Monthly Archives: August 2010

Aug 15 2010

St. John’s Walkabout

On Tuesday, 10th August, I arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland to spend time with family and friends and to go out exploring my home city as a visitor might; walking the downtown core, taking a whale-watching boat tour, and exploring the colour and style and architecture that the city has to offer.

In much of the downtown core, the houses and buildings  that stem up from the harbour, are bright and colourful, and it has long been part of the St. John’s charm.


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010

The LSPU Hall, formerly the Longshoreman’s Protective Union building, has been one of the centres of St. John’s, NL’s artistic and theatric communities. A thirty-year old artist-run community serves, protecting and promoting the artists, musicians and others in the diverse arts community.


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010

These brightly coloured houses are also featured in the old battery, which lines the east end of the St. John’s Harbour of Signal Hill.


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010.

The architecture of the city is a combination of old-world charm meets modern developments. Many houses of the city bear Victorian design,from residential housing and government and provincial buildings and churches. The Spirit of Newfoundland building below is probably most easily remembered by locals as the old Masonic Temple.


The Basilica of St. John the Baptist. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010.


Anglican Cathedral. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010.

Newfoundland Supreme Court. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010.

Newfoundland Supreme Court. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010.


Spirit of Newfoundland. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 14th August 2010.

St. John’s has one of the world’s naturally protected harbours, made up of Signal Hill to the east, and Southside Hills, leading out to Fort Amherst on the west entrance. It’s a narrow harbour and ships must line up with two lights on Pilot’s Hill to navigate through.


Buoy in St. John’s Harbour. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010.


Iceberg Quest tour boat. © J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010.

On the way out of the harbour, ships will pass Fort Amherst. Built in the 1770s, it was used as a defense of the harbour.


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010

Though I lived in the city for twenty-one years, I never thought of going out on a whale-watching ship tour of the North Atlantic. We went out as far as Cape Spear, the most easterly point of North America. Cape Spear National Historic Park features the oldest surviving lighthouse in Canada.


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010

Whale-Watching


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010


© J. Lynn Stapleton, 13th August 2010

This has only been the first week in and I’m certain more photography days will come.

Aug 3 2010

So Long Springfield At Sea – Docks in Saint John, NB

Yesterday, I was down in Saint John, New Brunswick for to see the So Long Springfield At Sea cruise ship dock and meet with some of the Guiding Light cast. All of which I did meet yesterday, I had met on previous occasions, some last October in New York City at the Guiding Light Fan Club Luncheon, and some at the So Long Springfield Tampa event back in March of this year.

There was gorgeous weather yesterday; sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky, and about 27C (81F), and very low humidity, and a light sea breeze. Not having been much around cruise ships before, the Carnival Glory ship was huge, and gorgeous, as ships go – the dock was as far as I got to go, though.

I got a chance to see some of my favourites, Tina Sloan (Lillian Raines), Beth Chamberlin (Beth Raines), Liz Keifer (Blake Marler) & Grant Aleksander (Phillip Spaulding). Also met Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne) and Frank DiCopoulos (Frank Cooper), and saw from a bit of a distance, Robert Bogue (AC Mallet) & Mandy Bruno (Marina Cooper). There were some other cast on the show on the cruise, but didn’t see. Michael O’Leary (Dr Rick Bauer) had left earlier in the morning, via different door, with his mother for a bus tour, and a few stayed on board: Ron Raines (Alan Spaulding) and Jordan Clark (Billy Lewis). Robert Newman was also booked for the cruise, but wasn’t meeting up with them until today’s port of call in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Justin Deas (Buzz Cooper) was unable to make it due to a family emergency, and Marcy Rylan (Lizzie Spaulding Lewis) is currently busy with her role on Young & Restless – their might have been some contractual issues, too, while they’re on another show, not sure.

Many of the cast were doing their own thing with tours or just wandering around the downtown – Kim Zimmer & Frank DiCopoulos had rented some bicycles and were sightseeing that way. But the cast was pretty gracious to pose for pictures or sign autographs for local GL fans. A couple of fans who I was talking with had been watching GL for 40-50 years.

Beth Chamberlin, me, Liz Keifer


Beth Chamberlin & Tina Sloan


Beth Chamberlin, Tina Sloan & I


Liz Keifer on the Big Pink Bus


Liz Keifer, Beth Chamberlin & Tina Sloan (with Tina’s book, Changing Shoes: Getting Older–Not Old–with Style, Humor, and Grace.


Grant Aleksander & Tina Sloan (with Tina’s book).

Some other shots:

Back of Robert Bogue & Mandy Bruno on Big Pink Bus Tour
Me, Frank DiCopoulos & Kim Zimmer
Frank DiCopoulos & Kim Zimmer

Some shots of the ship departing:
Cruise Ship Depart – 1
Cruise Ship Depart – 2