Loving Life on the Road: 17 July 2013 Bay Bulls and the Avalon Colony

[Patrice is writing today's posting.]

Bay Bulls sits on the shore about 10 miles south of St. John's. We headed to Bay Bulls today to visit Louise O'Brien. Louise is 91, and a second cousin to dear friends of ours, Rod (the cousin) and his wife Annette. Rod's grandfather and Louise's father were brothers, in Newfoundland. Rod and Annette have been out to visit Louise, and Louise has relatives in Vancouver BC, so Rod and Annette have met up with her out west.

Rod heard that we were visiting Newfoundland, and suggested that we look Louise up. As instructed, we asked at the only store in town; as Paddy was looking across the valley describing Louise's house to us, in come John Deagen. John said that Louise's niece was his sister-in-law and we should follow him to her home, and she would take us up to Louise's place.

Ann Marie Deagen took us to Louise's place, and Louise was thrilled to meet us and hear about our knowing Rod and Annette "Such sweet people." Louise lives on her own with her daughter Joanie helping her some as well as being surrounded by the rest of her family. She walks well and has a walker handy because she loses her balance now and then. She has a "little blood sugar," and is proud that she takes no medications, only that the doctor tells her to watch what she eats a bit.

Louise is a lively lady, full of fun, and laughs a lot. We had tea and "jam-jams", partidgeberry jam being jammed between two cookies. Ann Marie had some too, and before long up shows Madonna "Donna" Hawkins, Ann Marie's sister. They were all heading to Point Broyle to play cards--a game called 120.

Bay Bulls is at the start of what is called The Irish Loop, Highway 10 that swings around the peninsula below St. John's. Irish town names, Irish surnames, Roman Catholic churches, and Irish accents--John Deagen and Louise's accents were recognizably Irish--Ann Marie recently retired from BelAliant, the phone company; I noticed her accent sounded more Newfie.

Louise and Mary Ann

What nice smiles these ladies have!

What a delightful time visiting with them. We weren't related to them, but wished that we were.

Later in the evening we called Rod in Tacoma, Washington, to tell him about our visit with his second cousin (and in the case of Ann Marie and Madonna, third cousins). He loved hearing all about our visit to his cousins; our visit to Newfoundland is all the more special.

Just outside of Bay Bulls, we discovered miniature boats and ships of all kinds in a small pond alongside the road.

Morgan's miniatures

There is a small sign in the midst of them with a phone number on it. Directly across the road we saw a large sign on the house that said "Morgan's"; in the yard were lots of other miniature boats and vehicles, but no welcoming indications, only the phone number in the pond. We didn't venture further, just enjoyed the display.

Our second destination of the day was the colony of Avalon, in the town of Ferryland, where an archeological dig continues to find out about the early settlers in the area. The colony of Avalon was founded in 1621 on behalf of Sir George Calvert (meaning that he was the main investor), and in a few short years, because of favorable winters, it became an impressive settlement. Later George Calvert, now know as Lord Baltimore, later arrived with his family to take charge of the colony he created.

The winter of 1628-29 changed the Baltimore's minds about the feasibility of the enterprise, and by 1932 Lady Baltimore had enough--they abandoned the colony along with some of the settlers who wished to stay despite the conditions. They moved and formed the colony of Maryland, and that became Baltimore's crowning achievement.

The colony struggled on, with new governors taking over the buildings and keeping the work going, until the colony was destroyed by French forces in 1696. While Lord Baltimore's settlement has always remained a part of local history and legend, its existence was largely forgotten. For the last 20 years an archeological dig has found more than one million objects relating to the occupation of the site, and tours are part of the admission, around the dig, and some reconstruction and re-enactment of activities. We decided not to go through the exhibits or tours--of course the craft shop was open, for free.

Instead, we drove out the peninsula toward the lighthouse. The walk was about an hour and a half out to it, so we decided to have our lunch by the bay at the vehicle turn-around.

It was a gorgeous day. Rain had been predicted, and we were just done with lunch when the drops started.

From far away Ferryland Head Lighthouse

Just opposite of our lunch site, there was an island with sheep on it, probably about 35. The top of the island was flatish, and looked like it was full of grasses. We also noticed that there were fences and a stall-like area, and wondered how the sheep got out there, and how they were taken care of during the winter.

On the way back north, we stopped at the Holy Trinity Stone Church (Roman Catholic) on the hill above the entrance to the peninsula. It was consecrated in 1865 and has been going through some renovation lately.

A tower with dome stood at the opposite end from the entrance, and the Renovation Foundation of Ferryland wants it restored. Alec, the tall young man attending the entrance talked about how the original stained glass windows, the plain blue ones along the side, came from England in barrels of molasses to protect them. The alter, a huge white piece, came from Rome. Six of the large statues were from the original decoration of the church, and the stained glass over the alter was installed within the last 10 years.

Altar windows

Alec also solved the mystery of the sheep. A man in town owns the sheep, and keeps them on his own property until after the lambs are born in May. In June he takes them over to the island in a boat, one at a time, where they stay until about September. He just recently died, so his sons have taken over the task of checking on them a couple times a month.

Laundry, lovely laundry.