Maggie in Newfoundland Again 2016: Day 35 St. John`s

This morning was Sunday so we went downtown to Mass at The Bascilica. The magnificent old church is just beautiful. There is something about old churches that enhances the sense of tradition and history and there is no better place for that than The Bascilica!

While the morning was dull, gray and a tad foggy, by the time we are ready to leave for the big reunion celebration in Topsail, the heavens opened! Rain fell in torrents without much pause. It did little to dampen enthusiasm for the Horans though and the family gathered for another day of food, festivities and fun! We had such a great day and I am reminded again how lucky I am to be a part of such a wonderful, fun-loving, large family! Before the day ends everyone is discussing another gathering in five years. It will be the 100^th anniversary of the start of this family and everyone is pretty committed to making that happen.

By early evening we headed home to the trailer and since it was still raining without any sign of stopping we settled in to play some games. With the rhythm of the rain, the busy day at the reunion, and the amount of food we ate, everyone eventually settled into a spot in the trailer and napped! We woke up about an hour later and the rain was still lashing against the trailer. Mary-Katherine and Andrew had it in their heads that we should go back to George Street to hear the Irish Descendants, I thought we should call it a night and go to bed! Mary-Katherine proclaimed, ``Mom, no good story ever started with, and it was raining so we went to bed!`` Game on girl – so at 11:00 on a stormy night we go down to George Street and check in at O`Riley’s Pub! We sang, we had a scuff (dance) and laughed until our faces were sore and the rain blew by in vertical sheets across the window. As we left the bouncer`s lovely conversation with us had Mary-Katherine and Michelle marveling as we walked away that, ``Everyone here is so nice. Even the bar bouncer is the nicest, friendliest guy!`` What a great choice … that I never would have made had it been left up to me!