Off to an early start this morning in downtown Lunenburg for a short walking tour.

A bit of history…Britain wanted to settle the Nova Scotia peninsula once they had control. First was Halifax and next was Lunenberg in 1753. The British recruited Protestants farmers and artisans to settle the area. The early settlers were German, Swiss and some French colonists. In 1755 New Englanders began to come to take the land that the Acadians, who were basically kicked out of Nova Scotia, left behind. (Acadians are an entire story.)

The British planned out the city in their preferred grid-like layout. As a result, in 1995 Lunenburg became a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is the oldest, best preserved example of this grid-like city layout.

Lunenburg is known for its buildings painted in bright colors making it very interesting to walk around and see the wonderful historic architecture. That is exactly what we do this morning. The population is 2,400 and without the many tourists that take over in the summer months, it is a lovely quiet walk. These pictures are of the many homes and business.

A stop at several churches including St. John’s built in 1754 (and rebuilt to original design after it burned down in 2001). The bottom picture is of the oldest Lutheran Church with continuing services in Canada. Our tour guide attends this church and is quite proud. The Lutheran church is also the one where the steeple can be seen when sailing into the harbor.

Our tour guide grew up here and still lives in Lunenburg. He had lots of local lore including the various movies that have been filmed here over the years. (He met Ron Howard while he was filming “Run, Stranger, Run.”)

He attended the Academy school when it was still a school from K-8. High School was in Halifax. Now the building is used for other purposes as seen on the plaque in front.

The walking tour ends at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

A veteran memorial is located up the hill to men who served. Down by the waterfront is a memorial to the many seafarers— the men and ships lost at sea – a lot of names and ships. Respect is deserved for their sacrifice to country and to be fisherman who sought a living by the sea.

My sister headed back to the ship and I continued to explore the town even though it was still early in the morning. There is nice trail that runs along the shoreline west of downtown. An old French cemetery is located there along with view of the harbor.

Since this is the last port in Canada, what do you think I should have for lunch/brunch. Of course, local beer, lobster (caught right in this harbor) roll, and poutine. Way too much to eat, yet so much fun laughing with the waitress. Best Lobster Roll I have ever eaten! (No, I did not eat it all!)

The afternoon adventure is a boat ride on the Special Ops Boat. The boat is built in Finland for their military and customized for Viking. The seats have Accuride – shockwave adjustments fortunately. Flying at almost 40 miles an hour is quite the ride. Such a beautiful day to be on the water even if we don’t see any wild or sea life. This is definitely a bonus of an expedition ship.

The day ends with a beautiful sunset and full moonrise. The next two days are at sea. You might not ‘hear’ from me until our next port – Norfolk, Virginia, 🇺🇸. Days at sea are suppose to be relaxing.🚢