Julie and I walked down to Penny’s Palapa (on the dock) for lunch yesterday. The original Penny and her husband lived on a sailboat. In the summer, they kept the sailboat anchored in Nanaimo Harbour and ran the restaurant. In the fall they sailed down to the Sea of Cortez (now called the Gulf of California) and sailed back in the spring. Then they became tired of sailing back and forth (a bit of a slog coming back against the wind) – so bought a house here in Nanaimo and left the boat in Mexico over the summer. Eventually they got tired of running the restaurant and sold it. As far as I know they still spend their winters on their boat in Mexico and their summers around here. Interestingly the person they sold the restaurant to is also called Penny. Unfortunately the new Penny is not as good a cook as the old Penny – but it’s still OK and a nice location for a lunch once in a while.
WR Foster 