East Coast Trip 2024 - July 25

July 25: It was a lovely day and the weather certainly helped. Because of the windshield mishap, Alan stayed behind in order to get the star-shaped crack in the windshield repaired. I joined our group on a bus tour of the Codroy Valley and Alice, one of the owners of the campground, was our tour guide. She grew up in the Valley and has an amazing knowledge of all things Codroy Valley. We drove from the campground and were given the highlights of the area until Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church, which is an historic site. It was built in 1912 by shipbuilders from wood sourced from the area in which the church was built. It is beautifully built and is kept in marvelous condition. We also visited the home of Minnie White who was the First Lady of the Accordian. Her home, My Dear Minnie, is now a museum which pays tribute to Minnie's musical legacy and features themed rooms displaying treasures from the past. The museum's name comes from the letters Minnie's husband would write that began with My Dear Minnie. She was awarded the Order of Canada. After that we had a meal at a local restaurant. There is a stone lighthouse in the Codroy Valley - "Rose Blanche Lighthouse" - located 45 kms east of Port Aux Basques, the terminus for Marine Atlantic's ferry service to the island. The lighthouse was built in 1871 and was in operation from 1873 to the 1940s. There were 5 lightkeepers over approximate 70 years of operation. It was abandoned in the 1940s and fell into disrepair. It was reconstructed from 1996 to 1999 and in 1972 it was designated as a Registered Heritage Structure - the first lighthouse to be thus recognized. In the evening our group were inducted as Honorary Newfoundlanders by the owners of the park, Alice and her husband. To do this, we had to put on a fisherman's, say 3 Newfoundlander phrases fast, eat a Newfoundlander piece of 'steak", dance a jig, drink a shot of Skreech Rum, and kiss a fish (a cod). It was hilarious.