Lunenburg

After sitting in the house reading a terrible report from a consultant located at the other end of this country, I decided I needed to get out and see the ocean again. Funny how I can feel landlocked while staring at our little lake, with the full knowledge that the ocean is only metres away.

So I grabbed the kids and Mike from work and we drove off to Lunenburg. I realize that it has now been 8 whole months since we were there with Liz and Paul. One thing about this year in Halifax - it sure goes by damn quickly!

Given that it is still early May Lunenburg is empty, even storefronts are empty. There are signs in windows saying "closed for the season" which when you think of it is a mighty long season. I was reading how smaller stores in Westboro back home were closing due to the incredible rent hikes - Can you imagine the Landlords there giving their tenants an 8 month break on rent?

There is a quick little synopsis of Lunenburg's history here - originally populated by Germans it is not surprising the site is from the german canadian association http://www.germancanadianassociation.ca/lunen2.html (scroll down past the kaffeeklatsch schedule). Apparently the town name was originally known as "Merligash" which is not nearly as good for tourism as Lunenburg - smart marketing even in the 18th Century. It was named for King George II of Britain, the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Thank God they didn't rename it "Braunschweig" which according to Babelfish literally means "brown - be silent" hmmm - another marketing coup.

This of course is the birthplace of the Bluenose - which like Elvis and Marilyn Munroe - seems to be larger now than in life.

Its story is proudly told on the government of Nova Scotia's website including the bit about the Duke who was too drunk to actually hit the boat with the bottle to christen it properly. http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/bluenose/ch3.asp?SearchList1=3&Language=English

While we were in Lunenburg the Bluenose II was being worked on - the huge masts were being sanded and revarnished by the kids who will sail it this summer. And they are kids - they were all in their 20's what a great way to spend your youth. That's the photo up top - you can see the masts on the dock.

After a fine meal of crab cakes, calamari, and seafood medly topped off with Nova Scotian ale - we explored the town some more and came to a used bookstore called Elizabeth's. A cluttered place with bags of books at the door, there were three people sitting at the front desk and immediately you could tell that this was a regular occurence. They were sitting there chatting about politics and only long term comrades can get away with that sort of thing. I thought - that is a neat job. Holding court in your own bookstore everynight, talking about the world, sports, maybe even thrown in religion just to spice things up who knows. The only things missing were a fire place with a roaring fire, some really comfy couches, and a pot of tea for the regulars.

Mike got lost in a conversation with one of the gents about hockey - and I talked to Chris the owner, who shyly but proudly showed me an article about himself and the bookstore from the local paper. Apparently it used to be called Attic Owl bookstore but when its owner, Elizabeth, became ill Chris looked after the store and when she passed away her family gave it to him, so he renamed it after her.

We were probably there for almost an hour when Chris pulled out his notebook, like the ones from gradeschool, and showed me his handwritten list of all the ships he had worked on over the years. Originally from England Chris had sailed around the world many times in the 60's and 70's before he stopped in Newfoundland. He was supposed to fly home but somehow never did - that was back in 1974. He was a marine engineer and found good work in Newfoundland . As I scanned the book I noticed the last entry was on a harbour tour boat in Lunenburg and suddenly I realized where I had seen him before! He had given us a tour around the Lunenburg harbour back in 2000 when C was a mere 18 months old! I even have a picture of him back at home.