a little Lunenburg walking tour

Hello again and welcome back to those of you who've come along with me on this jaunt through Lunenburg. Connie and I walked just one of the streets- the next one up from the sea- Montague- to get a feel for this amazingly well preserved world heritage fishing town.

An unusually subdued colour, No 9 has some remarkable mouldings that elevate its simple shape.

Colour is the name of the game here.

The crazy slope of the streets that go down to the sea are what kept us from venturing further by foot.

A kind stranger offered to take our picture. This young man from Halifax was touring with his wife and another couple. The wife of the other couple approached Connie and said, "I think I know you." Connie got the surprise of her life when this lovely young woman turned out to be someone she used to babysit back in mid-northern Ontario. I caught the excitement of this crazy stroke of serendipity and we marvelled over it long after. Of course pictures were taken and it wasn't long before Connie got a message from the young woman's mother as part of the celebration.

Connie poses for me outside the Dockside restaurant and inn.

more restaurants along this colourful street

an unusual assortment of windows on this grey clapboard

Here's a cobalt charmer with its plaque reading " Built for Eli Hopp 1868" 

Upon closer inspection we see it also has a number plaque and a sweet little anchor for a door knocker. Fabulous door mouldings and sidelights make this little house so much grander.

Upstairs hides a secret, a model schooner

and the street post at the road is adorned with an iron ship and a gearbox/compass looking sort of thing not to mention a most handsome fish.

To its right is a gated access down to the back with a glimpse

of Lunenburg Harbour

Connie in purple poses with this house in purple

A skin care company Fiore Botanica has taken over this fabulous mansard roofed house at the corner of Cornwallis Street with a side patio for the husbands, I suppose, to wait.

Still on Montague, another charmer, set on the steep angle of Cornwallis Stree.

An eye-popper with a sandwich board outside that reads :

seafood salads burgers wings donairs falafel poutine shawarma licensed

That should cover most bases.

Next door, or perhaps attached, more delicacies,

with a sign in the window offering local honey for sale.

a pretty side of a house with a fire escape that hmm... must offer some level of privacy.

We head back to the car, to do a driving tour of the higher streets.

I've always had a little crush on this house though not on its location between two streets,

somewhat like a little boat itself afloat on a sea of pavement.

Our rented car was brand new, a real treat, and had Sirius radio in it which was tuned to 1940's music that went so well with this fun afternoon. Connie videoed our tour of the higher streets though I think she missed our squeals as we turned to go downhill at one point, sure that the car would roll over.

While it's still November, I will try to do catch-up from that first week that she was here with all our little adventures to the sea.

Please join me again. It's great to have you to share it with.

with gratitude for the myriad of good things that happen to us in a day

without any investment, preparations or deserving on our part

just because we are.

by the sea: through Mahone Bay to Lunenburg

Well, how-d'ye-do! I'm back already.
I knew I had a lot of pictures to process from our travels with Connie so I though I'd devote some hours to fixing up my pictures from November 3rd:

our trip through Mahone Bay to Lunenburg

We started out from a balmy day of summer weather and arrived on the south shore to the cool damp of the Atlantic. Across the bay to the village of Mahone Bay.

The tide was somewhat out, coming or going I don't remember.

I thought I'd try out a panoramic shot of the bay.

Just beyond the parking lot something like sedge seemed to be growing in the loose soil.

We didn't stay long in Mahone Bay. Most places were closed and Lunenburg was calling us.

a grand old mansard-roofed house in Lunenburg as we approached the docks.

As soon as we got there I found my favourite picnic bench to eat our lunch. It was pleasant if you don't mind the salt spray of the fog rolling in in your face. Connie did, and turned her back to the wind. A dog walker found me changing my sandals over to socks and shoes and commented, " A little cold for a picnic."  It was a funny understatement.

As we strolled along the docks we found real fishermen doing repairs

and more sailors also doing repairs,

the latter two on the deck of...

the Theresa E. Connor.

looking back at the dock in the last picture

more boats moored

a boat launch overgrown with seagrass

a bird, probably a seagull, flying over the foggy harbour

boats in the mist 

and more

Connie found a whalebone on the dock; there were a few more laying about.

Quintessential Maritime colours of Adams & Knickle

Founded in 1897 by Harry W. Adams and Captain Alexander Knickle, the company quickly established its niche in the booming salt-fish trade. The company began as the partnership of Knickle & Co. and changed its name to Adams & Knickle Ltd. in 1907. On April 21, 1943, their fishing schooner, Flora Alberta,collided with the Fanad Head  about 140 kilometers from Halifax. ThFlora Alberta sunk within a few minutes of the collision and twenty-one crew members died as a result. The company was incorporated on July 30, 1945 and continues under this name as of 2009. 

During the early 1950s, the salt-fish trade began to dwindle, and a new scallop fishery emerged. In 1954, Adams & Knickle purchased Lunenburg’s first deep-sea scallop dragger, the Barbara Jo, and within the next five years, the company launched eight more wooden scallop vessels. By 1962, the offshore fleet had grown to 44 vessels, and to 77 by 1980. On July 31, 1980, their fishing trawler, Margaret Jane, collided with the Cape Beaver about six kilometers from Lunenburg. The Margaret Jane sunk within two minutes of the collision and four crew members died as a result.

thank you Wikipedia

I thought it was important to remember what a dangerous business the fishing trade can be as much a I enjoy the colourful beauty of this designated World Heritage fishing town. There is a memorial to fishermen on the Lunenburg docks.

Across the street there is a large old inn called Smuggler's Cove Inn. 

We began a walking tour of the next street up before it started to rain. I'll share that another day.

thank you as always for caring to visit and share your comments. So appreciated.

snuggling in on a rainy afternoon here

peace

a tour of Halifax harbour

And now it's officially the third week of November and I'm still playing catch-up from the first day when we went to pick my friend, Connie, up at the airport. After proceeding directly to Pier 21 in downtown Halifax, at Connie's request, Wally and I left her there to explore her past while we proceeded to Pleasant Point Park.

We went by way of the industrial docks, an extension of the public docks that have been made over to everything from the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design to a grand farmer's market, Pier 21 and a brewery, a convention centre and restaurants. These massive silos are part of the "real" world of the harbour.

This pile of building blocks that houses P & H Milling Group dwarfs the train car below it.

This extensive walkway to the silos may also be a track. What do I know?

Four silos deep, this massive structure fascinates me.

The harbour is full of huge structures that I imagine have something to do with loading and unloading the containers to and from the trucks that bring them and/or carry them away.

I often forget that these containers that come overseas from all over the world are the very containers we see on trains and trucks. Just around this corner lays the prettiest park...

Point Pleasant Park

This is where we often come to eat our lunch as we did that day.

(Connie ate hers on the way to Pier 21). 

Wally pointed out a container ship beyond the little island that houses the lighthouse,

rising out of the ocean like a massive apartment building sized mirage.

A buoy to the right of the island also marks the way.

Another container ship is leaving and will round that point and go out of sight before we leave this scenic vantage point.

After checking out some art galleries along the piers where Connie was, we picked her up and carried on to our rendezvous with a seaside restaurant

. Here we pass the old Alexander Keith's Brewery now turned offices for rent. What a fabulous old fortress of a building.

Just a little cool, it was a beautiful evening, a Wednesday, to walk along the boardwalk.

We found this fabulous Maud Lewis background for a portrait, Dartmouth across the bay.

To our surprise and delight, we found some...

starfish in the water!

and more!

Now we've come to that small ship(?) (I never know when they go from big boats to small ships)

This is the one you can see in that previous picture of Connie. Wally is in an excellent mood, finally on a mini holiday with the prospect of eating out.

Here a man is boarding the Acadia.

reflections of her and the ropes in the water

more reflections of a pier just beyond

I guess I'm just in a reflective sort of mood. 

These pigeons have found a safe place to roost.

We arrive at our destination only to find that the restaurant is closed on Wednesdays.

Of course; it's November.

But that doesn't stop the seagulls from having a buffet on what I can only imagine are barnacles.

This seagull sets up a warning cry.

"Get off my roof!" and he chases this pretty girl away.

What a lucky shot of these boys on a sculptural bump.

This handsome pigeon waits for a handout

as does this female

posing for the camera

Wally and Connie are off ahead of me in their hunt for an alternative restaurant.

We cross the road and find this outrageous construction site.  I don't want to think about all the old buildings that had to come down to make way for it.

Looking through glass, please forgive the reflections.

About to turn into an old group of buildings turned shops, one last view of the street with restorations going on beyond. It is truly a lovely city.

Remember that buoy out in the harbour to the right of the lighthouse?

I'm sorry I didn't get Wally to stand beside this one to show you the scale; they're huge!

Well, that's all for this installment. It's getting harder to motivate myself for all this photo prep I must do if I want to get these pictures up on the blog. I hope it was of interest to you.

til next time

peace in our hearts