Canadian Maritime Provinces

Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg

Hi Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg deserve a post all their own. On Sunday, August 5 we left Halifax and headed west on a windy road along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Peggy’s Cove is the site of a frequently photographed light house. The nearby town is a very small little village with a population of only a couple thousand. The main industry is lobster fishing. It was named after the sole survivor of a shipwreck. This day the weather was misty with light rain off and on. The sky was very gray. I got my photos of the lighthouse and then wandered along the narrow road to the information center where we were picked up. The lobster pots seen scattered around the town were square instead of round like those used for crabbing. They have very colorful ropes and floats attached to them. Although many tourists come through this area, it was not a “touristy” town.

Traveling on along the coast we arrived in Lunenburg in time for lunch. Lunenburg was a German settlement on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Established in 1753, it has been beautifully preserved and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a lunch of pan-seared 
scallops, for which this fishing town is famous, we took a walking tour of the old area, starting on the hill beside an old five story schoolhouse. The building has been beautifully preserved and it now houses the city library and a number of offices. Along the walk we learned about the different styles of architecture used throughout the years on the houses and from our guide a little family history from her family and the families of others. 

The old church was especially spectacular. It was built in stages; raised and moved forward to accommodate construction of a nave in the back which then became the front. The side pieces were added on at a different time. Then in about 2001 the church burned. They were able to fight the fire from the sides and in doing so saved the pews. The original architect of the church had documented the construction so the town artisans were able to replicate the original building down to the fine details. They saved some pieces from each stained glass window so they could replicate them as well. It was quite impressive. 

As we walked closer to the waterfront more colorful houses appeared. So much so that one street was nicknamed “UNESCO FRESCO.”

The walking tour finished at the waterfront. Many of us were happy we had brought along our raincoats because it rained off and on the whole time.
Lunenburg is also famous for the yacht Bluenose. It was a famous fishing and racing schooner, built in 1921 in Nova Scotia. She entered and won many races with ships in her category and in 2002 its depiction was put on the Canadian dime. The Bluenose II now sails and was to be in dock the day we visited, but after we left.

We left Lunenburg mid afternoon, heading back to Halifax for the night. In the morning we left for Saint John, New Brunswick.
More about that in the next post.
Grace and Paul