The next couple of days were spent around St. John's with various friends.

Arriving in town, I dropped Isy off at her friends, but then I was on my own as Rosie just went and assumed I wouldn't want to accompany her to The Vagina Monologues.

I'd get over it though, as it's always lovely to walk around unique and picturesque St. John's.

As St. John's has actual pubs that almost everywhere else in Newfoundland lacks, I usually try to stop into one like Broderick's or The Duke or The Ship. This is especially true because of how every two horse town in Nova Scotia has a decent pub and I miss having them around.

Stepping into the quiet, cave-like Ship for a pint and to catch up on texts, a sign board advertised Matt Hornell playing tonight - Matt Hornell being a Newfoundlander who sings my favourite Newfoundland song.

Rosie and her friends joined me at The Ship after their show. I then patiently sat and figured that Hornell would eventually have to play the song for which I know him. Like c'mon now!

Except that he didn't. Rosie kept asking me if Hornell was playing the song, but I shook my head and insisted that it was fine if he didn't. I wasn't about to stick my head out and ask, but Rosie wasn't having that.

She spoke up for me and requested "the Buchans song" and Hornell was happy to play Khaki Dodgers as I sat with a pleased smile. I truly appreciated it and it makes for a great St. John's memory.

(The other part I quite enjoyed was walking home with Rosie & Jess, explaining the lyrics ringers from Kirkland Lake, and how those were fellow miners that the mining company transferred to Buchans to ensure that the company town won the provincial hockey championships. Further explanation here.)

The next day I'd go for another walk, wearing my normal clothes and my camera bag draped over my shoulder. Walking past Rawlins Cross, I noticed some teenagers/tweens up ahead and decided to keep on my side of the street, instead of checking out the houses over by where they were hanging out.

Kid A: "Hey orange shirt! Hey orange shirt!"

(I was wearing my Orioles shirt.)

"Nice man purse!"

(The kids all laugh. I roll my eyes as I keep my walking pace steady.)

Kid B : "Hey orange shirt! Hey orange shirt!"

"Who cuts your hair?"

(pause for comedic effect)

"No one cuts your hair orange shirt!"

(The kids all die laughing. I mercifully reach and make a left on Mullock Street.)

ROASTED by kids in St. John's. What have I become?

Following my walk, I popped over to the mall food court where I like having a serving of Koya Japan whenever I'm in the big city. It's at the mall that I was savouring my food when this pair of 10-year-old boys sat down and asked, "hey, can we have your phone number?"

"What? No."

"But we want it. Why won't you give it to us?"

"Why would I give it to you?"

"Because we want it. We want to call you. Can we have it?"

(I give them the squinty-eyed, dumbfounded, the fuck is wrong with you look).

I wanted to go to the bathroom and check if I forgot toiler paper dabs on my neck, or if my hair was wild, or if I had a ton of broccoli in my teeth. What signal was I giving off that every townie kid thought today was the day to give me a hard time?

I can't be that age yet where I'm an old weirdo that kids harass, right?

Things got better as I met up with Isy and her friend Emily, where we hung out at Emily's apartment that had this awesome rooftop patio overlooking the streets below.

I appreciated being safe from the children's taunts up here too, lol.

There was also time for skateparks, but in all of my infinite wisdom, I hadn't fixed my wonky back wheel prior to arriving in this place seven hours away from home, where the two top tier Newfoundland skateparks exist.

So I found a quiet building on Kenmount Road and set up behind it, for this task that was going to try my patience. I especially didn't need any scooter kids coming over and turning this into a Q&A meet-n-greet.

Things were going good though, and before long I was appalled that the Ultramar on Kenmount Road charges $2 for air - but they offer Visa tap technology! - and then was off to the newest skatepark hoping to join Mundy Pond and Mount Pearl as the top offerings when it comes to Newfoundland skateparks.

Okay, okay. This would certainly do. This was like Leamington Ontario good! And here I'm usually ecstatic with simply Stoney Point Ontario good!

Ladies and gentlemen, the newest addition to St. John's collection of skateparks: the Kenmount Terrace Skatepark.

Except that after only 35 glorious minutes - made even better because rain had cleared everyone out - I went for a pegs over fakie and instead did a pegs over crank snap.

You have got to be kidding me.

Thankfully the local mountain bike shop had some $99 budget Salt cranks. I ignored the mountain bike associate who said they wouldn't last for me, and that I also should switch out the bearings every time I break a crank arm.

Pfft, mountain bikers love unnecessarily fixing their bikes.

The next day, Rosie, Jess and I headed off to Cape St. Francis for fresh air and to wander about on such a gorgeous day.

It had been over 10 years since I'd last been out here, and we found the road much more passable than the glorified quad path I hiked so long ago.

It was so nice that even Puff Daddy made it out here. Although I'd say he probably used the helipad, which is what I should have done too now that I think about it.

In addition to poking around the lighthouse, we marvelled at Rosie's tales of hiking the new and undulating portion of the East Coast Trail from Bauilne to here, plus we wandered over to nearby Biscayan Cove where a small settlement once stood (now there's only a couple of cabins and a slipway).

Back with Isy, we headed north of town yet again, this time to Torbay for their promising new skatepark. I'd previously came here on that day I rode six different Metro St. John's skateparks, only to find the old Torbay skatepark gone and this park under construction.

I guess when I say it's a foreign concept that a Newfoundland town would noticeably upgrade their skatepark, I should now say a Newfoundland town *outside the Avalon Peninsula.

Torbay was slightly bland and that'll hold it out of that Mundy Pond/Mount Pearl/Kenmount Terrace top tier, but it's clearly in the next tier with places like Stephenville and Grand Falls-Windsor (and easily at the top of that tier).

It's still pretty astonishing to me that a place in Newfoundland other than St. John's or Mount Pearl can build a cement skatepark of this stature. I'm going to have to google Torbay's population sometime to see how much higher it is than Corner Brook's 19,600 population.

Over at Middle Cove Beach, the capelin were sort of rolling.

If you're unsure what's going on here, capelin are small silvery fish that spawn on the beaches of Newfoundland. When they come onto a certain beach, they attract whales, birds, tourists, and locals.

The other time I experienced the capelin rolling was down in Bay d'Espoir where they were actually rolling onto shore (and where I walked out in my barefeet and didn't like the feeling of the fish on my feet, much to the amusement of some locals).

Here at Middle Cove Beach, the capelin weren't squeezed up on the shore, so they were able to swim away whenever Isy or I walked in the water.

Another thing we did was stop in at the new cat cafe, a great addition to downtown St. John's and something I've also checked out in San Diego.

The cats were a bit sleepy though. They really should give them some nip.

Lastly, one of the days we were in St. John's was Isy's actual birthday, so I splurged just a little and got us a room at the Alt Hotel. Neither of us really cared for the futuristic tech around the room, but the bath was nice and there was a pleasant view over the rainy harbour. Plus they allowed dogs, lol.

The thing I liked most about the Alt Hotel was a total surprise though, even with my high levels of research.

A couple of years ago, there was a building under construction down here on Water Street, where the excavation unearthed the old stone and brick cellar of The Marshall Brothers store from the early to mid 1800s. I really wanted to get to St. John's during this time, as it seemed like construction had stalled and you could sneak into the arched roof underground structure, but I never did.

As it turns out, that construction was for the Alt Hotel and they salvaged some of the materials to display in their lobby.

"This building was erected on the site where the Marshall Brothers store once stood, to the right of Raymond's Restaurant and across from Long Brothers Printers. In operation until the 1920s, the Marshall Brothers clothing store, which was also a pharmacy, was built by the sons of Alexander Marshall after the Great Fire of 1892 that destroyed the area around 123 to 125 Water Street.

The store itself was demolished many years ago, however, the historic stone and brick cellar built in the early to mid 1800s, while abandoned, remained intact below street level on the harbour side until the construction of this hotel.

Like the preserved Newman Wine Vaults that can be found further west on Water Street, the cellar was one of the oldest structures remaining in St. John's."

I really need to go check out the preserved Newman Wine Vaults one of these days.

Today wouldn't be that day though, as Isy and I jammed everything back in the car and headed south for more exploring.

Continue to Part 4...