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The alarm went off at the time we set it for, but it got turned off. We slept another two hours... Finally got up and got breakfast and started on our sightseeing day.
We started off along the coastal highway, driving directly to Lunenburg. The plan was to start at the southernmost point I wanted to be sure to hit and work our way north. Anything we missed today, we'd catch tomorrow.
Lunenburg is a pleasant little town south of Halifax. It's main claim to fame is that both the Bluenose and the Bluenose 2 were built there. The Bluenose 2 was in port that day. Carl was especially interested in seeing this ship because it was the last fastest fishing schooner. He had put together a model of it many years ago - like back when we first met. It's still at our house. He took one look at the real thing and his first comment was that he got the rigging wrong on his model!
The three photos above are details of the schooner Bluenose II. The one on the left shows a life ring and some of the rigging. The center photo shows the Canadian flag flying proudly from the stern of the ship. And the photo on the right shows the forward mast against the sky.
We wandered town a while. It's an interesting town with a lot of Victorian touches. It was originally laid out in a grid and has maintained that structure to this day.
The three photos above show some of the houses and businesses of Lunenburg. The one on the left above shows a typical street. Even the barricades are colorful! The center photo is of a house fronting the main park in the old part of town. The photo on the right shows a dormer on an inn. Just some of the architectural details to be found in old Lunenburg.
One of the main churches in town, St. John's Anglican, had burned in 2001, but had been rebuilt. I remember taking pictures of it on my last trip to Nova Scotia, many years ago. If I wanted to, I could probably provide before and after photos... Three views of this church appear above. (No, the church isn't leaning - that's what a wide angle lens does to a view)
Lunenburg has a nice park near the waterfront. It has a war memorial (photo to the left) and a playground. It was part of the original town plan. Like most coastal towns, Lunenburg rises quickly from the waterfront on steep streets. We got quite a workout today...
We had lunch at The Old Fish Factory - root beer and lobster roll... The parking lot in Lunenburg had a metered gate that required exact coin change ($3.00), so we stopped at an ATM to get some Canadian currency and to get some dollar coins, known as loonies (there's a loon inscribed on one side).
After lunch, we continued our drive up the coastal road (the smaller road that hugs the coast, not the big highway we had driven south on) to Mahone Bay, another pretty little town along the coast. It's main feature is the three churches built side by side in the 19th century. They are United, Lutheran, and Anglican. The wind was starting to pick up once we reached here and the temperature was dropping a bit, so we didn't stay long.
The two photos above show the three churches of Mahone Bay. The one on the left above was taken from the marina area of Mahone Bay. The one on the right was taken from a parking area across the bay.
We continued on along coast. Our next photo stop was at Northwest Cove. I had been keeping my eyes open for this cove, not remembering its name from our last trip. In fact, I asked Carl to stop at this cove before I realized it was the one I had been looking for!
The photo on the left above shows a string of dories tied together at Northwest Cove and some of the dockside buildings in the background. The center photo shows a fishing boat pulled ashore for repairs. The building next to it would be used for storage and to work on equipment. The photo on the right above shows a fishing boat, wharf, and support buildings reflected in Northwest Cove.
The photo on the left above shows some wooden boxes stacked waiting for another day. They are used to sort the fish that are caught. The photo on the right above shows some stacked lobster pots waiting for the next day's lobstering.
We continued up the coast towards Peggy’s Cove, stopping at the Swiss Air 111 Memorial (photo to the left) on way. The people of Peggy's Cove played a crucial part in the recovery of the bodies from that crash. Fresh roses can be found periodically at the memorial, which was built in 1999.
By this time, the wind had turned bitterly cold. It was difficult to take any pictures with the wind blowing that strongly, so we retreated to the cafe near the lighthouse and had some coffee and tea. The photo on the right is one of the few I took today. We'll come back tomorrow...
We got lost on way back to hotel - the road signs were really confusing. We finally wound up downtown, near where we had eaten dinner yesterday. Since it was getting late, we just stayed in the area and had dinner at the Bluenose 2 Diner. Chowder and salads. Not bad! I stumbled on my way out - bruised my knuckles and ego. When we returned to the car, we found a parking ticket on the windshield - the meter had expired. We had put all the Canadian coins we could find into it, assuming that, like some downtown areas, parking meters aren't monitored after about 8 pm, but it just wasn't enough, and the parking meters are monitored by a private company instead of the local police. As a result, they get checked very regularly. What a bummer.
So, back to the hotel to crash for the evening - and to watch Ken Burn's The War. And to write a check to the company monitoring the parking meters....