even in the rain, the coastline was beautiful.

We drove up to the lighthouse, hoping we might get lucky and spot a few whales. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn't great, and if there were whales out there, they were doing a much better job of spotting us than we were of spotting them.

One stop that none of us expected to enjoy quite so much was a little Viking shop.

We wandered around for at least 45 minutes, looking at everything from books and jewelry to drinking horns and handcrafted souvenirs. Every time I thought I was ready to leave, I'd find something else that caught my eye.

In the end, I bought my son a Viking drinking horn made from a real cattle horn, along with a book about the Vikings. He's always been fascinated by Viking history, so I knew both would be coming home with me.

One thing on the agenda for St. Anthony was to enjoy a meal of freshly caught Newfoundland lobster - at least for two of us.  We found a restaurant overlooking the bay, settled in by the window, and enjoyed a leisurely dinner while looking out at an iceberg floating offshore.

My sister is very proud of her lobster

It wasn't a day where we checked a lot of attractions off a list, but rather one where we simply enjoyed the area.

We got a feel for how remote the Northern Peninsula really is. We added to our iceburg count,  browsed a shop that perfectly fit where we were, and enjoyed fresh seafood while watching the ocean. All in all, it was a good day.

What about you?  What do you do with a rainy vacation day?