Travels of Mark and Pat

Tuesday - July 8

We decided Catrina needed a good scrubbing, so.... got that job done before we left the dock to get fuel and a pump out at South Bay Cove.

And then we were on our way and cruised 13.4 miles to Midland where we were in 2007 and 2011. We remember in 2007, having 3 sets of visitors starting with....

Annette and Philip - July 6

Drew and Davis - August 3

Friends, Kathy and Paul - August 5

Along the way we saw...

A very pretty place

An abandoned home on a rock

Very colorful catamaran (Katinsky)

And this mural painted at the entrance to our marina

We arrived at the Town Docks at 12:30, and what a nice surprise to see "Grounded Coffee Co." very close by! We got the electric set up, filled the water tank as they do not have water at each slip and then set off for the coffee shop. Neat place with lots of yummy cookies/pastries which we enjoyed with our iced coffees. I walked up King Street to the "Midland Queen Nail and Spa" - I made an appointment yesterday for 2:00. Mark went back to Catrina, and rode his bike to WalMart (2 miles). What a great experience for a mani/pedi. This place is owned by a Mom, her 2 daughters, and son-in-law. They all live in Barrie (45 minutes away) and opened this salon in February. It was sooo clean and friendly! I had Jean and sure enjoyed the pampering.

Mark met me afterwards and we walked to the ice cream shop near the marina (Dockside Sweets and Treats). And then to Catrina where we took it EZ till time to eat...........the Boathouse Eatery is a very popular eatery here at the Town Docks. They have a huge outside seating area with live music by the water - Mark had pulled pork tacos and I had nachos. All good!

It was such a lovely evening - 71 and lots of people out and about strolling, eating ice cream, and checking out all the boats. People are amazed to see we're from Fort Myers, so then we tell them our story (short version - Port Clinton, OH on Lake Erie is our summer home; Fort Myers is our winter home in an Airstream). We enjoyed the music coming from the Boathouse Eatery sitting on Catrina's bridge.

Coffee

Goose in flight

metal sculpture

Ice cream

Monday - July 7

My Mother passed away sixteen years ago today - wow.....that's a long time, but remember so clearly getting the phone call from my Dad when we were in Denali (McKinley) National Park, Alaska. Mom would've been so proud of her grands and greats. And how she would've loved and enjoyed the 3 littles (Luke, Blair and Maeve).

We had rain overnight along with thunder and lightning. This morning it was dreary and cool (60ish) when we left our anchorage at 10:30 and arrived at South Bay Cove Marina 1 hour later cruising 5.5 miles past lots of small cottages and some biggie homes.

Built on a rock on an island

2 nice young ladies helped us tie up and offered to take any garbage we had and asked if we needed ice as the 1st bag is complimentary. We remember from being here in 2011, that they delivered the newspaper to our boat and gave us free ice. So, they took our garbage, brought us a bag of ice and admired Catrina (had never seen a boat like that)!!!

Mark and I were walking up to the office to check in, when 3 dockhands stopped to ask us if we were the transient Catamaran? "Yes"..............well, the owners of where they had put us were coming back in and we had to move...........arghhhh, but with plenty of help (3 more young male dockhands arrived) and with my very able Captain, we were in our new slip, just a few boats away on the wall and all settled! The guys were very enamored with Catrina, too. This marina is huge and lots of BIG boats here.

We checked in for a 1-night stay, made a reservation at the restaurant for 6 and had a quiet afternoon on Catrina. No sun today! I read and took a nap; Mark worked on his engine-room cameras hooking them to a different network.

I walked around the marina and then Mark met up with me. We met Chris on a beautiful 47' Sea Ray that is 16 years old but looks brand new.....he and Melissa were anchored out near us last night on Frying Pan Bay and then came in today (but we were in their slip)! So, we moved for them! Ha.....small world, but had a nice visit. He and Melissa work from their boat taking long weekends - they have Starlink, so have internet wherever they go.

View of South Bay Cove

We walked to the marina restaurant "Fin 'n Chips" - we were here in 2007 and 2011 but different decor and name of restaurant. Had a great meal (Mark had halibut and Greek saIad and I had the steak poutine). Poutine is a classic Canadian dish of French fries, cheese curds and gravy + steak for me).. Deeeelicious!

Cholesterol city....but oh, so good!!! And we have leftovers!

Sunday - July 6

We both had a great night's sleep - always so peaceful, calm and quiet when anchoring! We had planned to stay another day but since the rain was holding off till tonight decided to check out another anchorage (Frying Pan Bay) - yesterday we were on Frying Pan Island where Henry's is. This is about 30 miles further. Mark says we've been here 2x before. His memory is amazing - of course, he has his log of where we stay, but he's just a whiz at this logistic stuff!

My Captain

This type of boat is used to carry supplies and food, etc. to the island homes.

We got here at 10:30 and he fixed eggs/sausage/toast. That hit the spot and then a lazy Sunday just reading our books, taking naps, etc. Around 4:30, decided to take the dinghy to shore and do a little hike. We went to Fairy Lake - not too far but didn't make the full circle as some of those granite rocks looked a bit steep and I'm a little leery after my nasty fall.

Fairy Lake

But it felt good to stretch our legs and then back to Catrina - we were sticky and sweaty and there were a lot of bugs in the forest. So.....we put on our swimsuits and took a few quick dunks in the very refreshing (80 degree) clear water. Ahhhh....felt good!

Catrina at anchor

We had our leftover fish 'n chips from Henry's for supper! Yum!

We watched Mass with Father Jonathan in Port Clinton. Today he baptized Cillian Joseph Burlingame - Cillian is 7 years old and his father passed away very unexpectedly at age 43 in April, 2024 at McGruder Hospital in Port Clinton. Cillian also received his First Communion.

Zoom tonight with 8 siblings - talked about 4th of July plans, health issues (always), Jim and Lydia are in Destin with their family and some of their grandchildren said "hi".

Have an awesome week and prayers ongoing for the Texas flood victims, those still missing, their families and all the people involved in the recovery efforts.

Saturday - July 5

Movin' on today but first, I walked to Northern Perk for some coffee and a muffin to share. Not sure when I'll be near a coffee shop again. We left our slip at 9:30 and did a pump out - Juliette helped. She's one of the dockhands who helped us tie up when we came in on Thursday. So sweet and pretty.

The Pearl Mist came in overnight to Parry Sound - one of 14 stops here this summer

Parry sound is 150 miles north of Toronto. The population of year-round residents is close to 7,000, but there are 19,000 summer residents + 80,000 tourists making it close to 100,000. Amazingly, it is not a real touristy town like Tobermory. But as Doug from Florida who we met yesterday said "We would really like to have a cottage up here but most are going for over $1m and not that big!"

At 10:30 we left to be near the Parry Sound swing bridge for it's 11:00 opening. It opens every 2 hours. Lots of boats on the water this Saturday - jet skies, pontoons, pleasure boats, go fast (TUFF) boats, and float planes.

So so many rocks up close and personal

Saw several yellow Adirondack chairs today

One little island

Narrow passage as skies darken before the rain

The weather started out sunny and no rain in the forecast, but.....we had a very heavy downpour along the way. Fortunately, it didn't last too long, but just enough to be messy and wet. And then, blue skies and very nice rest of the day with a high of 78.

We stopped at Henry's for lunch - this landmark on Frying Pan Island has been around forever and as popular as ever with a huge crowd (we've never been on a Saturday). We were first here in 1995 after picking up brand new Sail Catrina in Midland with Philip and our friend Gary. They've expanded to a large indoor and outdoor seating area and also bigger drink/food menu. They are famous for their whitefish and pickerel. Mark had the whitefish (our favorite) and I had pickerel (walleye). Then to our anchorage in Ladas Bay (Archipelago, ON). All settled in for the night and just one other boat here.

Okay....another crazy coincidence.............on this date (July 5) in 2011, we ate at Henry's and anchored in Ladas Bay! Mark thinks today marked our 4th visit to this very popular place on Frying Pan Island.

A real landmark

We cruised a total of 20.8 miles today meandering thru narrow channels, dodging rocks, etc. Such a beautiful place.

So very heartbreaking reading about the precious little girls and others who lost their lives or still missing in the Texas camp flooding.....just unimaginable and devastating.

Friday - July 4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Mark and I always start the day playing some games on our I-pad/tablet - euchre, sudoku, solitaire. Today we had a heck of a time solving the "daily challenge" of solitaire, but finally got it! Ha.....and then we were off to breakfast at "The Mad Maple" - unique place in the Canadian Legion building. Just one big room with some tables - took a while to get our food (must be a Parry Sound thing)? This place was rated the best for breakfast - interesting decor for sure and the locals each have their own coffee mug (like Artie's Diner in Pulaski, NY, Allie)!!! But all good and then we were outta there and off to the McNabb Building Center for a new gas can (dinghy).

Back to Catrina for a bit and then................time for a bike ride! Whoaaa....other than a short ride in Toronto last summer, I haven't ridden since my bad fall (11/12/23) and was a bit leery. First the shoulder issue and then still having the nerve damage in my hand and having to clutch the handle bar. But there's a nice 1.3 mile bike path (Fitness Trail) and after that we did another part of the trail so all together, 5 miles! I'm glad that 1st big time is under my belt and as a reward, Mark said I could have a coffee! 😀 And ice cream (constellation) for him! What a guy - he's the BEST!

While we were riding bikes, a trawler from Springhill, FL (near Tampa) came in. We had a nice chat with the captain, Doug. He and his wife are doing the Loop and about 1/2 way done.

Hope wherever and whatever your plans were today back in the good ole USA, it was a fun day (picnics, boating, swimming, ice cream, fireworks, etc.) celebrating our nation's 249th birthday! WOW....wait till next year!

We walked to The Trestle Brewing Co. for our 6:00 reservation. Along the way, we passed the Trestle Bridge which is quite a landmark here in Parry Sound since 1907 and many trains use it daily. It is very tall and spans 1/3 of a mile.