Newfoundland Adventure 2016: Monday, August 29

Marystown tourism office

"August Gale"

Yesterday saw a lot of driving time, as we drove from the Northeast down the Burin Peninsula to the town of Fortune. This is where one can catch the ferry to France if one desires (St. Pierre and Miquelon, Frances only territory in North America). We're not going there, but there are very few campgrounds on the Peninsula and we needed to catch up on different chores. On the way we stopped in the major town/city on the Burin Peninsula, Marystown. When we first got into Marystown, we visited their very cute (and helpful) tourism office, built around a replica lighthouse encompassing rooms with artifacts. There was a book written by a Maine author, Barbara Walsh about her ancestors, titled “August Gale” that got us interested in Marystown. The book tells the story of a catastrophic storm in the 1930's, her family’s tragedy resulting from the storm, and the eventual reconciliation that happened. We both read the book, and Becky also heard Ms. Walsh talk about it.

Marystown Museum

We had expected Marystown to be a small fishing village on the order of Southport, but it's actually a pretty large community. They have an excellent historical museum there, with some outstanding and friendly docents who want your every question answered. For example, I asked about the name of a ship in a photo that looked like the SS Kyle we saw the previous day. One guy got a magnifying glass, another guy got involved, and they mutually decided it was a sister ship, the Caribou, which had sunk in 1942, compliments of a German U-boat-137. Civilians died as a result. The Museum also has quite a few models reflecting their maritime history, and several "rooms" showing artifacts and furniture from the 20th century depicting how life was.