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With the intro out of the way, it's time to start exploring Rossignol by stopping by where it all began, the former town of Aulburn. First, let's situate ourselves. Aulburn is located on a peninsula where the Aulburn and Ketsha Rivers meet the sea. The town's location meant it was ideally situated for farmers, foresters, and miners looking to bring the fruits of their labour from up river to market via the sea. Aulburn was where goods could be sold, traded, and shipped. The Aulburn River was Rossignol's first "highway." Rival towns were eventually founded on the other side of the River and on Lockhart Island at the River's mouth to try and capitalize on the same trade, but we'll save visits to Bunting and Lockhart for another day. Our stop in Aulburn features its historic old town centre and beach. First let's check in at Town Hall Town hall sits on the top of the hill at the top of Main Street in Civic Park. Modeled after a similar building in Hill Valley, the Town Hall is one of the oldest building's in Aulburn. The land was set aside from Aulburn's very beginnings to be the community's gathering place. Some early settlers were buried here and a weekend market on the grounds is still an ongoing tradition. Since Aulburn is part of the Greater Rossignol Area, Town Hall is now a municipal office building rather than a seat of government. When needed, community meetings are still held here, but the major political decisions are made Downtown at Rossignol City Hall. Next stop, Main Street Aulburn. Main Street is the traditional heart of Aulburn. With Town Hall at the top and the waterfront at the bottom, the street is packed with businesses, a few of which can trace their origins all the way back to the merchants of Aulburn's early days. These days, Main Street hums because it's the last stop on the Rossignol Metro's Capitol Line. Aulburn's streetcar line and its two bus routes converge on Main Street as well ensuring a steady stream of pedestrians and customers for local businesses at this transportation hub. Commuters jamming the metro in the early morning hours. Town Hall makes for an impressive terminating vista on Main Street. Right out of a City Beautiful textbook. You may have noticed that one side of Main Street is historic and the other side isn't. Such is the random luck of development economics and the occasional fire. Just one block on the south side of Main is still intact, but luckily it's the one closest to the waterfront. Side note, the greasy den's pub in the picture above is known as Lance's. It's not substantiated, but Lance's claims to be the oldest watering hole in Rossignol. It use to be called the Halfway Down since it's halfway down the hill. Too much snickering at double entendres though led to public pressure from a fairly conservative minded town council that eventually forced the owners into a name change. The name change was a tad grudging, which probably explains why Halfway Down became Sir Lancelots Pub of Undying Virtue. Not a bit of sarcasm in that long unwieldly over-the-top name. As the controversy faded from memory though over the years, the name was shortened to Lance's and Lances it remains to this day. A no guff no frills sort of place that has remained steadfast despite Aulburn's change from gritty port town to yuppy beach town/suburb. Since Main Street ends at the waterfront, we'll take a look while we're here. Aulburn's waterfront has gone through some dramatic transformations over the years. Where once the beach area was full of wharves and barges coming and going from up river and ships bound for overseas, it's now a sandy promenade full of sunseekers. On a warm sunny weekend the waterfront gets really busy, but in the winter, it's really just a place for locals. The rhythm of the seasons in Aulburn. Whatever the season though, the waterfront is a great spot to catch a sunrise with a glittering view of both Downtown Rossignol and Belmont's skyscrappers in the distance. Or you can just take in the river view no matter what time of day or season from any number of quieter nearby neighbourhood lookoffs. Really pleased with the results of playing around with grasses and rocks on the riverbank! That's all for now. Next time, we'll explore Aulburn's Providentia Avenue.
