Day 19 Trinity - Dildo - Brigus - St. John’s

  September 2022 Trinity - Dildo - Brigus - St. John's

The original plan had been to go from Trinity and overnight in Bay Roberts before heading to Bay Bulls for a boat ride and then to St. John's. But Hurricane Fiona was on her way so instead I cancelled the Bay Roberts hotel and Bay Bulls boat ride (no problem with either) and added an extra night in St. John's.

It was a cool drizzling morning as we set out.

We took this brutal road to Dildo.

DILDO

Okay, yes, most people just come to Dildo because of the name. Clearly, as a society, we are not yet mature enough to overlook a town with the same name as one of the most famous sex toys of our time. Of course, the word originally was only an innocent reference to the part of a dinghy that holds the oars, a much more wholesome (if rather uninteresting) and understandable connection in a fishing village. 

It poured as we ran across the street!

Lionel Rodrigues of the Dildo Brewing Company believes it comes from the French word for the Island, ile d'eau, owing to its freshwater springs. Local artist Clifford George maintains Dildo is the adaptation of the Spanish word for the bottom of a boat, as the town is likewise located at the bottom of the bay.

However, although Dildo’s name has long amused visitors to the area, in August 2019 it reached a new level of fame when talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel latched onto the town. He spent two weeks featuring it in jokes and stories on his show, even buying the town a Hollywood-style Dildo sign, and eventually won the race to be named Honorary Mayor of Dildo, despite late competition from Matt Damon. Although, apparently, the position is still conditional until he finally comes to visit in person.

Dildo Brewing Company, Kimmel’s former campaign headquarters, is the place to go for beer, food and a wide variety of merchandise with the word Dildo on it.

We had lunch here and it was very good.

Murals in the bathroom.

The town of Dildo reminds residents and visitors repeatedly that the giant Hollywood-style sign sits on private property and hiking to the sign is prohibited.

Here's a song and video about Dildo.



We pass through Cupids on the way to Brigus.

A community of 743, Cupids bears the title of the first English settlement in Canada, settled by John Guy, a British merchant from Bristol, England and thirty-nine Planters in 1610. 
It has also been known as Coopers, Copers Cove, Cupers Cove, and Cuperts.

BRIGUS

The town is a picture postcard, reminiscent of the quaintness often found in European villages. Even the name “Brigus” is derived from “Brickhouse,” an old English town, pronounced with a flavour only found in this part of North America.

There’s a canal that runs through the centre of the historic part of town and calls out to be photographed.

Stonewalls line the rivers, and were probably built to keep the water from overflowing the banks.
 

The garden is one of only a select few designated peace parks in Canada. In 1988, the site was donated by the Wilcox family who occupied the dwelling on the property since the mid 1800’s. The large central tree in the gardens was planted in 1988 by the captain of the Ernestina/Morrissey Schooner - the ship that was once the pride and joy of Captain Bob Bartlett!

Originally constructed in the 1820’s by Charles Cozens as one of three stone buildings for his fishing operations, it was converted into a barn in the late 1800’s.

The forge was built in 1889.

The first Roman Catholic parish church in Brigus was built by Dean Mackin in 1825, on land donated by James Hearn. Prior to 1825 Mass had been celebrated at the Hearn house next door. The church itself was a moderate sized wooden structure, with an offset belfry erected close by the road-side and which, in most old photographs, appears to be of stone construction. It stood on the site of what is now the Old Roman Catholic Cemetery, next to the Hearn house on Irishtown Road at Chapel Lane.

Behind the church.

From there we continued onto St. John's in the drizzling rain wondering about Hurricane Fiona.