We left the depressing thoughts of Ipperwash behind and continued north along the beach. Destination Grand Bend. The east shore of Lake Huron has a good sprinkle of quaint, cute communities and we stopped to admire as many as we could.
fish and Chips
Whenever we get close to major body of water, one of us (me) gets incredible cravings for fish. We avoided eating out since Covid started, but my cravings threw Covid-caution to the wind and we stopped at Port Frank’s Grog’s for fish n’ chips take out.
It was okay, but rather greasy. When we got to spot where we decided to stop and eat, we discovered to our horror that they forgot to give us our coleslaw. If you like fish and chips you probably know that the coleslaw is the degreaser in this combination. An added insult to injury. All in all a disappointing experience, but it satisfied the nagging fish cravings. We’ll give them the covid-benefit of doubt.
Grand Bend
With full and somewhat greasy bellies we made it to grand bend, one of Ontario’s party towns. Since it was the end of September, there were no parties or party-goers around. We didn’t even have to pay for parking.
We checked out the lighthouse,
and had the wide, long beach all to ourselves!
A couple of other people were hunting for rocks or beach glass.
and the birds cleared out any edible remnants.
It may not be such a serene experience during the summer though.
A small bit of nasty history
Grand Bend has a long history as a tourist attraction and there is lots to do during the summer months, including free concerts on the beach, art and crafts fairs, a beach fest, a giant Canada Day party, drag racing, and a bull rodeo, to mention just some of these attractions.
But part of it’s history harks on less glorious times, and Grand Bend is also known for a court case from the late 1940s to early 1950s where a restrictive covenant that prohibited the ownership of lots or cottages by persons of “Jewish, Hebrew, Semitic, Negro or coloured race or blood” was struck down by court, and a Jew, Mr. Wolf, was the first proud owner of an until then, forbidden cottage in Grand Bend.
There goes the posh neighbourhood!
We find a treasure.
Well, we didn’t really.
If you’ve been following along for a while, you probably noticed that we are not big fans of crowded tourist destinations. You may have also noticed that we love finding things. Whether it is “finding out”, or finding actual physical things (a stove buried in the backyard comes to mind). One of the main reasons for our stop in Grand Bend was its reputation for metal detecting on the beach, so we thought we’d give it a try.
We multitasked and looked for beach glass at the same time just in case.
There was an exciting moment when we found what looked like a hunk of silver, unfortunately it was just a crushed, rolled, and tumbled tin can. Still an interesting process and an unexpected result.
We kept it.
It’s all about the turkeys
We left Grand Bend with no significant treasures to report on, but we did get some turkey for our Canadian Thanksgiving that was just around the corner.
Just outside of Grand Bend and to the east we found Hayter’s Farm.
They do everything turkey (and more) and we loaded up on deli items and a prepared frozen turkey dish that fit in the van’s small freezer. We’ll take it home and cook it on Thanksgiving!
It was delicious!
Very nice. Too bad about the coleslaw. 😞 They were probably so excited to have tourists come in they forgot! 🤷♀️ Stay safe.
I am sure that you are right! We may give them another chance next time we are in the area!
Another interesting trip and that metal detector find was fantastic. It is nice to visit places when there are few people around. Loved your pictures.
Thanks, Peggy! We do try and visit on the off season for this very reason, but of course the weather is not always great. I guess there is a tourist season for a reason 🙂
Covid Cravings—Have you considered a new blog? You can travel from place to place sampling all the food. I’m sure that blog already exists somewhere. Nah, just having a bit of fun with you.
I respect that you for avoiding the tourist traps, and for always finding out a little bit of history on your travels. A little weird to think that if you were at Grand Bend during another time of the year, it would be swarming with folks.
Thanks, Pete, I will consider this new blog idea 🙂 You know what’s even more weird? If I was at Grand Bend (and many other places) only a mere 70 years ago, myself, and many other Ontarians would not be able to own property in certain areas because of skin colour, ethnicity, or religion. Blows my mind!
sounds like the turkey made up for the fish. and how nice to visit a party town when it is empty!
I like the way you think. You summed it up perfectly!
👍
I’m all for a good fish n’ chips, and it’s unfortunate that the one you had didn’t quite live up to your expectations…I’m sure you’ll come across a good one later! The shoreline looks gorgeous, and it appears you had the place all to yourself. What a great way to take it all in!
The fish and chips wasn’t too bad, just a bit disappointing and we will let it slide 🙂 It was great to have the place to ourselves!
Wait – greasy fish and chips AND NO COLE SLAW?!?!?!?!?! Love the rest of the pictures !
I know, right?
I’ve only ever been to Grand Bend in the summer and oh wow is it busy. Of course you brought your metal detector. That’s amazing.
Haha, too bad we didn’t find anything!
It looks like an interesting place to visit – I haven’t eaten turkey except at Christmas for years and years, so I’d be eating everything! As for the fish and chips – sounds awful, and you definitely need to come to England for the best of those 🙂
Yum, English fish and chips! Now I need to go to England 🙂
I have been there a few times. It is a nice area.
It is! We’ll probably go back 🙂
Sorry your silver was a tin can! Made me giggle. Still cool looking.
This seems to be all that we can find 🙂