Day 4 Newfoundland Vacation Wednesday August 25, 2021
Today's road trip took us up the peninsula that is nestled between Conception Bay and Trinity Bay
Below are photos of the three vessels you can see in the distance in this photo
St. George's Heritage Church in Brigus was built in 1876 - 1877 in Gothic Revival style construction. There are two 19th century cemeteries surrounding the church.
The grave stones have been kept in almost pristine condition
What a beautiful setting, although I think I would have been tempted to opt for a much brighter colour.
The Brigus Tunnel is the most notable historical site in the town of Brigus. It was built for the famous Captain Abram Bartlett who frequently made fishing trips to Labrador. When he would return to port he would find the harbour to be over crowded. He saw where he needed an easy access to his ship and the ability to easily offload his catch. He purchased a section of land near the ridge and hired help to construct a tunnel. Construction began around 1860 to build the 80-foot-long tunnel, it was constructed by hand drilling holes into the rock in which gunpower would be placed and blown to cause the rock to break up. The tunnel is reported to have taken 4 months to complete and it measures 8 ½ feet height and 8 feet wide. Its size allowed enough space for wheel barrows, wagons and even horses and carriages to access the wharf on the other side. The tunnel was used until around 1910.
Today the tunnel is accessible by anyone who wishes to venture through it. It is located near the waterfront behind the St. George's Heritage Church near the Bartlett Memorial.
This is looking out on the harbour
side of the tunnel.
This memorial commemorates Captain Robert Abram Bartlett for the most famous, dangerous and controversial exploratory expeditions he made to the Arctic.
If you are interested in learning more on Captain Bartlett check out this web page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bartlett_(explorer)
or here:https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/exploration/bob-bartlett.php
You will have to copy and paste because for some reason this will not come up on the blog as a spot to click.
A closer look at the memorial plaque placed in honour of Captain Robert Abram Bartlett.
Man, could I kick my butt on this one, we had no idea that Harbour Grace held this important piece of history on aviation and Amelia Earhart until putting together this post.😢
Sunday November 01, 2018 was the last service held in The Immaculate Conception, repairs were desperately needed and the congregation was unable to come up with the estimated $9 million to do so. As a result the building was sold to the owners of The Yellow Belly Brewery and the O"Reilly 's Irish Pub on George Street in St. John's, who have plans to turn the building in to a Brewery, beer garden, spa and hotel. The old court house in Harbour Grace has since been purchased by these same people with plans to utilize it in coordination with their aspirations for the church .
Every now and again you see something that reminds you of home.
Bins of Cod were lifted from the incoming fishing vessels to be prepared for transport to various parts of the world for sale.
Yep, I am that tourist who obviously doesn't get off the rock.
😆
Our last stop for the day was DILDO which is located on the bottom of the peninsula on Trinity Bay - what a unique name for a harbour town, ya gotta love it.
The main attraction other than the Hollywood style sign on the ridge is the popular Dildo Brewery and restaurant sitting on the water's edge.
I am the adventurous one and had to try the Blue Eyed Buoy, it is made from blueberries - Oh wow it was good.
The restaurant was quite busy and we had to wait awhile before being seated. It would have been nice to sit by the windows overlooking the harbour, next time I guess.
This game seemed to be quite popular, it is called Connect 4 or 4 in a Row. I have never heard of or seen the game before but it did look like fun.
I needed to get a picture of this couple and they easily complied. We were very surprised to meet up with each other after flying from Sudbury St. John's on the same flights. During the flights and airport layover we saw each other but each to the other we were just another couple of passengers going in the same direction. Not knowing the other's plans we met again at the Dildo Brewery and then found out we were staying at the same B&B. What are the chances of that happening?
It had been quite hot during the day until we arrived at Dildo Brewery, when the heavy cloud came in it really cooled things off.
We had a perfect view of Dildo and its Harbour from the window in our B&B
This fellow perhaps "Captain Dildo" greets you on the outskirts of the harbour as you come off the highway. He waves his arm to get your attention - the signs read "Welcome to Dildo" and the other "Get Your Shot"
I can't leave you hanging - no doubt some of you are wondering how Dildo got its name Well...........
Dildo was founded in the late 18th century although the area history goes back as far as 2000 BC when it was inhabited by Maritime Archaic aboriginal people. It is believed the name of the harbour was given by the British explorer Captain Cook and his surveyor Michael Lane. It seems they had a sense of humour and didn't mind using names that might offend the overly sensitive. Other harbours and communities have uncommon names as well, like Tickle Bay, Blow Me Down, Famish Out, along with many others.
The origin of the name is to this day a mystery.
Research tells me there are other ideas as to how the harbour got its name, but to snuff out the sex toy idea, one lady stated "I feel sure that we've been here a lot longer than artificial penises have been around. Then I read Dildos have been around 28,000 years. Lord, who knows?
The sea is no longer able to provide the locals with a livelihood as it has in the past so, today the community relies on tourism and to increase the interest of the people they use the name Dildo as a drawing card. Each summer they hold a Dildo Festival, the parade is led by a wooden statue of an old fishing boat skipper called "Captain Dildo", and souvenir T-shirts are sold saying "I Survived Dildo Again" "I💖 My Dildo" and the so many others.
Some of the population is not in favour of the name, in the 1980's a petition was circulated to change it to something more toned down but the majority of the population scoffed at the idea and it went nowhere.
Check out Jimmy Kimmel Live and Dildo Newfoundland, he has been made honorary mayor of Dildo and provided the community with a sign in the style of the Hollywood sign which sits on the hillside overlooking the community.
To listen to the history, song and lyrics of dildo through its anthem click here: Dildo
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