So after breakfast we boarded the bus and left this beautiful family ran motel. They had 3 full busses use their motel and feed 190 people in a hour. Very pleasant and well. Gander is our destination today. We head west towards Grand Falls via Deer Lake. We got to stop at Gander International Airport Departure lounge reflecting the history of the Trans-Atlantic aviation. The Concierge shared the importance of this airport on 9/11 and also the making of “Come From Away”. We overnight here at the Quality Hotel Gander. Dinner was included and we get SREECHED in….
While food was fished and foraged and sometimes farmed, the source of drink was mostly foreign, at least at the outset. Newfoundland’s famous beverage, “SCREECH” began about 250 years ago with kegs of harsh, no-name rum from Jamaica, traded by sailors from the West Indies for salted cod. Eventually, the government of Newfoundland decided to bottle it.
During the war, locals would tease American sailors stationed alongside Canadians at Gander and Goose Bay, by offering them slugs of their rum. The legend goes that one hapless sailor gulped a straight shot of the harsh alcohol, and let out a screech. Thus, courtesy of an American, Newfoundland’s rum was named.
Gander isn’t a large town – the visitors almost outnumbered the locals – and making room for all those unexpected guests, along with eleven dogs, nine cats, and two Bonobo apes, was quite a challenge. Even so, its citizens and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians up and down the Kittiwake Coast opened their homes and hearts to these strangers from all over the world. These travellers found warm beds and home-cooked meals during a truly terrifying time.
And now the kindness and hospitality shown to visitors has become the basis for the Tony-award winning Broadway musical Come From Away. It was a great day for sure Tomorrow we are headed to Twillingate which is just North of Gander.
Thanks for coming along your travel buddies Bob & Leslee
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