Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Lunenberg, Nova Scotia


Lunenberg is a wonderfully quaint town within beautiful Mahone Bay.  It is a great example of a Nova Scotia fishing village and because of its authenticity and  well-preserved nature it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  As we entered the wonderfully picturesque harbor on August 30, it was clearly evident that this was a special place.  The waterfront was lined with barn red, teal blue and bright yellow buildings and we had three wharves from which to choose to tie up.

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One of those wharves was home port to the Bluenose II, a replica of the original Bluenose which was undefeated in all its competitions with U.S. schooners.  

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After examining the modest accommodations available on those wharves, we decided to anchor in the harbor and dinghy into town.  Other boaters who we had met previously had done the same.  First order of business was to find a good restaurant for lunch.  Although there are several fine restaurants in Lunenburg (unlike most of the small towns we’ve visited), many of them were closed as this was a Sunday.  We finally found a lovely place to eat where we had the best tasting seafood chowder on the entire trip.

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Afterwards, Michael took a long walk to stretch his legs and get some exercise while Jonny and Lynn strolled the streets ogling the gaily painted shops and homes and popping into a few interesting places. 

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One of those was a fascinating quilting shop.  This was no ordinary shop filled with patchwork quilts.  The owner was an artist whose medium was quilting.  Her “canvasses” were a combination of painting and quilting.  She was able to create all kinds of interesting effects and her subject matter was very diverse.  Even Jonny found the pieces to be quite extraordinary.

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We met Michael at the local used bookstore (which had a huge section on all things nautical reading) and headed back to Zendo.  The guys took turns rowing the dinghy while Lynn prepared snacks instead of dinner. 

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That night Jonny and Lynn spent extensive time on the phone with Jon’s brother Andy, having learned that their mother was not doing well.  Hopefully, Janice can hang in until the boys move her to Florida this fall.  We went to sleep that night recognizing that Lunenberg was one of those “well worth it” stops on our trip!

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