Victoria East????

Been meaning to take a trip up to Plymouth.  Last time I was there, was the mid-80s and I remembered it as a dying, depressed town with empty store fronts and old-tyme department stores on their last legs on the Main Street.  The waterfront was just OK, not terribly interesting with a really hokey wax museum about the Pilgrims.  Well, it's interesting if you are from out of town, but growing up 'down the road' from America's birthplace wasn't really a novelty for me.  Yeah yeah, Plymouth Rock, big deal.  Very anticlimactic when you finally see it.  First Thanksgiving and all that, blah blah blah.  Puh-lease don't make me endure Plimoth Plantation again....

One morning, despite the fact that it was a little too warm and humid for my liking, I headed out with the intent of driving down near the Sagamore Bridge, to walk the Canal to the Scusset breakwater.  As I got closer to my destination, I made a split second decision, and got into the left turn lane for Rte. 3 North in order to check out Plymouth instead.  Unfortunately it was too late to turn around and get any money, so I knew souvenir shopping wasn't an option but that was OK, I just wanted to see something different for my walk and shoot some pics.

I pulled onto the main street where the downtown shopping is and found a 2 hour space.  That'd be perfect.  I started my walk and was pleasantly surprised to see that Plymouth has turned into a groovy little town.  Killer shops full of tie dye and beads and batik and sage and crystals.  

Antique stores.  A British food store (which was there in the 80s), Irish pubs, British Beer Company.  

A Hookah Lounge.  

Lamp posts with baskets of flowers hanging from them. 

Then I headed down to the waterfront to take in the harbour scenes.  

Souvenirs and kitsch.  It was a good thing that I hadn't brought any money because I would have left with half the town. 

Ice cream places, bars & eateries.   

Lots of beautiful flowers.

Harbour tours, fishing trips and whale watches.  

Yeah the 'Rock' is still pretty beat....it's only a small piece of one that was much larger and located elsewhere.  

As I was walking around, it occurred to me that it was a lot like Victoria, but on a smaller scale.  Yeah, there are no giant Parliaments or Empress Hotels.  But the big, old stone and brick buildings and churches are something to see for sure.  

I've found my new fave place to go and poke around.  It's not Victoria, but it'll do nicely.  Stay tuned for more Plymouth pics!!