We attended a show of traditional, folk, and original music put on by seven women called "The Split Peas" at the Loyal Orange Lodge building. They have been together as a group for 20 years, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company in Toronto interviewed them recently to talk about their long association in music. There was rousing traditional music, some modern songs, and at the end the Newfoundland provincial anthem. Newfoundland is the only Canadian Province to have an anthem. During the Where Are You All From phase, when it came time to tell them we were from the US, they congratulated us on Independence Day. In the movie "The Shipping News", the second song played on the jukebox by Kevin Spacey was by The Split Peas. The music was fine and tea and toutons (fried dough topped with molasses, pronounced TAU-tuns) were served at the intermission.
We spent this morning (July 5) in Twillingate, grocery shopping, getting money from an ATM (credit unions don't usually charge fees for using their ATMs), checking on our forwarded mail, and eating lunch at R & J's Restaurant. Patrice had brewis (cod fish with steamed hard bread with scrunchions {sauteed salt pork bits} on the side). She now has tried, and likes, cod tongues and brewis (pronounced "bruise")--next will be cod cheeks if we can find some--we've only seen it on one menu.
Twillingate is a larger fishing village than we have been seeing along the western and northern shores of Newfoundland so far. Very large fishing boats can be seen can be seen fishing in the Main Tickle of Notre Dame Bay and at the docks and canneries in Twillingate. A "tickle" is a narrow salt-water strait, as in an entrance to a harbor or between islands or other land masses.
Native and cultivatede flowers and shrubs are in full bloom in Newfoundland and I found these in Twillingate on the way back to our Park.
Twillingate wildflowers
Lupins at Twillingate
Wild Orchids at Long Point Lighthouse
Many old root cellers can still be seen in Newfoundland; Patrice found these two today.
Root Celler in Twillingate
Root Celler in Twillingate
This afternoon we visited the Long Point Lighthouse at the northern end of Twillingate. The lighthouse stands atop some rugged cliffs and rocks 300 feet above the sea. It was built in 1876 and can be seen 22 nautical miles offshore. This is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Newfoundland.
Long Point Lighthouse
Cliffs and Atlantic Ocean from Long Point Lighthouse
With binoculars Patrice spotted a whale from the lighthouse platform; seen by one tour boat, two others moved quickly to the same location. The whale surfaced two more times and faded away as the boats moved on also. It was small, and made no spectacular moves--seeing a whale is always exciting.
A large fishing boat in the same area as the whale was last seen put out nets in a circle, then started reeling them in again--we weren't able to see the end result; a smaller boat hovered nearby, and Patrice thinks the operation was being filmed.
Fishing boat retrieving nets laid in a circle
The show we attended this evening was the "All Around The Circle Dinner Theater" at the John Hamlyn Community Center about a mile from our park. This show started in 1998 and features a group of seven performers who sing songs, play music, and perform skits celebrating Newfoundland culture. The skits were hokey and corny, sort of like a Newfoundland Hee-Haw! What fun! They even had some American country music! We laughed and hooted a lot! Before the show, this same group prepared and served a traditional Newfoundland meal of beef soup, fish entree (or chicken), vegetables and dessert. Good stuff!
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