Today we returned to Ocean Falls with Pam and Lyle. At times it rained so hard that it felt like the rain was being poured out of buckets. Walking around a deserted and disintegrating town in torrential rainfall is um… depressing. However, Pam and Lyle were very interested and moved, having read up in preparation for this place.
It was interesting to see Pam's photos for Ocean Falls - every person sees different things.
Here are a few of Pam's photos:
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| The roof on this abandoned house is carpeted in moss |
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| A close up of the Martin Inn |
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A window of the Martin Inn
The shredded curtains blow in and out of the window |
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A stuffed animal sits in a bucket in the downtown
A bit creepy |
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| A scooter lies abandoned on the road |
At the end of our walk, we encountered local resident “Nearly Normal Norman” exiting the old “Marine Ways” building. Norman is a slight and bearded fellow, probably in his late 60’s or early 70’s, who presides over the town “museum”. It had reportedly been a quiet day although Norman said a bear had been in the building. Although he had been on his way home, Norman said that if we had the time, he’d love to show us around. He asked us to choose between a tour of the building and a visit to the museum. We picked the museum and in the end, we got both. The museum defies description but I’ll try. The collection is comprised of a huge volume of salvaged items from various places, buildings and times in Ocean Falls. The artifacts run from 1950’s signage (including one illustrating the four contestants in the Dominion Day beauty contest and a subsequent sign revealing the number of eventual votes for each contestant –harsh!), to a table of frog tchochkes, arcane kitchen appliances from the old hotel, stuffed animals (which it turns out can be rather sinister) and sandals. Yes, sandals. An old “High Times” magazine on display features a younger bearded Norman on its cover and an article (which we did not read) entitled “Better Sex With Norman”. Anyway. Norman was such a nice guy, with a story for every artifact, that we ended up spending quite a long time at the museum; it was a surreal experience actually.
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| The frog table |
Back at the boat, we had wonderful fresh, wild halibut tacos and homemade pico de gallo, all courtesy of Pam and Lyle.
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| Pam & Lyle at Link Lake |
I wuz there, just yesterday. Also noticed that earnest beauty contest sign. Ocean falls just gained 10% more permanent population, and the new couple plans to open a pub in the old fire hall.
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