The end of a moment at the end of the world!

 We're back home from Newfoundland but wanted to share our last amazing day. We started the day checking out a couple of parks - Cobb's Pond park and Heritage memorial park which was a memorial to the Newfoundlanders who died in war, a memorial to plane crashes in Gander and also a memorial to a Newfoundland dog named Gander. Gander the dog served with a unit in World War II and died saving his wounded men by carrying away a live grenade that had landed near them. 

The rest of the day was Come From Away themed as we got a chance to be "Screeched in" at the legion just like they did in the show. In a true example of Newfoundland kindness they did a special screech in for us because kids are technically not allowed in the legion but they wanted to make sure that Coyle got a chance to do it. Being screeched in is a ceremony to become an honorary Newfoundlander that involves learning how to speak like a Newfie, trying Newfoundland food, drinking Screech (rum) or in Coyle's case Pepsi! And for the final test kissing the fish - a giant Cod named Todd!  We were honored to be Screeched in by the real Oz and Beulah in "Hannah's Corner" - where the real Hannah from the musical stayed as she waited for word from her son, an NYC firefighter.

The town of Gander was originally built right next to the airport but after World War II the town leader were concerned that the town being that close to the airport was dangerous so they moved the town further away. The roads are still there and we were able to walk through the remains of the town. 

We finished our day, and our trip, with the best part - going to see the show Come From Away. The show was the same script but the staging was reimagined. It was amazing to see it performed right where it happened!  The most exciting part was that when I bought the tickets I posted on the fan page that I was bringing my 9 year old son who was a big fan and asking what to do in Gander. Well to my surprise the producer of the show reached out to me wanting to make it special for Coyle. He offered us a backstage tour and a chance for Coyle to meet some of the actors which was absolutely amazing. The fact that all of these people were just as kind and generous in real life was just amazing and they gave Coyle some memories that he will never forget. If you get a chance to see Come

From Away take it - you won't be disappointed

Stop the world, take a picture

Today we experienced some crazy Newfoundland weather but we still got a chance to go exploring. 

A rainy morning meant that we went to check out the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. 

Because of its aviation history, Gander is often called "the crossroads of the world" because so many planes stopped here. We even saw a picture of Fidel Castro sledding in the museum!  The museum walks through the history of Gander aviation from the building of the airport till today. Coyle's favorite part was the flight simulators. He had a blast but I'm sticking with Air Canada for the flight home!  

Aside from the flight simulators, Coyle's favorite parts of the museum were learning Morse code and coming face to face with the Gander town mascot "Commander Gander!"  

A break in the weather this afternoon meant we could head out of town to another place we really wanted to see, the Dover Fault. This scenic overlook plays an important role in the musical because it's where 2 people fall in love.  A 45 minute drive out of town, past lots of trees and moose crossings (and not much else!) brought us to Dover-"The town with a fault". While the musical says "there's about a million stairs" Coyle tells me there were only 88!  At the lookout you can see the fault left behind when North America and Europe collided and then separated millions of years ago. It was a beautiful view and we were thrilled the rain held off so we could see it. 

Coyle thinks we need a vlog not a blog so he wanted to make a video to add!

Unfortunately the rain didn't hold out the whole day as a massive thunderstorm came through during the late afternoon. We hunkered down inside for awhile before heading out for Coyle to indulge in his newfound love for barbecued ribs!  We are looking forward to one more day in Gander and are very excited to see the show tomorrow before heading home on Friday. 

Gander...and surrounding communities

Coyle wanted to share what we did today! 

 The musical Come From Away is said to tell the story of Gander and the surrounding communities. The town of Gander couldn't take in all the passengers on 9/11 so other surrounding communities took in the "plane people" as well. These surrounding communities are represented in the show by Derm Flynn, the mayor of Appleton (His famous line is "the Irish whiskey is in the bar downstairs"!). Today Coyle and I had the chance to spend a few hours with Derm and his wife Diane to hear all about their experiences hosting 6 people (including the person who became the character "Bob" in the show) and opened up their home to countless more people for showers and visits. Coyle had a million questions and they answered every one. We also got the chance to visit Derm Flynn Peace Park which houses the biggest piece of World Trade Center Steel in Newfoundland. It was another great day of learning and fun!  

Welcome to the Rock!

 Coyle and I have been in Gander for the last day and a half and we're having a great time. The people here really are as nice as they are portrayed in the show. Coyle has been walking around quoting the musical since we've been here - I don't know why I'm surprised that he has the whole thing memorized!  

Our first stop was Shoppers - a store mentioned in the show, to stock up on drinks for the room. Then it was off to dinner at Jungle Jim's where Coyle enjoyed his first "cocktail"

After a good nights sleep (Coyle wants me to share that there's a time difference between NY and Newfoundland, we are an hour and a half ahead here in Gander) we spent today learning about the history of Gander, the role they played in 9/11 and the following days, and the role the musical Come From Away has played in the community. 

We started with a 3 hour tour of the airport and town. Our tour guide had been working in the airport on 9/11 and shared her first hand accounts of what happened that day. She also served as tour guide for the Broadway cast when they came to Gander. 

We learned a lot of interesting things on the tour. Gander was once the largest airport in North America and serves as a "lifeboat" for planes flying across the Atlantic. All planes used to need to stop and refuel here but now it is used for mostly for cargo, by the military and private jets. It is still the first stop listed on just about every airlines emergency flight plans and on 9/11 they were able to fit 38 planes before they had to close to traffic. 

They talked for years about tearing down the international terminal but it was declared one of the most important mid-century modern buildings in Canada and was saved because of that. In the musical one of the characters says of the airport "oh my god, we've gone back in time" because the airport is still decorated in the same style and with the original furnishings. 

The airport also had a great exhibit of airport history and we plan to head back later this week to dive into it in more detail. 

This afternoon we had more opportunities to learn about the musical and 9/11. At town hall we had the chance to see a piece of steel from the World Trade Center that was donated by Bethpage fire department (not far from my parents actually). 

Finally, we were lucky enough to spend time this afternoon with Oz Fudge. Oz is the Gander police officer who is portrayed in the musical. We hung out in Tim Hortons (of course!) and got to listen to his stories and Coyle got to ask a million questions. We were so lucky to have this experience!