Cate and Heaven

Servers at our Newfoundland cafeWe often blog about the Shag It on Friday’s, because we get so excited when it’s open! Our new Chef Cate has been growing her garden and serving her fresh food to rave reviews, and each weekend there’s a new, special special to look forward to. Last week’s tacos and pea soup were particular favourties – and who knows what she’ll be serving up this weekend!

With friendly servers like Heaven (above), a great view, and Senior Discount Day today and Monday, we’re so happy to be able to offer guests something truly unique, weekend in and weekend out. And if it sounds like we’re bragging, hey – maybe we’re just angling for Cate to get heavy on the scalloped potatoes next time we stop in!

Art Show This Weekend!

Local Art Show in NewfoundlandThanks to our good friend, Albert Legge, for passing along this info about this upcoming 3 Day Art-Extravaganza. The Holyrood Squid Fest will be featuring 25 amazing artists, photographers, fiber artists, sculptors, glasswork, authors, storytellers and more – meaning there’s sure to be something for everyone. This is a free event (any donations will be given to Easter Seals), taking place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy free art demos, door prizes, live art auctions and more. For more info, please find contacts in the photo above. And experience all that great, local art we’re always talking about this weekend!

Introducing the Cranberry – Our New Honeymoon Cottage!

New cottage at our ocean front cottage rental propertyWe are SO excited to introduce The Cranberry, our brand new ‘honeymoon’ cottage. An A-frame, two-story and two-bedroom beauty, The Cranberry is a culmination of a lot (and a lot and a lot) of hard work, and offers that extra ‘something’ to our guests looking to enhance their journey to the ocean’s edge. Many of our marrying couples have booked it for after their weddings at The Doctor’s House, and we know that many couples and families will enjoy the deluxe accommodations and view.

For an ‘official’ breakdown: this luxury cottage has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms including one large master suite on the second floor overlooking the ocean. It also has fully equipped eat-in kitchen, a 2-person soaker tub, premium furnishings, upper and lower decks, barbecue, fire pit, and views of Shag Rock and stunning sunsets that will blow you away (all of our cottages have those last few, of course!).

Anyway, we can’t wait to share The Cranberry with our future guests, and it’s already booking up quickly. You can find more information or make a reservation here, and please find more photos on our Facebook page. It’s shaping up to be a great summer!

And yes – this is your view while soaking!New cottage at our ocean front cottages

Why, Thank You!

our newfoundland resort inn and spa designed for weddingsA BIG thanks go out to Janice Nieder, who wrote this very compelling article full of tips for your next trip to Newfoundland. Janice is an intrepid traveller (don’t believe us? check out her website, and see if you can find a country she hasn’t been too!), and she recently paid us a visit. She’s compiled a list of everything she learned on her trip to our beautiful island, and wouldn’t you know – she loved The Doctor’s House!  She compares us to “finding a cherry in the box of chocolates,” and she certainly enjoyed visiting our four-leggeds, exploring our grounds, indulging in our spa and eating our food!

Clearly we’re a little biased, but with or without the personal accolades, Top 10 Tips for Visiting Newfoundland is a must-read for anyone planning their trip out east.

And another BIG thanks to Shirley George, who recently took some beautiful photos of The Doctor’s House, like the one pictured above. If anyone has ever come close to capturing the beauty of this place, she has!

Days of Yore

Here’s groundskeeper and husbandry expert, Perry Oliver, using a scythe to cut fresh grass for our horses. They’ve already eaten most of the grass in their current pasture, so we’re creating another one for them that should keep them going all summer. In the meantime, they need their daily greens!

We couldn’t operate The Doctor’s House without all the skills and wisdom Perry brings to the table. His knowledge of animals’ physical needs and psychiatry is amazing, and he keeps all our four-leggeds happy.  And schything is a dying skill that not many can do anymore. Everyday, some new task pops up that makes us really grateful to have Perry on board, as he redefines ‘Jack of all Trades’ and then some.

Blooming Sunday

Flowers at our newfoundland resort inn and spaSunday’s the perfect day to stop and smell the roses, or any of the brightly coloured flowers here at The Doctor’s House! Since we’re in full bloom, we invited our good friend (and good photographer), Shirley George, to come take some photos. The results are stunning – you can see all her beautiful photos here. We hope you’re having a fabulous weekend, and please, take some time to smell whatever flowers you happen to have near!

Strawberry Shortcake

dessert at our Newfoundland cafeChef Cate has added Strawberry Shortcake to the menu at the Shag It, and our tastebuds couldn’t be happier. And, if you like the tee you’ve seen her sporting here and in some of our latest shots on Facebook, not to worry – our popular Shag It merch is now available, too. Our new summer hours are Thursday through Monday, from 11-7pm, so please stop by!

Talk About Customer Service

Trucking in chairs for weddings at our St. John's wedding destinationMaybe it takes a village to raise children, but it took a village too to be able to pull off our first wedding last weekend, which went swimmingly with lots of oohs and ahhhs (stay tuned for pics!). Not only did our staff go above and beyond (like always) – we had lots of extra help along the way, too.

So here’s Paul of Nuline Trucking. Look up ‘customer service’ and ‘nice guy’ in the dictionary and no doubt, his picture is there. He delivered the beautiful white chairs that we needed for our reception, shipped from the US. Only thing is, because of a hold-up in customes, the chairs weren’t set to be delivered until two days after our wedding date – uh-oh.

When our staff realized the potential SNAFU, they called Paul and told him our desperate story.  And, although he was off and relaxing after a month on the road, he volunteered to hop in his truck right away and come over.  He even helped us unload them off the truck, along with Wendell George of Home Hardware, another truly stand-up guy.

We don’t really have words to thank these men, but we couldn’t have held our wedding without them. We know they made our lucky bride and groom – and lucky us – quite happy. So thanks, thanks, thanks again to Paul and Wendell!

Reason #4581 Why We Love Newfoundland – the Sunsets!

Sunsetting in Whiteway, NLWe’re partial to our views in Whiteway and Green’s Harbour, but if you live anywhere in Newfoundland or have visited, you know what we’re talking about. Maybe our weather isn’t always the greatest, maybe the skies not always the sunniest, but in all my world travels, I’ve never seen sunsets, with all the the illuminescent colours, like what we get here. Even artists have never fully captured the beauty, because they’re beyond picture-perfect. We’re truly blessed!