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Cottage Country

Roughing it

By Carl Fisher

July 11^th, 2015

Water world

A visit up North (of Toronto) found me surrounded by cottages, many of which are actually year round residences (at least the one I was staying in is). One of the main reasons to go up there is to get relief from the hustle and bustle of the city. I was expecting more of a heat wave in the area, but was greeted by a blast of mild. So long as there’s no snow and not too much rain, I’m okay with it. Of course, as is the case in the city, location is everything. The location I’m referring to is proximity to the water. Waterfront is the goal. Being on the water is a break from the heat and it’s one way of getting away from those flying nasties. If you have a boat, even better. Get up to speed and watch those mosquitoes drop off.

Steppin out

It is nice to just lounge around and stuff one’s face with good food, but there’s more to this place than the deck and beach. A walking I had to go. It also gave my companion an opportunity to stretch her legs. They were short, but they could really motor if a chipmunk was spotted nearby. You definitely had to keep her on a short leash. You do not want to be in the middle of things when a dog and a chipmunk throwdown (you’d better have had your shots). Fortunately, such a disturbing encounter was avoided on this trip.

Signs, Signs everywhere a sign

In case you forgot where you were, there were plenty of signs to remind you. People in this country (cottage) want you to know that they have a sweet retreat and they are mighty proud of it. Proud enough to have a sign custom crafted to display at the foot of their drive letting people know that they have arrived. To some it’s paradise, for other’s it’s a cove with pillaged (or soon to be pillaged) booty, or a family retreat (that presumably is not paradise, but it’s family, so you put up with it).

Polaroidin

I brought my Polaroid Land 250 camera with me, but I only had a few pics left so I had to make them count. You’d think I’d be more attentive. I managed to get one good pic as the sun was setting and went for another. This one was going to be perfect. As a bonus, the neighbor was just heading out in his boat and drifted under the sun just as it was being halved by the horizon. This was it! I snapped the shutter and pulled the one tab, then the other. Wait a minute. Something was wrong. In my eagerness to see what I had captured, I had pulled two little white tabs instead of one white and one black. Ahhhh! It was ruined! or was it? As you can see on the right below, all was not lost. Maybe I’m one of those photo savants. Unfortunately, I think I’m of the idiot variety. Still, not a bad pic.

Who needs all that extra tree line anyway?

Nibbles

I’ve been visiting the Lake Shebishikong area since my teens, but this was the first time I had made it to Snug Harbor. So close and yet so far away if you’ve never turned down the right road. I must admit that I was quite pleasantly surprised by both the picturesque setting and, particularly, by the food at Gilly’s. While the whitefish was pretty standard stuff, the calamari was exceptional. Very lightly breaded and not at all oily. I’d venture to say that it might have even been healthy, which is not something that can usually be said about most appetizers. And instead of fries, I had a salad with a light dressing and berries. Eating so sensibly, I felt that I was entitled to splurge on desert. I went for the house-made maple cheesecake. Drizzled with maple syrup, it was not the dense variety that I was expecting, but had more of a custard-like consistency that readily dissolved in my mouth and was a gustatory delight. Highly recommended.