multi-layered commercialism found in
similar U.S. vacation spots. A short distance
away is the Swissair Memorial Site—a mov-
ing sight. Disasters viewed on TV always
seem remote and distant but when stand-
ing at the site, running your fingers over the
stone etched with names of the victims of
Flight 111, you realize how fleeting life can
be. A reminder to use our time well.
The next day, we were o to Lunenburg.
We spotted a beautiful little island sur-
rounded by Nova Scotia seaweed, but the
tide was wrong and the light awkward for
picture-taking, so I made a mental note to
stop by on our way back.
I’ve always had an anity for the Blue-
nose since doing a Grade 7 history project
on it. The working schooner held cod—and
the dreams of Canadians. It captured the
International Fisherman’s Trophy for the
first time in 1921, and many more times in
subsequent years. The Fisheries Museum of
the Atlantic details the journey, and the film
showing the graceful ship cutting through
the waves is a treasured memory. A quick
trip to the site of the Bluenose II under-
going refitting reminded me of a certain
precocious 12-year-old being ordered to get
down from the rigging when the ship visited
Montreal for Expo ’67.
On the return trip, Rob and I stopped for
a splendid lobster supper in St. Margarets
Bay, which is on the border between Halifax
and Lunenburg. We also stopped again at
that tiny island I had spotted. This time, the
tide was out and the light was perfect. It was
an easy call to snap a photo. That picture
graced my oce wall for several years until
one of the nurses needed a wedding gift on a
somewhat emergency basis!
It was a great trip. The college years are
often busy times for both fathers and sons.
Life sometimes gets in the way of connect-
ing with our kids—a one-on-one trip to
Nova Scotia is highly recommended. Left: Peggys
Cove lobster
gear. Above:
wooden boats
in Lunenburg.MORE INFO
-^ The Bluenose is one of the most famous ships in
Canadian history, achieving immortality when its
image was engraved onto the Canadian dime.
-^ Launched at Lunenburg, N.S., in 1921, the Bluenose^
was named for the common nickname applied to
those born in Nova Scotia.
-^ It was designed to both fish for cod on the Grand
Banks of Newfoundland as well as to race on the
open ocean.
-^ Nicknamed the “Queen of the North Atlantic,” the
Bluenose represented Nova Scotia around the world.
It appeared at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and
crossed the Atlantic to England in 1935 to attend the
silver jubilee of King George V.
Source: Canadian Encyclopedia website23