Loving Life on the Road: 7 July 2013 Twillingate

7 July 2013 Sunday, the last day in Twillingate for us. Patrice is writing today's blog entry.

We slept in this morning, heading for breakfast at R and J's Restaurant before 11 am. The breakfast menu was short and simple. I ordered the only omelet offered, a Denver (labelled "Denver", surprisingly). No frills, no fancy stuff, just a flat omelet, made with whole eggs, I could tell. Philip had "The Energizer Breakfast." eggs, bacon, toast and home fries. He also ordered one of the french-fry toppings for his home fries, called "mess." Mess consists of brown gravy with ground beef and cheese mixed in. Most menus have it, listed under "Toppings for French Fries."

We took a leisurely ride south of Twillingate, down short roads to fishing villages, looking at the homes, the fishing buildings, the docks and piers, the newer and the old, building memories of Newfoundland.

We met Marge and Jerry at the Auk Bay Winery back in Twillingate, and did a tasting. There were all types of fruit wines, two were rum mixes with partridgeberries and blueberries. There were also some grape wines, and we chose a cabernet savignon, a shiraz, and we couldn't resist a wine called Moose Juice, sounding much better than the related beer we've seen called Moose Drool.

We continued on the road around Twillingate Bay to the Durrell Museum, home of the "Polar Bear Exhibit" we had been told not to miss. We entered the building and found a nicely preserved polar bear, and the video describing the incidents regarding the bear was not able to be played, so we read the story and viewed the rest of the museum. During the mid-1980's the bear was in town on the ice near Twillingate, and drew many people as it attempted to escape across thin ice. Tranquilizing was out of the question because of the unpredictable response of the bear, even if the dart was effective, so the bear was put down. There was some mix-up about the ownership of the carcass, and a campaign was started to "bring back our bear" to Twillingate. The effort was successful, and the bear is now beautifully preserved at the Durrell museum.

Besides some interesting exhibits on household items used by people in a fishing village in early settlement days, maritime objects and pictures, and fish processing tools and gear, the story of the museum building itself is fascinating. It is the old Arm Lads Brigade (ALB) hall, an organization started in the early 1900's by a veteran of the Boer Wars who made a month's visit to Durrell and noticed attitudes of futility, boredom and lack of discipline in the young men of the area. The organization welcomed young men of at least 10 years of age, residents of Twillingate Island who were willing to work to better themselves physically and mentally. Military drilling and physical fitness were emphasized, and the brigade later even had a brass band, marching and performing at celebrations and in parades, even the celebrations for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Young men from the ALB enlisted in the military in both world wars, attributing their success in leadership and knowledge of military discipline to their participation in ALB.

The organization flourished until the 1960's, when interest waned, and not enough adult leaders could be found to bring in new recruits. The building was deeded to the town of Durrell, and sat empty until a citizen's group campaigned for its use as a museum.

We drove around bottom of the hill near the museum, on roads that hugged the shore. Once again, we observed how Newfoundlanders live, seeing the patterns of their lives. This yard was just interesting, the house it belonged to for sale. The clothesline still up, but sagging, the picket fence leaning, and an anchor on the rock.

House for sale

And of course, the fishing village scenes are irresistible.

Waiting for fish

The old and the new

Dinner out tonight was at a different restaurant in Twillingate. I had lobster chowder that was just wonderful. Philip's crab au gratin was also great (I had a taste).

Trash bins are found in front of every house in Newfoundland, usually right next to the mailbox. A disposal service actually opens the door on the top of the box and lifts a bag into the collection truck. Nearly all of the boxes look like the orange one below, except for having brown wooden boards. I've decided to take pictures of unusual ones, either in shape or color. There must be people who are making good money putting together these bins, because so many of them look exactly alike.

Another thing that fascinates me is clothes on clotheslines. I especially love the colorful clothes. I'm suspecting that most of the homes have clothes dryers, and love the summer sunshine to freshen their laundry. I can remember the smell of outdoor dried clothes. Hanging them out was a chore I used to hate, and I was so happy when we got a dryer. Mom still hug out the clothes any chance she could.