We Turn the Corner, Leaving Cold Behind for Heat

Day 67, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure

Monday, July 17, 2023; Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The temperature in my stateroom doesn’t vary much – hovering between 68- and 70-degrees F. I keep the thermostat on the lowest setting and adjust my clothes to match. So when I woke up this morning, there were no clues to tell me that our outside temperature had undergone a dramatic change.

Once on shore in Corner Brook, Canada, I immediately shed my thin hoodie jacket and wished I wasn’t wearing denim jeans. By noon it was in the mid 80s — quite a shock from the 41-degree temperature a couple of days ago in Nanortalik, Greenland. Back then, even with my fleece hoodie and puffer jacket I had wished for a scarf to wrap around my face in the brisk morning breeze. Today I wished I had worn shorts and sun block.

We’ve been hearing for weeks about the extreme heat back home – especially in my home state of Texas. I just didn’t expect that we would transition so quickly. I’ll gather up my warm weather clothes and send them out for laundry tonight – they then can go straight into the suitcase. I won’t be needing them for a while.

When we received notice a few weeks ago that Corner Brook would replace our initial stop in Red Bay, Labrador, I didn’t mind. I went to both in 2019. We could barely tender into Red Bay due to the fog, and once on shore, there wasn’t much to see.

Corner Brook was a fun port, with a nice walking trail around a pond just in the middle of town. So today I set off with my friends Barbara and Richard to walk the trail through a marsh, some woods, a beautiful stream and a park.

We didn’t make it as far as a landmark hotel (barely visible in the trees on the left), as construction blocked our ability to complete the loop.

But I enjoyed being out in nature and seeing the familiar sights that I had sketched last time I was here. Today I carried my sketchpad, but never stopped to use it. I’ll add a sketch later from photographs. I “collected” photos of the interesting birch tree bark to incorporate into my paintings.

Of course, we had to stop in Tim Horton’s for coffee and donuts now that we were in Canada. There wasn’t much else to see in town, other than the interesting sights and signs that remind you that you are in Canada.

At my suggestion we went to the Crown & Moose for a local beer and light lunch. It didn’t live up to my memories of eating fish and chips on the patio in 2019. Today the only open seats were inside. Having just eaten a donut a bit earlier, I wasn’t hungry enough for fish and chips, but the small bowl of seafood chowder wasn’t bad. And once again I enjoyed an Iceberg lager from the Quidi Vidi brewery in nearby St. John’s.

Saturday and Sunday were our last sea days of this cruise, as we will be in ports every day until Boston at the end of the week. No, I did not take the opportunity to start packing, but I have been going through all the papers, notes, letters and other communications that have accumulated in my cabin. Most go straight in the trash – at the time they seemed important, but a photo will suffice.

I was honored along with another couple who also have been on board since January with bottles of champagne at the “City on the Sea” presentation yesterday. The multi-media show, which gives passengers a behind-the-scenes look at ship operations, begins with a video following a champagne bottle through the ship to the Mainstage, and at the end they present the champagne to someone who has reached a milestone or similar achievement. It was a nice touch.