Fifty By 50: Dad's Work, Quidi Vidi, Trail Run and Pictures from Back Home (May 29, 2022)

I wanted to go and see where Dad worked and possibly meet his boss who had kindly raised some funds to give to Dad and Dee while he was in the hospital to help them out with expenses so Dee called and made arrangements for us to go meet with him today at 11.

So by the time we got up, it was really too late for us to head out for our run so we decided we'd do it later and after our breakfast, Jason, Dee and I headed into the city.

Dad was a commissionaire and worked at the RCMP detachment in St. John's for the last 15 years.

It is right in St. John's and you can kind of see from this picture that it is up on a hill but it looks down over the water.

Kind of a great view actually but it's all behind the building in this picture so hard to see.

We were able to go in and meet and talk with his boss Randy.

He had nothing but good things to say about Dad (of course) and it was really nice to meet someone that knew a different side of Dad.

He was actually working so we couldn't stay there too long but we did have a good half hour visit or so with him and I was so glad that I got to do that.

Afterwards Dee wanted to take us to see Quidi Vidi so that's where we headed.

I had no idea what it was.

It was a lovely day out there and there were lots of folks out and about, just walking around.

So it turns out Quidi Vidi is an old fishing village.

I love how the buildings were reflecting on the water.

Pretty neat place.

There was a brewing company there.

Then this was kind of a tourist center - it seemed like it had a bunch of little stores inside but we didn't actually go in and check it out.

Love the old boat.

Quidi Vidi selfie.

There was a big open area with lots of seating.

The Wharf.

Just another view of the brewing company.

We just walked around and checked out the little area.

We were walking around and could smell this delicious aroma so we followed our noses and it led us here.

Turns out it was Mallard Cottage.

You couldn't tell from the outside, it just looked like someone's house but turns out it was a restaurant.

The little dinky windows were too cute.

We might have stayed to eat but Dee was in the vehicle waiting for us (her knee is bothering her) but they did let us go in and walk around and have a look.

I love the old beams.

How beautiful is that?

There were a lot of old features in the house that they kept and I think it is so charming.

The ceilings were so low but I think that's how they were years ago.

Love the old fire place.

Today's specials.

Love the old floors too - so gorgeous.

There were separate rooms to dine in which was kind of neat.

Then this was out the back of the "cottage"

This is what we were smelling, some smoking going on out here.

Mallard Cottage is owned and run by a very famous chef, Todd Perrin and this just happened to be him.

I really wish we could have tried it out but maybe another time.

We didn't want to keep Dee waiting any longer so we headed back to the car.

One more shot of the little harbor.

I'd love to come back to St. John's another time and do some more touring around - this trip feels pretty rushed.

After touring Quidi Vidi, we headed back to Dad & Dee's place.

We decided to stop for a bite to eat along the way and this was the view from the restaurant.

What a view to have every day, going to work would almost be a treat.

It was called The Irish Loop Coffee House and the lady who owns/runs it, is a friend of Dee's.

You can see the view out the back.

I loved all the color coordinated old fashioned tables and chairs.

We sat at the blue table right by the window.

This was the view from our seats.

The menu.

I got the sweet potato pancakes - they weren't what I was expecting but they were good.

They had lots of home made goodies and I was too full for dessert at that point but I ordered about 8 things to take with me for later.

After that, we stopped at a little craft store/gift shop.

We picked up a little something to take home for Freya and I got Dee a gift for hosting us.

It was this stained glass fish and I just loved it.

If they'd had another I would have gotten one for myself but alas, they only had the one.

Ranger was happy to have us back.

We got ready and headed out for our runs.

I had to run 15k today.

Jason had kind of stumbled upon this trail yesterday so we decided to go run there and check it out a bit more thoroughly.

The terrain in there was rough going.

However, the views were fabulous so it was worth it.

We were looking over cliffs and the ocean.

Looks like this might have been a little cottage at one time.

The scenery on our hike to Lamanche near Tors Cove, Nfld.

There was this boardwalk kind of area.

It led to some steps.

There were a lot of stairs.

We followed them up.

This was looking back down after I got to the top.

We came out at a bridge and a waterfall.

Looking over the bridge at the waterfall.

And out the other side this river flowed into the ocean.

A shot of the bridge.

Jason and I.

We encountered a few other folks out enjoying the trail.

It wasn't the best for running, there were lots of obstacles like tree roots, rocky terrain, sheer cliffs etc.

But it was beautiful.

It ended up being about 5.5k all together but I didn't feel like I had really 'run' so once we made it to the road, I decided to still do my 15k from there.

We just ran along the highway - it was a lovely evening.

There was a bit of traffic but there was a pretty good shoulder on the road so we were able to get over.

Running on the highway by Tors Cove, Nfld.

Beautiful scenery and gorgeous weather.

The sun shining over the lake that we passed.

I was feeling tired but the scenery helped to keep me going.

Jason is so good - he runs way faster than I do so he'd get way ahead of me but he didn't want to leave me behind so he'd turn around and run back to me then he'd run ahead again.

So basically he ran twice as much as I did.