Some More Stay-Home Jottings - Sounds Like Scotland

Today I have a few photos of a trip in 2016 to Inverhuron Provincial Park, Ontario.

This was a Victoria Day weekend (known by kids as "May 2-4", and the equivalent to the US Memorial Day), and we had a full house; both smalls and a small's friend. In Southern Ontario, May 2-4 is a big weekend for high schoolers to take over campgrounds and drink for the entire weekend, especially where the park is close to a big centre of population. Fortunately, Inverhuron is a bit of a hike from London (ON) and Windsor (ON), so this particular weekend at this particular park it was busy, but not with hyperactive youngsters.

For us, Inverhuron is a little outside our two hour weekend drive limit, which is why we only go on the holiday weekends, or in the high summer. It's right on Lake Huron which, even in late May, can bring the night temperatures right down; just ask the kids sleeping in the tent. That particular site was deep in the woods and had a hard-packed gravel pad; great for parking your Airstream but not so great when you're pitching, and sleeping in, a tent. Still, the trees were effective at deadening the noise from the rest of the campground and as I remember, I slept like a baby.

Despite the cold nights, the days were nice and warm, so we made a couple of trips out, most notably to Port Elgin. Not only does Port Elgin have a fine, sandy beach and a marina full of jolly, bobbing boats, but it has the best Fish and Chips I've yet found in Canada. Lord Elgin's, right by the Canadian Tire on Goderich Street, has some really excellent cod and halibut, and the chips (OK, Fries) were not half bad either. Still not to British standards (if you've ever had fish and chips in the UK, you'll understand), but a fair representation by anyone's standards. When you look at the names thereabout, Elgin, Kincardine, Inver and the like, the area must surely have been settled by the Scots. Thankfully they brought their fish and chips with them.

We love the drive up to Huron's eastern shore. It starts with a cross-country section, through the lush fields of corn and beans (so much corn, so many beans), before meeting the Bluewater Highway just to the west of that party capital, Grand Bend. From Grand bend we just stay on that road, hugging the shoreline of the lake, and we have a whole raft of Provincial Parks to choose from; Point Farms, McGregor Point, Sauble Falls, and of course, Inverhuron. That's not including The Pinery, back at Grand Bend, which is huge and yet always booked solid. Anyway, the road's called the Bluewater Highway because, guess what, the lake is a fabulous indigo colour, all the way up to Tobermory. as I said, one of our favourite runs, and one that the Toadmobile knows very well.

Other than that I don't remember too much about the weekend, now. I do remember eating fish and chips by the beach and chatting to a real, live Scotsman. I also remember there being a houseboat in the marina called "The Disorient Express", which is just the perfect name.

​I'm not sure what camping this summer will allow, but I'd love to head up to Inverhuron again!