Next stop - July 2018 - Tecumseh

Tecumseh Ontario is on Lake St. Clair, just east of Windsor.  From a small settlement of three families in 1792, Tecumseh, then known as Ryegate, has become somewhat of a 'bedroom community' for nearby Windsor.  In 1912, Ryegate was renamed Tecumseh in honour of Tecumseh, a Shawnee Warrior, who was killed at battle in the War of 1812.  The French were for the most part the original settlers of Tecumseh, the majority of them descendants of the Frenchmen who had established their seigneural land holdings along the banks of the river in the 1700s.

One could argue, quite rightly, that perhaps Tecumseh in and of itself isn't all that exciting of a place to visit - but my reason for going was far more important than simply the destination - and that was to see a friend who I had not seen in at least 30 years!!  Reconnect we did, and I spent a wonderful two nights with her and her family and seeing some of the sights of Tecumseh.

A little bit of rain the previous night, and no tarp on the boat, meant a little bit of water needed to be removed before we could go out on our little excursion.  How ingenious is this - I can't think of a better use for one of those little pumps from a backyard fish pond!!  Way better than the 'traditional' bailing method!!

And then we were off to see a little bit of Lake St. Clair...

Windsor's own "man of steel" Barry Zekelman has a little place along the waterfront here... Everything in this photo is one house...and then of course there are the yachts...

As always, the one photo to prove I really was there

In Lakewood Park North the town had local artists carve the likenesses of French explorers Cadillac and LaSalle into a section of trunk from a poplar tree that was hit by lightning last summer.  Rather than simply remove the stump the plan is to add more local history in this form when other trees have to be removed. Cadillac founded Detroit and helped establish the first European settlement in the Windsor-Detroit area, and LaSalle was one of the first known Europeans to travel the Detroit River corridor.

It's nice to see that even after 30 years my friend is no less fun (or could you say mischievous?) than she was when we were teenagers!

 But with a little bit of coaxing she stopped playing "Where's Waldo" and did join the photo!

On my way home I stopped at a monument along county highway 2 honouring Tecumseh.  Tecumseh was a famous Shawnee warrior and chief, who became the primary leader of a large, multi-tribal confederacy in the early 19th century.  Tecumseh is one of the most celebrated First Nations leaders in history and was known as a strong and eloquent orator who promoted tribal unity.  Tecumseh's confederation fought the United States for many years, finally forming an alliance with Great Britain in the War of 1812 and helped with the capture of Fort Detroit.  However, after U.S. naval forces took control of Lake Erie in 1813, the British and their First Nations allies retreated into Upper Canada, where the American forces engaged them at the Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, on October 5th, 1813, where Tecumseh was killed.

A truly wonderful couple of days, worth every minute of the trip!!  And I'm definitely not going to let another 30 years go by!  And who, other than a good friend from your very formative years would know to share their Ann B. Davis wine glass collection with you?

It doesn't get any better than this!

Summer 2018 - starting with Cow Island and lavender

Summer holidays 2018 started with a weekend trip to a friend's cottage and then a trip to two different lavender farms.

Rice Lake is located south of Peterborough and north of Cobourg, and is part of the Trent-Severn Waterway.  First Nations called it Pemadashdakota or "lake of the burning plains".  A drumlin field is located northwest of the lake, and Rice Lake's islands are partially submerged drumlins. Rice Lake is fairly shallow and was named for the wild rice which grew in it and was harvested by native people of the area. Cow Island is an island on Rice Lake with some privately owned lots of land on the island - and fortunate for me to have a friend who has a cottage here!

Of course, being on an island means that boats are involved, and my cottage experience started by parking at the local mainland marina and waiting for my ride to come and pick me up.

A short boat ride and we reached our destination:

There are many walking pathways all over the island...and you never know what you might find when you go exploring:

Facing west at the end of the day always opens up the possibilities for a beautiful sunset - and we got a lovely one tonight:

It's easy to see why one can be very happy in a space like this:

Leaving this little piece of paradise and it was off to some local lavender farms.  Of course it's always a bit weather-dependent, but lavender farms in Ontario are usually in full bloom during the first two weeks in July and so this was the year when I finally got around to visiting.

Yup, I was there, and enjoying every minute!