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By Sadie, March 3, 2010 7:08 am

After a few hours of broken sleep at the hotel due to some miscommunication about our hotel rooms when we checked in at 3am, our first stop was the Parry Sound fire tower on Tower Hill. We figured out would be a good way to check the weather and how strong the ice looked. Here’s a few pics and a video of it. Sorry for sounding half asleep on the video. That’s just the lack of sleep talking.

The fire tower:

The view from the tower:

A video:

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By Sadie, March 2, 2010 10:53 pm

Not since Harold and Kumar went to White Castle, has there been a trip as epic as Sadie and friends going to Sobeys. You might wonder why we would drive to Canada just to go to a grocery store – honestly, I even asked myself that a couple of times as we drove almost 500 miles through a blizzard to get there. It all has to do with margarine. Yes – margarine. The Becel with Olive Oil to be exact. It is so good and it’s not sold in the states. We’ve been out of it since November or December and we needed to stock up. Of course we hung out in Parry Sound, hiked to Action Island, had dinner with friends and did some other fun stuff while we were on our way to the grocery store, but we always kept our eye on the prize. Three small tubs of Becel. We should now have enough to get us at least through June. Since returning to Ohio, I’ve had grilled cheese sandwiches twice already. This trip was so worth it.

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By Sadie, January 13, 2010 11:19 pm

I didn’t want to overload you with pics in the last post about the Grande Hermine, so here are the other ones that I have on my computer. If/when I ever find some pre-digital camera pics, I’ll be sure to scan them and post them here too. It’s crazy to look at the pre and post fire pics and see where all of the now missing wooden decks used to be.

Early spring 2004:

Summer 2005:

Side of the ship – 2005:

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By Sadie, January 12, 2010 9:18 pm

For over a decade, I’ve had a favorite roadside attraction / landmark on the trip up north. Between kilometer markers 55 and 57 on the QEW in Jordan, rests the once beautiful and majestic Grande Hermine. Some know it as the pirate ship on the way to Toronto, some are just confused by it, and a surprising amount of people get off of the busy highway to try to figure out what on earth it is.

The Grande Hermine was built in 1914 and it was used as a ferry in the St. Lawrence River. In the early ’90s, it was converted to a beautiful pirate-esque boat. Wood was added everywhere and masts with sails were added too. The goal of all of the extra wood was to make it look like La Grande Hermine, the ship that sailed around exploring the St. Lawrence River way back in the 1500s. Wood wasn’t just added to the boat though. A big kitchen, freezers, refrigerators, and cooking stuff were also added because it was converted to be a floating restaurant!

I’m not sure if the restaurant ever opened or not, but it was towed into the Jordan Harbor in 1997 and was just left by their marina. It leans sort of sideways and just stays there year after year. Ever since its great arrival, I’ve been fascinated by it. I try to stop by at least once a year to take a picture of it.

In 2003, vandals set the Grande Hermine on fire. Most of the wood exterior and decks were burnt off and the interior was gutted. I still stop by though as often as I can. Below are some pics that I have taken over the years of this lovely boat. I’ll add some more pics in another post too.

Here are some links for more info on the ship:
-An article about the boat
-Pics of the inside of the ship – before the fire
-A photographer’s pics of it before the fire – look at the exterior of the stern where there were a couple of staff cabins and a ballroom – wow!

Me in 2002 with the Grande Hermine:

from the side, you can see it’s lovely wooden decks:

and in 2003, after the fire:

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By Sadie, August 30, 2009 10:59 am

A week and a half ago, Colleen, our friends from a neighboring island and I took a trip to Snug Harbour so we could go to Gilly’s Restaurant for dinner. None of us have been out to eat all summer, so this was quite a treat. One of our island friends, Betty, has been working there all summer long, so we’d be able to visit with her a bit over dinner too. Though it took a boat ride, the hike to the car on the mainland, then a 30+ minute drive to get there, it was well worth it. The view was great and so was the atmosphere. As for the food it was quite delicious. Most of our party got the fish that was caught from the bay that morning and my salad was made from fruits and veggies from the owner’s garden. It was so yummy. Here’s some pics from our trip to Gilly’s.

The view from our table:

and looking from our table in the other direction:

My cranberry, blueberry and raspberry salad:

and our wonderful neighbor/friend/server – Betty!

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By Sadie, July 26, 2009 12:48 pm

Our friend Roger and the husband are up the cottage right now with Colleen and myself. Today we decided to go on a roadtrip. We debated between going to Midland to see Castle Village because the husband hasn’t been there before and we also debated going north to see the French River Trading Post. We decided to make the hour+ drive north to the French River because we found an advertisement for them that promised “Hungry Bear Every Hour”. The husband has never seen a real live bear, so the French River won.

When we drove up there we were sad to find out that there is no real bear. It’s just a man in a bear suit that sings songs and dances every hour – such disappointment. At least Colleen made herself a friend there.

Colleen and her new BFF:

and the Hungry Bear with his friend, Hound:

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By Sadie, July 7, 2009 10:44 pm

It was pretty cold yesterday, so instead of staying on the island, Colleen and I opted for a road trip. We decided to head north on Highway 69 and soon enough we were in Pointe Au Baril. We were hungry so we stopped at one of the local chip wagons. While there, we realized that chip wagons really seem to be an Ontario thing. We never see anything like them back in the states. For those of you that are unfamiliar with chip wagons, they are trailers or small buildings on the side of the road that sell greasy fries that you really need to eat with a fork. They usually have ice cream too. You see them all over the place up here. There was another wagon right across the street from the one where we stopped.

and our fries (half with malt vinegar / half with ketchup):