On a beautiful day in July Mr D. finally had a day off so we could go for a little road trip to the cute seaside town Öregrund, located two hours north of Stockholm. This is a town that has been around for a while. It was founded in 1491, but has had its fair share of trials. In 1509 the Danes ransacked the town, and then in 1710 the plague killed off 138 of its near 400 hundred inhabitants. If that wasn’t enough, nine years later in 1719 the Russians came and burned down the town and surrounding farms. With a 100 year respite, in 1829 somebody managed to start a fire that burned down big parts of the center of the town. But eventually the town settled in as a vacation spot for the wealthy from Stockholm to relax by the sea.
Maritime Museum
As a maritime town they off course have the cutest little maritime museum. There we met a devoted older couple who volunteered as guides and gladly showed us around.
The museum is located on an old sea captain’s property where you get to tour his old home. The interior seemed to have been left completely intact.
Did you know that in the old days people had a saltbox where they had this lump of salt that they carved what they needed from.
In one of the outbuildings we found a lot of maritime paraphernilia such as model ships and different parts of old ships.
The Seal Kalle
As one of new vacation spots for the wealthy during the 19th century, the town off course also had a visit from the king, Oscar II. To make the town more attractive to the summer guests they had to come up with some fun attractions, so they captured a seal that they called Kalle and put in a little pond on the rocks. Eventually people started saying this was animal cruelty and they had to release the seal. But you can still visit a memorial of the seal Kalle.
Lunch
When you are out for the day like this you off course want something to eat and there are plenty of cafés, ice cream shops and restaurants. We decided to try some seafood down by the docks at the restaurant Strandnära. Unfortunately we should have made reservations hours earlier, so we had to settle for some shrimp sandwiches to go. But a little picnic in the harbour is not that bad either.
All in all, this was a great family trip to the sea, complete with gorgeous weather, beautiful surroundings, good food and some culture. And yes, we also managed to do some shopping. I managed to resist getting a cute dress in one of the boutiques but Mr. D came home with a bumble bee rain gauge.
Swedish Coastal Living 