Lunenburg NS Canada & its American Prohibition History

#LunenburgNSCanada_AmericanProhibitionHistory

Lunenburg Inn
Once known as the Hillside Hotel, this town and boardinghouse (located in my Province of Nova Scotia) became the epicenter of the lucrative rum running trade to the United States during its Prohibition era
As rumor has it, some of the high profile guests included Joseph P. Kennedy, who was for sure connected to the liquor trade during the 1920s to 1936
But please keep reading and you can make up your own decisions if he was ever a guest, as i send out the facts during my investigation of this time in Lunenburg

Rail Connection
The hotel opened in 1924 by Sophia Hamm, a smart business move as the Inn sat directly adjacent to the train station in Lunenburg
This made it ideal for all the travelers, traders and figures connected to this black market 

Smuggling Industry
By 1925 half the areas fishing fleet had repurposed their vessels into sleek, fast sailing ships to carry the illegal booze to the awaiting Mob controlled boats off the coast of New Jersey and New York

For a more detailed explanation on how this all worked, go to my previous writing on this subject #LasVegasHowardHughes_NovaScotia_TheMob 

Today; Rum Runners Trail
The railway line is long gone that was used to transport some of the booze from Halifax to here,
but you can hike or bike the 120km (65 miles) and then let your imagination run wild of those times

Joe Kennedy
When i was in Lunenburg to research this subject, i sought out some of the "old guard: of the area to ask if it was true
But who knows if time has clouded their memories or like a fishing tale that the story
 gets embellished jajaja, there was no clarity to be found

Bootlegging Myth
There is no evidence according to biographers and historians of his connection to the
 illegal  trade of alcohol 
 Personally he drank very little and famously offered his sons cash rewards to avoid partaking until they reached the age of 21
The Mob boasting of working with Kennedy, this has come down to post facto story telling or confusion with other liquor merchants with the same name

Post Prohibition Success
With a legitimate business move, just before the ban was lifted he used his connections to secure exclusive US import rights for major brands like Dewar Scotch and Gordons Gin
Then he headed Somerset Importers which positioned himself with massive stockpiles of product and then was legally ready to sell the moment the 21st Amendment was ratified
The payoff was a decade later when he sold his stake for millions, this was what laid the financial foundation for the Kennedy family fortune for the next generation

American & Canadian Prohibition

The biggest difference between the two countries was how the laws were enacted and enforced
The United States implemented a very strict and nationwide constitutional ban on the manufacturing, sale and transport of alcohol under the 18th Amendment
In Canada it was decentralized and managed by each Province, this had many legal loopholes
 that was abused
It allowed breweries and distilleries to continue manufacturing alcohol for export, so the
US market became an economic windfall for the bootleggers

History
The ban lasted in America for thirteen years (1920 - 1933) while in Canada it was basically a wartime sacrifice when most of the Provinces went dry (1916 -1917)
 Then the citizens grew tired of it quickly and repealed the bans in the 1920s, just as the
US Prohibition era was reaching its peak 

Fun Facts
The Province of Quebec rejected a full prohibition ban from the beginning, yes restricting hard liquor but allowing beer and wine
On the other end of the spectrum, Prince Edward Island stayed dry from 1901 to 1948 😐

Ship Building
The area was famous in its construction on the Bluenose Schooner (on the Canadian 10 cent coin)
that dominated International racing during the 1920s to 1930s
But its less law abiding sister ships were making history of a different kind, as the local boatyards made ultra fast vessels for the illegal trade
Even sometimes mounting high powered airplane engines to outrun the
 US Coast Guard Cutters

The famous Im Alone Schooner

Mob Ship
New York gangster Jamie Clark showed up in Lunenburg with $18,000 in cash and bought the ship Then he setup a fake Canadian shell corporation called the
 Eastern Seaboard Steamship Agencies Ltd,
this was to register the vessel under the British Union Jack to evade the American authorities 

Captain Jack Randell
He was a highly decorated First World War naval hero from the next Province over of Newfoundland
Known for his swaggering style, often wearing silk dress shirts, dinner jackets and even top hats
while out at sea
 He certainly fit the bill for this dangerous lifestyle

The Vessel
 It was legendary, a 125 foot ship that was painted black for a stealth look and was equipped with powerful twin diesel engines
It also had a high tech radio to intercept US Coast Guard messages and even an antique wax seal press to forge official documents to make it look like they were
 transporting regular cargo 

March 1929
US Coast Guard cutter Wolcott spotted the ship off the coast of Louisiana
Captain Randell refused to pull over and even brandished a revolver at the American officers
This resulted in a two day pursuit into International waters
A second US cutter the Dexter joined the chase and then intentionally gunned down the Im Alone by shelling the hull until it sank

Imprisonment
The Captain and his seven crew members were brought to New Orleans where they were jailed and formally charged with violating the Volstead Act (Prohibition) 
A few problems emerged though, the city was widely considered "wet" and strongly opposed the ban so considered Randell as a captive hero
Then because they were arrested 320 kms (200 miles) off the American coast, this was well outside the US legal jurisdiction and so the charges were dropped almost immediately

The Aftermath
Canada sued the United States for its International law violations, but in a plot twisting moment an American codebreaker proved that the ship was actually owned by the US Mob
This drastically reduced the fines that the Americans had to pay to the Captain and also the widow of the deceased crewman 
Finally an apology was issued between the two countries and Randell returned immediately to his
life at sea, until his failing health forced him into retirement in 1941 and unfortunately 
  died three years later

In Song
Because of the epic two day high seas chase, Canadian folk musician Wade Hemsworth wrote a popular ballad about this saga 
The Sinking of the Im Alone 

MacIsaac House of Lunenburg
This a classic American Four Square design  but do not let the "normal" layout fool you
Typically the doors and windows were frequently altered or hidden to hide their
 liquid gold from authorities.
Local folklore says the identical front and rear doors were built to confuse the devil, but it sure came in handy when the liquor inspectors showed up looking for the escape routes plus the concealed alcohol

Why it Ended
A) The Great Depression; following the stock market crash the US government desperately needed the tax revenues and also to create the jobs that the legalized alcohol industry would provide
B) Rise in Crime; banning alcohol did not stop the consumption and instead created a violent underground economy ruled by mobsters and bootleggers
C) Enforcement Nightmare; the Feds lacked the funding and personal required to police the thousands of kilometers (miles) of borders and the countless illegal speakeasies

21st Amendment
With the repealing of the 18th Amendment, it became the first and only in American history to be completely overturned
After the federal ban it returned alcohol regulation directly to each state, which some chose to remain dry for decades (Kansas 1948, Oklahoma 1959 and Mississippi was the last holdout 1966)
and with numerous "alcohol free" counties that still exist today 

Famous Characters
With any "grey period" of history you come across some truly interesting stories

Hugh Corkum
His story started uneventfully as school dropout, onto a highly successful adult rum runner who dodged machine gun fire and the American authorities on the high seas, then decades later went completely straight and served at the Chief of Police for the Town of Lunenburg
You can read his autobiography; On Both Sides of the Law

Captain Edwin Backman
He was a master mariner from a local family here who would sail salt cod down to Bermuda, then return with rum for the Eastern Seaboard of the USA which earned him a massive fortune

John "Machine Gun" Kelly
Was a Canadian customs and excise enforcement officer who patrolled the Nova Scotia waterways.
He got his nickname by mounting a machine gun onto his boat deck and famously opened fire
on a fleet of small vessels unloading barrels of rum off nearby LaHave Bank,
resulting in the death of one smuggler

As we move to the end of this story, time for "i did not know that" 😀

 Why a lot of small boats are painted red
Historically wooden hulls suffered from biofouling caused by barnacles, algae,
 and wood boring shipworms
The early shell-coating paints used cooper oxide as a biocide to repel these organisms, thus the chemical compound naturally dyed the paint into a reddish brown color
Also bright red creates a stark contrast against the water, allowing mariners to quickly gauge the boats load line and its stability

Lunenburg with its Famous Son the Bluenose11

As we leave from the black and white era of the1920s / 1930s, what better way to sail off but in full color of this UNESCO  World Heritage Site
Not because of its rum running history, but its the best surviving example of a planned British
colonial settlement in North America

Full Circle 
After the original Bluenose sank off the coast of Haiti in 1946, the Oland Brewery Company of Halifax (who made lots of money during the Prohibition Era) built the newest version in 1963
 Then sold it to the Nova Scotian government (for a token $1.00) which is now our sailing ambassador sharing our maritime history and culture around the world

Japanese Friendship Gardens & Balboa Park

#JapaneseFriendshipGardens_BalboaPark

Located in the southeastern portion of Balboa Park, the original "Teahouse" was built during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition
The modern gardens opened in 1991 and is a 12 acre living work of art to honor the sister
city of Yokohama 
The formal name is "San-Kei-En" which translates to Three Scene Garden and represents the
classic landscapes of water, pastoral and mountain

Koi 
One of the large ponds i found here of these highly prized species
To help support the non-profit museum here, visitors can actually "adopt" 
 one of individual residents of this fish family

Interesting Facts
A) Intelligence; they can distinguish their caretakers face and voice from other
strangers nearby
B) Feeding; with training they can swim up and eat out of your hand
C) Lifespans; can frequently outlive their owners (30 to 50 on average up to an unbelievable 200 years) and then are passed down through the next generations in Japan
D) Sunburn; Koi have sensitive skin, so require deep water or lily pads for shade
E) Winters; they drop their metabolism to a very low level during the freezing temperature season, then they can safely rest at the bottom of the frozen pond

Pathways
They are intentionally crooked as in Japanese folklore the evil spirits can only travel in straight lines, thus with winding paths you can leave them behind you

 "Miejakure"
This is a technique used on the trails to block the views intentionally of the waterfalls, structures and bridges, then are suddenly revealed as you approach them to encourage a slow and thoughtful exploration in your mind
 This creates the anticipation of what is next to see to stimulate your senses

Shishi-Odoshi Fountain
Look for the bamboo water pipes on the path, it is designed to make a rhythmic clapping sound against the rocks to safely scare away any wildlife

Exhibit Hall
It showcases frequently changing selections of traditional plus contemporary
 Japanese art

The Beginnings of the Park

Dr Harry Wegeforth was an orthopedic surgeon who by chance was attending the 1915
Panama-California Exposition and heard a lions roar
 (the fair was here to promote San Diego as the first US port of call for the merchant ships
 that would be travelling north, with the opening of the Panama Canal)

So after hearing from the King of Beasts, it became an inspiration which inturn made him form the Zoological Society of San Diego in 1916 along with some other local doctors and a naturalist
He overcame public skepticism plus funding shortages through sheer persistence, wearing many hats from acting as a manager, animal trader and a planner

Medical Contributions
He also applied his knowledge in his field to build the first animal hospital at the zoo,
 and also a research facility to help take care of our "fur babies"

I am greeted as i enter by some Spanish Colonial buildings that were constructed
during the 1915 Exposition
The original name was City Park before they honored the explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa with
his namesake
The area now is over 1200 acres located in the heart of San Diego and is one of the oldest
public recreational spaces in the United States

Second World War
The park was used as a hospital with beds put inside the Art Museum and the Lily Pond
that was used as a rehab pool

Kate Sessions
She is known as "The Mother of the Park" with her planting of a 100 trees annually in exchange
for a nursey space
 Where she introduced jacarandas, bird of paradise flowers and also eucalyptus trees that are grown for the resident Koalas
In total, there are twenty five distinct gardens for everyone to enjoy

The first residents here were from the Exposition when the fair closed down, so basically abandoned and now houses over 12,000 animals spread over 100 acres

Why i like this particular zoo (as i am not a fan of the traditional setup) it was among the first to feature open-air and bar-less enclosures
So now you can see everything from the polar bears that are doing a deep underwater plunge (through viewing windows) or the century old tortoises that have seen generations of park
 visitors staring at them

The Bird Stars
During the 1915 Exposition there were thousands of pigeons introduced here to mimic the
 European public squares, so they became the main attraction
 For the visiting world dignitaries, they became part of the show and were required to feed them 

Today there over three hundred bird species at the park (with no feeding that is allowed)
and are here for you to just enjoy these magnificent creatures from multiple viewing platforms

Ken Allen
Named after the zookeeper Ken Willingham and security officer Ben Allen who rescued him as
an infant, after his mother tried to smother him 😢

Escapes
It started in the 1980s with him slipping out of his supposedly escape proof exhibit multiple times, but instead of causing panic he would calmy walk along the zoo pathways
From his freedom, he would just look at other animals and interact peacefully with astonished tourists
But the one pivot, he did not like a fellow orangutan named Otis and would toss some
rocks at him jajajjaja

 How it Happened
He learned to unscrew the bolts, screws etc with his fingers, all things he learned at a young age
 Then the zoo would spend thousands of dollars on professional rock climbers and engineers to inspect his exhibit, install electric wires and other measures to stop the escapes
 Ken Allen always found new structural weaknesses to slip past, thus the legend of Hairy Houdini
grew and it even created his own world wide fan club

Appreciation
Instead of the zoo viewing him as a nuisance;
 it celebrated his high level of problem solving skillset and with an added bonus of his exploits,
it changed how humans understood the great ape intelligence 

Skyfari Aerial Tram
It opened in 1969 and it will carry you 13 meters (40 feet) above the park going east to west, plus has eighty gondola cars with great angles for all you photographers

KeyTip;
The ride is included in your standard zoo entry fee, they are stroller friendly
and the west station (near the polar bears) generally has the shorter lineups than the
main entrance station

G16 Model Train
Been in service since 1948, which is at 1/5 scale of a real streamliner locomotive
With the prices that cover ages 1-99, i would say that would include everyone 😂

Model Railroad Museum
Located in the basement of the Casa de Balboa building, it is the largest indoor model railroad museum in North America covering nearly half the size of a football field

Fun Facts
A) World Fair Roots; starting in 1935 railway companies would use model exhibits to encourage
 train travel during the Great Depression
B) Drive-In Movies; look for the actually screening of Gone with the Wind on the
working interactive features
C) Burning Building; search for the tiny building that is permanently on fire, complete with
the responding firefighters
D) Hidden Surprises; have a keen eye to see a man walking his dinosaur and a shark swimming
 in a backyard pool
E) To Simulate; every tiny tie and rail on the tracks was spiked by hand to mimic the real
railway construction

 Rocket Chemical Company
The original location was near Balboa Park and as i leave the area i needed to finish this writing with what the heck is he talking about and how this is a connection

Well as i have always said;
 When You Think Different......You Find Different

WD-40
It stands for Water Displacement which took 40 tries to get the formula correct with the removal of the moisture and preventing rust, hence the name
It was first used in the commercial field within the aerospace industry, but after workers would "smuggle" a few cans for home use
So the founder realized he was onto something here and put the solvent into spray cans, launching it onto retail shelves in San Diego (1958)
Trade Secret
In a smart move the company never patented the formula, thus to protect its ingredients

Okay my work is done here and as you gather, no connection to the park but a great
I Did Not Know That Segment  😎

Fort Lauderdale Intracoastal Waterway

#FortLauderdaleIntraCoastalWaterway

Here i am entering a section of this famous man-made waterway nicknamed the "Venice of America" 
 This portion is by far the most scenic and extravagant part of the 4,500 km (2,800 mile) route in my humble opinion, hence the blog
One example why, in Italy there are only 42kms (26 miles) of canals and here it has over 480kms
(300 miles) of navigable inland channels to explore

School is in Session 😂
This is a common mistake and why you are reading my travel blog(s) to learn, or so i hope
Most spell it as "Intercoastal" Waterway
"Inter" is used when travelling between different countries
"Intra" when motoring within the inland waters of a single country

Water Garages
Most neighborhoods are designed so residents can park their boats at
 their backyard docks

I have had sailing friends who have done the Florida Fort Lauderdale Boat Show (to purchase)
then navigate it up to Hells Kitchen New York, via the Hudson River as a journey

Fun Fact
Legend has it that the New York neighborhood earned its name Hell in 1881
 First from a reporter to describe the crime ridden area, then when a local policeman told
 his rookie partner
"Hell is a mild climate, This is Hells Kitchen"

The waterway was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1900s, first to protect the American cargo and military ships from the open ocean storms
But also from the German U Boats that were patrolling along the Atlantic coast

Facts
First World War
Only four U-Boats crossed the Atlantic to raid coastal shipping,
 but they sank over two hundred US vessels 

Second World War
Canada
The U-Boats were engaged in an unrestricted warfare along the entire East Coast of North America
In the 1942 they entered the inland waterway of the St Lawrence River
 where than sank twenty one ships
My City of Halifax would anchor submarine nets to either side of Georges Island to protect its
harbor from attack 
( for more of this story #GeorgesIslandHalifaxCanada)
Gulf of Mexico
Over fifty six  American merchant ships were sent to the bottom in this body of water, plus another
 thirty nine off the coast of Texas and Louisiana

So you can see the importance of making this waterway route during these
 turbulent times

Canal Transportation

With many stops along the route, the local Water Taxi is also a great way to tour the area at
 a very reasonable cost
Bonus
Unlike standard public transit, they allow you to purchase and enjoy alcoholic beverages onboard,
 while you see how the "Other Half Lives" 😎

Water Traffic Jam
The city has over 50,000 registered boats plus large vessels and also is home to 2,000 mega-yachts,
so easy to see why we are "backed up" 
There is an App called the Marine Traffic Live Ship Map to track movements, especially around the causeway spans which are needed to operate for the "normal" automobile flow
 The Bridges
They stay closed during peak times of 7.30 - 8.30am and 4.30 - 5.30pm
  With the remaining prime hours, only opens on the top of the clock
  Exceptions are made for law enforcement, vessels in distress or tugboats with tows 

Millionaire Row
Passing many of the huge mansions as i leave, with the estimated value of between $15 to $100 million just for the property and not including the mega yachts parked nearby

Peanut Island
It is a laid back 1 to 3 hour sail for most 70kms (40 miles)
For me, who is watching time jajajajja so longer

 Early History
The island was completely man-made from the dirt dredged during the construction for the port of nearby Palm Beach, with the plan to use it as a shipping terminal for peanut oil
It is only accessible by water and so no cars are allowed on the island, which is refreshing
JFK Secret Bunker
Because he wintered in nearby Palm Beach, the government built a subterranean blast shelter here in 1961 in case of a nuclear attack.
Unfortunately its been closed since 2017 due to safety concerns, with plans to
 restore the facility 

Today
The area underwent a huge $13 million renovation in 2005 to transform it into the public park,
 which decades later is for all to enjoy

Pizza
Hey traveling and writing gets you hungry, so ordered a pie to be delivered on / from the water,
what better way to close out this latest chapter of this adventure

Famous "sons & daughters" of Halifax Canada

#FamousSonsDaughters_HalifaxNovaScotiaCanada

As i write this story about some of these people, i purposefully scaled it so once you visit my beautiful city the buildings highlighted here are on just two streets of the downtown historic section
 Give yourself an afternoon to absorb all the history found here in Eastern Canada
Lets Start

Pier 21 
Arriving New "Sons and Daughters"
Its called the "Gateway to Canada" with over one million immigrants that came through this building between 1928 to 1971, mostly to flee oppression due to armed conflicts or to start a better life for themselves and / or their families

Some Famous People Who Came Through
A) Winston Churchill; the British Prime Minister passed through multiple times to attend high level military meetings in Quebec and Washington

B) Princess Juliana of the Netherlands; the future Queen arrived here after the Nazi invasion of her country and lived in Ottawa for the remainder of the war

C) Rosalie Abella; was born in a German Displaced Persons Camp, she arrived in 1950 as a child refugee and went on to be the first Jewish woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada

D) Peter C. Newman; arrived as a child in 1940 fleeing the war, then became a famous Canadian journalist, author and was the former editor of the Toronto Star plus the MacLean

E) Luba Goy; entered Pier 21 as a youngster with her Ukrainian parents and would go on to have a great career as a comedian and star in Royal Canadian Air Farce Troop

 

War Bride Train

Pier 21 was the departure point of 500,000 Canadian Military Personal deploying overseas
during the Second World War
Some of these soldiers would meet their future spouses while fighting in Europe, so once they returned and got sent to their military base here in Canada, the women followed months later to be at first processed they sent by rail to be with their future or newly wed husbands
(which numbered 40,000 ladies and also included 20,000 of their newborns)
Hence why the railcar is part of the museum

Some of The Notable Passengers
A) Olga Rains; she was a Dutch war bride who became a vocal advocate for the preservation of the immigration history and to help raise public awareness of the unique struggles and
triumphs of her "group"
B) Betty Carr; she arrived from the United Kingdom and went on the write The Story of the Canadian War Brides which was a definitive firsthand account as she was living the experience 

 Melynda Jarratt
 Growing up in New Brunswick Canada she became the foremost war bride historian, authoring numerous books on the subject
Her beginnings began as her Masters Thesis on the subject (1987) with her research on a local woman Jenny Langin who was a Scottish war bride

Samuel Cunard

One of our most famous sons, born in Halifax in 1787 and amassed a personal fortune from banking, coal mining and iron
Of course most know the name from his shipping empire that first started out as a Royal Mail Service, which meant a strict schedule plus technical innovation
That was (having foresight) a perfect trial run for carrying people
Eventually he launched his passenger version with a paddle steamer Britannia on her maiden voyage starting in Liverpool to Halifax onto Boston (1840)
Into 2026 and what we see today is the MS Queen Anne (2024)

Fun Facts
A) Queen Anne; is the 249th vessel of the 180 year history of the
Cunard Shipping Family
B) Prefix; RMS was Royal Mail Ship, now the modern fleet uses
 MS which is Motor Ship
C) Queen Mary 2; launched in 2004 it is the only ocean liner that is still in
active operation built to handle the heavy seas of the North Atlantic
 Its structurally engineered with a  thicker hull and a deeper draught (it lowers the ships center of gravity which gives it better stability in the open ocean)
D) Pet Lovers; its the only passenger vessel equipped with kennels and features a New York fire hydrant and a Liverpool lamp post for those pee breaks 😀

William Alexander Henry

Born in Halifax (1816-1888) he was a lawyer, politician (Mayor of our City) and one of the first justices on the Supreme Court of Canada
But most famously he provided critical expertise during the drafting of the constitution and the legal language for the British North America Act 1867
This legislation formally established the nation of Canada with the four Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario) to form the Dominion
Thus he is known as one of the Fathers of Confederation

Henry House
Designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in his honor, so drop by and raise a
glass to another famous family member of Halifax 

British Major General Robert Ross
He is one of our "adopted sons" who is laid to rest here and led the raid of the White House after the attack on present day Toronto by the Americans
This story at length #BritishHalifaxCanada_WhiteHouseBurning

Khyber Building (1888)
Originally opened as the Church of England Institute with a library, gym
 and lecture halls

The Turret Club (1970s-1980s)
Operated by the Gay Alliance for Equality which the space hosted one of Canadas earliest queer nightclubs with the society trying to have it recognized as the countrys first official queer heritage site With that moving forward Canada Post did put out a stamp depicting the famous turret on
one of their issues

Centre for the Arts (1990s - 2014)
Cultural "Sons and Daughters"
Some famous local musicians got their start here after the space was transformed into a venue to host Indie Music plus the Art Scene

A) Joel Plaskett; started his career here and named his debut album
Down at the Khyber
B) Classified; the Juno Award winning rapper and now producer used the space to help build his fan base because of the all-ages and alternative gig nights that happened here
C) Sloan; its members were studying at NSCAD with the Khyber Club being part of the campus, thus it served as an early live venue for the band
D) Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby; they are an award winning media artists duo, who showcased their early video art pieces here
E) Shary Boyle;  she is known for her sculptures, drawings and performance art that represented Canada at the 2013 Venice Biennale and like the others, got her start at the Khyber
F) Kelly Mark; she is an internationally acclaimed conceptual artist who helped establish the buildings identity in the early beginnings

St Pauls Anglican Church

Many Lost "Sons and Daughters"

Halifax Cenotaph Grand Parade
The church was built with the founding of Halifax (1749) so its intimately tied to the cities military history, with a dedicated Second World War chapel and plaques commemorating regimental colors

Titanic
The church held a service six days after the sinking and before the body recovering vessels
 chartered by White Star returned to Halifax Harbor
For more in-depth story #TitanicHalifaxNSCanadaConnection

Halifax Explosion
The building survived the blast and the church was used for an emergency hospital and morgue
Visitors today can view inside the building, there is a metal piece of the original window frame embedded above the doorway plus the famous "Face in the Window" silhouette

George Henry Wright

"Lost Son"
Was a parishioner of St Pauls Church which held a memorial service for him after he went down
 on the Titanic
He was a prominent businessman, developer and philanthropist from nearby Wrights Cove and
 based in Halifax
On Barrington Street you can see on of his many structures in the city;
The Marble Wright Building

At the same Grand Parade

Halifax Explosion December 6th 1917
The harbor was the gathering place for all the First World War vessels
 They were heading across the Atlantic Ocean and were being escorted by our Canadian Navy for protection from the German U-Boats
The French munitions ship SS Mont-Blanc collied with SS Imo which ignited a fire and then the largest manmade explosion up to the atomic age happened
The blast killed 2,000 people, injured another 9,000 ( many were blinded by flying glass, this was the start of the CNIB.... Canadian National Institute for the Blind ) and 6,000 more of our citizens
 were left homeless

"Sister City"
Within hours of the tragedy the City of Boston sent by train many trained medical professionals,
 food and supplies
 So as a way of saying thank you, we started sending a Christmas Tree the following year in 1918
 (and after a brief pause)
 The Tree for Boston tradition was officially revived by the Province
 of Nova Scotia in 1971 

So before leaving this area look for the City Hall Clock Tower on its northern face, the dial hands are purposely frozen at the time when the explosion took place to pay homage to
our lost "sons and daughters"

Enos Collins

Entrepreneurial "Son"
Was born (1774) outside of Halifax in Liverpool NS (150kms-93 miles) but was based here and was widely acclaimed to be the richest man in Canada
He was one of twenty six children and received little formal education and went to work at sea at
very young age 
By age nineteen he was the master of a trading vessel and then became owner of the Liverpool Packet which was a legendary privateer ship (a pirate who gets permission from the British Government to be their protection of this port city)
So this is how the wealth started as it was wartime profits beyond capturing ships and all its cargo, he would break naval blockades to supply the British in their various wars and also buy other ships seized by the courts at a huge discount

Historic Properties
Look for the Collins Court sign on the facade of the above picture, this was
basically his work space and office buildings

Start of CIBC 

Financial "Sons"
In 1825 Enos Collins, Samuel Cunard and Henry Cogswell formed the Halifax
Banking Company

So full circle moment if you remember the Confederation of Canada and Alexander Henry
The Canadian Bank of Commerce was founded just months before in 1867 in Toronto and then established an office in Halifax in 1903 ( 5171 George Street) by merging with the above Halifax Banking Company from its Historic Properties location

This eventually is the present day CIBC with its 900+ corporate banking centers in Canada, United States, Asia, the UK and the Caribbean

Viola Desmond

"Civil Rights Daughter"
So next to Historic Properties is the Cable Wharf and our water transportation, you can board her namesake to cross the harbor or maybe keep as a souvenir a Ten Dollar Bill with her likeness

She became a highly successful entrepreneur but in the beginnings was blocked from attending beauty schools in Halifax because (i am ashamed to say) of her race.
 So her training was done in New York, Montreal and Atlantic City then returned home to open a Studio of Beauty Culture plus launching her own line of cosmetics
Then founded a the Desmond School of Beauty plus mentoring and training many generations of black women to become financially independent business owners

Roseland Theatre
Traveling outside Halifax on a business trip, her car broke down near New Glasgow (160kms - 100 miles from the City)
To pass time she went to the theatre and sat in the main floor, apparently it was a "whites-only" section, but she refused to move
Police were called, she was forcibly removed, jailed overnight and prosecuted
The legal process was ultimately unsuccessful due to technicalities, but her public stand laid the groundwork for the country of Canada and its civil rights movement

Todays Legacy
The Government in 2010 gave a posthumous apology and an absolute pardon thus correcting the historical legal record
She was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 2017

Alexander Keith (1795-1873)

He was not born here but we claim him as one of our own jajajaja
He immigrated to Halifax in 1817 from Scotland and bought out a local brewery a few years later
Thus started his journey, which today it is one of the oldest working breweries in North America

But he also was the Mayor multiple times and a Freemason which maybe brought on the paranoid, as he built a series of tunnels between his residence of Keith Hall (one block north) to his business plus rumor has it, a few other tunnels within the city 

So (highly recommended) when you do the brewery tour here, you indeed travel the tunnels and finally have some samples of his India Pale Ale in an underground pub (6 meters / 20 feet deep)
This is why he is one of our "favorite sons" of Halifax

Government House

Our "Royal Family"
This is the oldest consecutively occupied vice-regal residence in North America
It serves as the official home to the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia since 1805 which is
now a ceremonial role
Today it functions as the central hub for diplomatic receptions, official state events and hosting
 visiting royals

This historic property also served as a command post and relief hub during the 1917 Halifax Explosion, so which in closing is how all of us "sons and daughters" within any area you live should act
 Always Helping Each Other

Dark History of Royal Palace Sweden

#DarkHistory_RoyalPalaceSweden

As i walk to Gamla Stan (Old Town) of Stockholm, its easy to spot this massive Baroque structure that has over 1,430 rooms (with my investigative interest in the cellar location) and is one of the largest active palaces in Europe
Unlike many other global royal sites, a large portion here is open to the public year around

KeyTip
Depending on how long you are in the city or what you wish to visit, but the Go City Stockholm Pass
 is your best value
Its a digital sightseeing ticket to over 50+ major attractions, museums and boat tours
 across the area

 

Tre Kronor
You cannot help but see the Three Crowns every where inside as i walk the halls, it has become the national emblem of Sweden and is featured on its passports, government buildings plus
national sports jerseys

The Mystery Beginnings
The symbol has been used since the 1300s and the popular theory ranges from the Three Wise Men of the Bible, or to representing the three ancient Pagen Gods of Uppsala

Fire of 1697
The sign was on the central tower of the Citadel in Stockholm which then the name of Three Crowns Castle was born, which unfortunately burnt down
This Palace was built on those grounds, which inside a museum was constructed that traces the history of the old fortress using surviving artifacts, scale models and archaeological remnants

Independence
The Three Crowns were used yet again during the Kalmar Union in which Sweden, Denmark and Norway were all ruled under a single monarch 
When Sweden officially broke away from the alliance in the 16th century, it kept the emblem to show itself as a proud member of a national sovereignty

Nordic Versailles
The architect Nicodemus Tessin was aiming to recreate the grandeur of Versailles, but unlike its famous "sister palace" it never experienced the massive looting that the French endured, so this building has retained a completely unmatched archive of its original 1600s to 1700s furniture, carpets and decor

Birthplace of Swedish Culture
During the sixty year construction window, a drawing school was established inside the building during the 1730s, this workshop eventually evolved into todays Royal Academy of Fine Arts 

Listed Official Residence
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia actually live at Drottningholm Palace, so instead the building is used for other forms of government business or hosting state run galas for foreign dignitaries

Museum of Antiquities
It houses over two hundred antique Roman sculptures, busts and vases

Neoclassicism
King Gustav III purchased a massive collection during his visit of Italy in 1783, he wanted to showcase Sweden as an enlightened and culturally sophisticated European power

Bronze Putti Statues
It was done to contrast the long staircases of the palace (or any huge open space you visit in your future travels) to emit a soft glow or to "shrink" the area

Public Events
The Palace is also open for business to host private gatherings to help raise funds 

Expensive Maintenance Costs
General daily running and administrative support is around $20 million USD per year
 Old buildings means ongoing structural work and preservation which is pegged at $52 million USD, (over a 22 year span) with just the masonry is at 2.1 million USD per year
So revenue is raised from daily ticket sales from tourists and the mentioned
community gatherings

The Dark History Era
In 1520 King Christian II of Denmark went on a three day mass execution (80-100 people) of Swedish nobility, clergy and prominent citizens 
After this horrific event, it started the road to Independence from the Kalmar Union and into the country of Sweden (1523) with King Gustav I as the Head of State

Black Friars Monastery
It was founded in 1336 by King Magnus Eriksson and they got their nickname because of the black cloaks worn over their white garments
King Gustav shut down the monastery and seized all its belongings to payoff their war debts, famously one item was a 11 kilogram ( 388 ounces) silver plaque that was melted down

Repurposed
In 1527 a law was introduced called the Reformation to Sweden, this led to the confiscation and closure of all Catholic Monasteries
Much of the building materials from this particular site was carted away and reused
 for the Royal Palace

Haunted Rooms
After the church was demolished (but amazingly) the medieval vaulted cellars survived, which at times are open for guided tours

Actual Events
A) Black Death (1350); the Friars have a deep historical and spiritual tradition of caring for the sick, so many died at a high rate with their exposure and also those who they were trying to help passed away.
 Thus the monastery vaults were overwhelmed with the deceased as
  Stockholm lost 30% of its population during this pandemic
 Needless to say it was a
devastating period of history for the city

B) Fire of 1407; the blaze killed many monks inside the monastery

C) Political Prison (1500s); in the late Middle Ages  the Abbey functioned as a jail for high profile captives, most famously Queen Christina of Saxony (wife of King John of Denmark) 
There are no official records of inmates dying as it was considered "temporary captivity" but needless to say the conditions were terrible.
 So yes between diseases of these times and the "sordid living quarters" there would of been some who ended up succumbing to the elements
 
Connected by Folklore
A) Silver Plaque; after it was melted and because it was believed to cure diseases but also raise the dead, this awoke the spirits

B) Atlas Vampire; the monastery evil connection to the unsolved murder in 1932 was by the 1.6km (1 mile) distance between the two areas and nothing to do with the ancient site
 The killer had systematically drained all the blood from her body in the district of Atlas and so
 the story began to circulate

Bones Room
In Swedish its called Bunkallaren (the bone cellar) and i asked the staff a few times where it was in the Palace. The reply was eerily silent, then as you can see with the top picture i found the
 blocked entrance (or so i assume) 

I researched that the area in question was part of the surviving sections of the Three Crowns Castle,  which was discovered during an archaeological excavation under the palace in the 1920s
The mystery remains whether the human and animal remains found here were of ancient burials, if they were moved from elsewhere during early city construction, or maybe something more sinister

Fitting way i decided to end this story, with my version of the
Shadowy History of the Royal Palace