Day 18 – July 21st – Touring Around St. John’s

Day 18 – July 21^st – Touring Around St. John’s

Another lovely morning in Holyrood, NL.

New Commissariat?
Oh No!!

Today started with a visit to the Commissariat House in St John’s.  This house, which was built by the Corps of Royal Engineers between 1818 and 1820.  From 1821 to 1870 it was the premises and offices of the officer responsible for the pay, supplies and services required by the British military establishment in the town. We enjoyed a tour of the home and carriage house with 4 different guides and were even offered some lemonade that really hit the spot.

Newfoundland & Labrador's
LG's Residence

It so happened that the Commissariat House is situated right next door to Lt. Governors Official Residence.  We took a walk around the grounds and looked at beautiful Beech and Walnut trees as well as the wonderfully manicured gardens.  We were also allowed to enter the front foyer of the residence, which was awesome.  The L.G. was not home at the time (salmon fishing with the grandkids).

Looking From The Entranceway
Into The LG's House

We then headed off to “The Rooms” that was built in 2005.  The Rooms stores the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial (Heritage) Archives.  It is also a Museum and Art Gallery. The Rooms mirrors the “fishing rooms” where families came together to process their catch. We wandered around this massive, angular and mirrored structure that has a spectacular view of the St. John’s harbour.  It has historical documents dating back to 1662 and includes: art, artifacts, archaeology, architecture and archival records.

We arrived at about 11:30 AM but did not leave until after 4:00 PM, and could have stayed another few hours.  Wonderful!

"The Rooms" with a View!

The Wine Vaults, Low Doorways!

Then it was off to the Newman Wine Vaults Provincial Historic Site.

In the mid 1500’s the Newman family of Dartmouth, England entered the trade in Newfoundland codfish and cod oil.  The British brought fishing supplies to NL, took codfish to Portugal in exchange for wine and took Portuguese wine back to Britain.

Excellent tour guide, with a wealth of knowledge.

After testing a sample of their Ruby Port we decided it was “happy hour” and returned to our campsite.

Tomorrow we will try to get Vance and Joan “screeched” as they are well overdue J.