18.   Last November, my younger brother Steve graduated R.C.M.P. training depot in Saskatchewan, and has been posted in Northern Alberta ever since. This year he booked a trip home and was joined by his girlfriend Chantal who had never before visited our fair province.

17.   His visit started with a full cooked dinner at Mom's, followed the next night with a trip to a couple bars on George Street. Steve, Chantal and I had supper at the Yellow Belly, then headed over to Shamrock City, and later dropped over to Christian's for their Screech In Party.

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14.   Sooley joined us at Christian's and watched as Chantal joined the Newfoundland Screecher's Club. She drank the famous rum, kissed a frozen cod, ate Newfie steak, a.k.a. bologna, and learned our Newfie slang. A plate of fries from Winkey's Chip Truck brought our night to a close.

13.   Saturday was our uncle Gerry's wedding day, he and his bride Tracey tied the knot at Wesley United Church with the reception at the Royal Canadian Legion on Blackmarsh Road. It was a great night, lots of food, great music, and great friends.

12.   Sunday morning Stephen, Chantal, Sandra and I headed out over the highway to Bay Roberts to spend a couple days with Dad. We were treated to another awesome jigs dinner complete with Turkey, Peas Pudding and Green's. Later Chantal was treated to a genuine Newfoundland kitchen party as Dad and Clarence Mercer broke out the accordion and piano for some Newfoundland Music and story telling.

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9.   The next day, Steve, Chantal, Dad and I launched the boat and went out for a couple hours on the bay.

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3.   Luckily the fall recreational food fishery was on, so we dropped a couple lines and landed a few fish. This was Chantal's first time cod fishing, and Steve's first time in a long time.

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1.   It was a great afternoon, even a rainstorm on the way in off the water couldn't dampen our spirits!

Steve's trip went quick, but we managed to fit a lot of stuff into a short period of time. Cant wait to do it all again!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith