Tuesday, August 23, 2011

All the Way Home

Yesterday we lounged around our hotel room at Clarenville Inn until noon, and then drove in to St. John's where we had a room reserved at Comfort Inn, just 1/2 km. from the airport.  We unloaded the car, making sure to remove all of our belongings.  Then we gassed up at a nearby station, and drove the car back to the airport to return it to Budget Rentals.  All went well.  We were happy with the vehicle we've been using for the last two weeks, and the rental agency was fine.  The vehicle was ready, gassed up and clean when we picked it up, and we had no hassles returning it.  One small note: the young woman who checked it over was the first Newfoundlander we encountered in a commercial context who did not smile, act friendly, and say thank you.  In fact, I don't think she said anything.  She checked the car for damage, made sure that the tank was full, checked the odometer and printed out a charge slip.  All done without a smile or a thank you.  Oh well, everyone else was great!

We chose Comfort Inn near the Airport because they have a 24 hour shuttle service. So after we turned in the car, we left the terminal, hailed the shuttle and were soon back at our hotel.

That evening, sans vehicle, we dined at Clancy's in the Comfort Inn, Airport.  I can recommend it without reserveration.  The service was fast and friendly and the food was great!  I had a pizza--kind of.  It was pan seared chicken, mushrooms, onions, and peppers with cheese on a flat bread.  That covered half of a very large dinner plate.  The other half was a wonderful salad: lettuce; red, yellow and green peppers, onions, mushrooms and mandarin sections with your choice of dressing.  It was a terrific meal, totally tasty.

Of course, when you have to catch a plane in the morning you never sleep too soundly, but it wasn't bad.  We had a wake-up call at 6 a.m.  A continental breakfast is available from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., and the shuttle was at the door when we wanted to leave to 7 a.m.

All went smoothly, and WestJet delivered us safely back to Calgary before 11:30 Mountain Time.  S. was there to meet us with our car, and we were home by 1 p.m.

I dug some potatoes and carrots and cooked up our first homemade meal in two weeks.  Although I must say that all our meals out were great with the exception of my scallop dinner in Bonavista at R and J's.  The breading and deepfrying ruined the scallops in my opinion, but other than that one meal, our meals in Newfoundland were uniformly excellent.

It seems strange to be sitting in our own living room in Alberta after waking up this morning in St. John's.  But it is also great not to have to drive all that distance.

This was a lovely holiday.  We think Newfoundland is very beautiful, and its people are admirable.  Thanks to all for a wonderful time!  Newfoundland hospitality hits the spot!

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