.As for recreational travel, the Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) generally shut down by the end of October. Hotels and restaurants close. Years ago I visited Prince Edward Island about this time of year just before the shutdown and pointedly upon the cancellation of a scheduled law school class reunion which I can only presume was muted for collective lack of interest – but it didn’t persuade me otherwise because I was caught by the prospect of salt sea air. I recall in particular (aside from the omnipresent Anne of Green Gables theme) having driven for miles along the endless oceanfront roads with no traffic at all. For those of us who prefer remoteness and quietude it is idyllic. Grand ocean resorts were mysteriously hollow and seemingly deserted. The long, long white sandy beaches stretched undisturbed and unoccupied. Dining rooms were vacant.
The North Atlantic Ocean can be cold and windy. But when the salt sea air blows away the clouds, the picture is exquisite and memorable. I witnessed similarly glorious maritime days in autumn from Citadel Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia when taking a break from law school at Dalhousie University. It all amounts to unforgettable pictures captured and preserved in the nautical image of a solid brass Chelsea Ship’s Bell which I bought on one such occasion at a maritime yacht outfitters in downtown Halifax, Barrington Street or nearby bordering the waterfront docks and the Nova Scotian hotel.
Because we’ve altered our erstwhile 6-month winter sojourns in Florida (choosing now instead Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for one – three months), we find ourselves ruminating upon local perambulations, including specifically Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Apparently I have been overtaken by a simmering wish list.
Though I have family ancestry from New Brunswick, I am more drawn to the other two provinces because of their immediacy to the North Atlantic Ocean. Even when we visited Longboat Key, Florida on the Gulf of Mexico, I never lost my compelling magnetism to the North Atlantic Ocean. And, by further contrast, when we visited Puerto Vallarta along the North Pacific Ocean I felt the same reminiscence for the North Atlantic Ocean. Inbred are mixed images prompted no doubt by Herman Melville in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Cape Cod. Though I have never been a sailor nor a whaler, my attraction to the sea is notorious and irreversible. I adore its majestic violence and beauty; its constancy and repetition; its colour and sounds; its delicate taste and its inexpressible vastness.
Connecting these dots from the past are equally perspicuous and proximate alliances with our ancient and much beloved friends Jay and Alana who have lately (nay, even as I write) moved from Ontario to Nova Scotia. Their oceanfront rural seat to which the architectural residential drawings are attached is located in Lunenburg on the south shore not far from White Point Beach resort which I first saw almost 50 years ago. Since that first visit I have learned the main lodge which dated to 1928 (when not unlike the Seigniory Club in Montebello, Québec it began as a private hunting and fishing lodge) burned to the ground in 2011 but was reconstructed along its historic model.
Lunenburg is a port town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. Historically, Lunenburg’s economy relied on the offshore fishery, and today it hosts Canada’s largest secondary fish-processing plant. The town experienced prosperity in the late 1800s, and many of its architectural gems date back to that era. In 1995, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site. UNESCO considers the site the best example of planned British colonial settlement in North America, as it retains its original layout and appearance of the 1800s, including local wooden vernacular architecture.
The convincing enticement of White Point Beach is its location adjoining the Ocean. Not surprisingly the main roads of Nova Scotia skirt the sea. I fully anticipate the enjoyment of a pleasurable automobile drive along what are historically well maintained roadways.
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