Some people want to run away and join the circus, but Kevin Emery wants to sail away and be a pirate -- or a Viking.

Emery owns Ye Olde Towne Pub and Restaurant, the type of pub you would imagine in the historic town of Annapolis Royal.

It’s housed in a building from 1884 that used to be the town bank.

It's got character, and it's been a pub since the late 1980s. It’s been owned by several families, and now, it could be yours -- for a price. The sign says it all.

It's a sign that says “pub for sale or trade,” and it has a Viking boat on one side, and a pirate ship on the other.

“I figured if someone wanted to trade me a Viking boat full of Vikings or a pirate ship full of cannons, then I could go ahead and get the money I deserve for the place,” said pub owner Kevin Emery.

Emery says not just any boat will do, he wants to use to it go down south for the winter.

It’s an idea that was born in a fit of frustration.

Emery has already been running the place solo since his business partner dropped out this spring; then, came the August long weekend.

“I had a wave of untimely employees quitting and leaving before Natal Day, which is a big day for us,” Emery said. “I thought, 'to hell with it,' if no one wants a job, I don't want a pub.”

Nile Harding, the pub manager, said the decision was pretty swift.

“And next thing you know, there’s a giant banner across our deck and I have five people a day offering me kayaks and sailboats to buy the pub,” Harding said.

Emery says he's had all kinds of offers, from down in the U.S., across the country, and even from people here in Annapolis Royal.

“A lake house up by Halifax, an apartment building in Middleton that sounded like more trouble than it was worth, I got offered a radio-controlled pirate ship along with a lifetime supply of R.C. cola to go with the RC boat,” Emery said.

All the interest has pub patrons, talking.

“Do you have a boat to trade?” said pub patron Will Neily. “I've got a pumpkin boat; I'll trade him a giant pumpkin boat for this bar, yeah.”

While Emery's tongue is firmly in his cheek, he says he would take money, too. He says the business generates at least $750,000 in business each year.

But he is really holding out for that pirate ship.

“If I can get a real pirate ship with cannons, that's a deal closer right there,” he said.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Heidi Petracek.