One day turns into three in Bonavista

The campground is a great location.  It is about four miles to the town of Bonavista.  And pretty much everything we want to do is in that town.  The campground owner, Shawn, has only recently purchased the property and is working hard to spruce it up.  He is full of information and tell us where we must go and where we must eat!

The first morning takes up to the Ryan Premises.  As will almost every little town, it is a fishing village.  Well at least it was until the codfish moratorium of 1992.  The locals knew that there had been overfishing and were expecting it, but one night on the news: " no more cod fishing as of midnight tonight."  Sort of threw their whole economy into a tailspin.  But in the 1700s things were good and the Ryan premises is the home and workplace of a prosperous family.  We learned all about the fishing, the exchange of fish for goods from the merchants ( no money changed hands) and their way of life.  In all of the provincial historical properties we have visited, there are guides and interpreters on every floor.

At the restaurant next door the sign said "cod tongues." I had to find out just what these are.

Do cod really have tongues?










The woman in the interpretive center, friendly and helpful as all Newfies we have met, pulls out some photos.

Cod tongues!
Raw in the bottom picture and cooked in the upper picture.  And yes, they are the tongues.  Everyone around says...delicious.

She also shows me this pictures. Reproductive  organs.  Also eaten locally. These are raw.  Whose organs, male?  female?  Think we will pass.

A happy cod in the museum.












Lots of nice restaurants in the town.  Lunch is at Mifflin's Tea Room.

 Les is not too happy about "tea room", but it turns out fine.  We are going local with lunch.  Les has the fish and brewis.  Its a local dish.  Hard tack is soaked overnight in water, then mixed with fish and onions.  It looked like a big plate of soft bread with some fish mixed in.  Delish.  I had the fish cakes.  They are served with a fruit chutney.

In the afternoon we went to the recreated ship of John Cabot, who first landed in Bonavista in 1497.  The English call him John Cabot, but he was Italian and his name was Giovanni Caboto.  We have learned all about the fishing industry, the hardships and hard work.

Now for dinner.  We drive to the town of Elliston to Nanny's Root Cellar Restaurant. Keeping with our theme today of local food, we both order the Jiggs Dinner.  This was after discussing it thoroughly with the three adults at the next table, traveling from Regina, Saskatchewan.  This is usually a Sunday meal.  Salt beef
( better known to us and corned beef), boiled potato, boiled cabbage, boiled carrots and turnips and their version of bread pudding ( not sweet) and mashed peas (called peas though they were yellow).

Home to our campsite and night two in Bonavista.