Lunenburg and T.S. Andrea

Friday, June 7, 2013

We have been watching the weather reports and decided we needed to hunker down while Tropical Storm Andrea rolls through the Maritimes, so we decided to drive to Lunenburg. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1995. The sky was overcast and spitting rain. We made a stop in Liverpool for groceries at Sobey's, the big Canadian chain. After another interesting conversation in the produce department about the lack of local produce, and noting that the asparagus was from New Jersey, we headed to the meat department. There we met a local who was appalled that I would fry a pork chop. He pours cream of mushroom soup on them and bakes them. He tried very hard to convert me to his recipe!

We took a mix of coastal roads and Provincial highways to arrive in Lunenburg before the rains came. We wanted to be able to walk around today and stay inside tomorrow. The Board of Trade runs a campground next to the visitor center, so we found a site with water views in two directions. We are on top of the hill. All the rest of the town is steeply downhill from here.

View of Back Bay from the campground

We walked down and around the waterfront and along the shopping district and residential area. The Knaut-Rhuland House Museum just opened for the season, so we had a tour of the residence of one of the leading citizens. The British established Lunenburg in 1753 on the site of an old Acadian settlement. They couldn't get their citizens to move from England, so they offered free land, and provisions to Germans and Swiss who agreed to come. The town was laid out on a grid with everyone getting a 60x30 plot. They were also given a field outside of town and garden space in town. Your plot was chosen by the playing card you drew. Lunenburg grew into a famous fishing and shipbuilding port when the residents found they could make a better living this way, than through agriculture. This was also the area for privateers, that legally plundered any non-British vessels off the coast.

King Street

Local dory builder

Historic house we toured

Fireplace screen (circa 1793) to prevent the heat from softening the wax used by the women to cover smallpox scars.

The town has been beautifully preserved, but it is not just a replicated village. Look at the photos to see the colorful houses and shops. The docks are still used by fishing companys and one small company is still building dories, which Lunenburg was famous for.

We came back to the RV for supper, and the rain began during the night. We had hoped to visit the Maritime Museum and the distillery if the rain wasn't too fierce, but it has been wild all day. The foghorn has been blowing continuously since last night. Now that it is almost 6 PM, we've decided to stay inside and enjoy the rest of the evening. The fog is creeping up the hill again... Tomorrow we will drive to the Halifax area and visit Peggy's Cove on the way. The weather should be clear the next few days!