Manhattan 2019: Broadway Musicals

While this year we timed our trip to coincide with viewing Christmas lights, one of our main reasons for constantly revisiting Manhattan is the plethora of live theatre that is offered on and off Broadway.  We only planned for three nights and four days in the city but were still able to fit in three musicals by attending both a matinee and an evening show on the same day.  We could have tried to see four shows but did not dare schedule one for the first day, just in case our early morning flight got delayed or even cancelled due to inclement weather.  To make it easier to get “home” from the shows, we found a hotel at 45th Street and 6th Avenue, just a few blocks away from most of the theatres.

Our first show was Hadestown which won the Best Musical Tony Award in 2019.  Boasting a stylish, jazzy score, the plot interweaves two disparate Greek myths to make a single cohesive story featuring Gods, mortals and the three Fates who act like a Greek chorus, commenting on the action and planting seeds of discord and doubt into the minds of the humans and Gods alike. Hades and Persephone are the God and Goddess of the Underworld, a long married couple who now bicker and take each other for granted.  Persephone spends six months of the year on earth, coinciding with spring and summer and then returns to the Underworld for six months, which brings forth fall and winter.  Meanwhile songwriter Orpheus and his bride Eurydice are penniless mortal lovers, and Hermes, the Messenger God, presides over the entire affair, providing narration, exposition and commentary.

To stave off cold and starvation when winter comes, Eurydice is seduced by Hades into joining him in the Underworld.  Egging her on to her decision, the three Fates sing “What You Gonna Do When the Chips are Down?”  Bereft, Orpheus goes in search of his beloved, singing a beautiful love ballad that causes all the Underworld minions to stop and listen.  Hades is pressured to release Eurydice but will be deemed weak if he does.  The Fates taunt him with the song Words to the Wise, singing “Gotta think quick; Gotta save face; Caught between a rock and a hard place”.   Hades makes a deal to let Eurydice return to Earth but only under the condition that Orpheus must walk in front of her and never look back until they have both made it out of the Underworld.  As Orpheus makes the long trek back to Earth, the whispers of the Fates fill  him with fear and doubt as to whether Eurydice is actually there behind him.  (“Doubt Comes In”).

Hadestown is refreshingly original and innovative in terms of songs, score, book, stagecraft and choreography.  Unlike so many shows on Broadway today, the production is not a remake of a well-known book, movie, or TV show and is not a “jukebox musical” that relies on name-recognition of an established band’s well-known songs.  I particularly liked the set and staging used to portray the arduous journey into and out of the Underworld, including a circular moving conveyor belt similar to the one used in Les Miserables, smoke and mist filling the darkened stage, and Orpheus weaving and dodging large swinging lights that the Underground minions hurl towards him.

A round platform sits in the centre of the outer rotating belt, rising and lowering to expose a giant hole representing the path down to Hell.  It is very effective to watch as the characters appear to emerge from below or dramatically drop down out of sight.  There seem to be political undertones to the plot, as Hell is portrayed like a manufacturing assembly line and the deep-voiced Hades sings about Why We Build the Wall – “to keep us free; the wall keeps out the enemy”.  Unfortunately Patrick Page’s extremely low baritone voice hits such depths in tone that at times it was a bit difficult to hear what he was singing as Hades.  All the other performers had beautiful, clear voices, including the understudy who played Persephone at our performance.

I have always thought that jukebox musicals are a bit of a cop-out and usually do not consider them to be as good as ones where the songs and lyrics are written specifically for a show and advance the plot.  Often in a Jukebox musical, the story feels awkward and contrived in an attempt to force-fit plot lines to go with pre-determined lyrics.  Adapted from the similarly titled 2001 movie, Moulin Rouge! takes the typical jukebox musical trope to a whole other level.  Rather than using the works of a single artist or band (e.g. Mamma Mia/ABBA, We Will Rock You/Queen, Bat Out of Hell/Meatloaf), Moulin Rouge! uses current popular songs from a variety of artists.  Even more impressively, a few of the musical numbers (e.g. Elephant Love Medley) sample individual choruses or even single lines from multiple songs and string them together to create cohesive sung-through dialogue.  Listening to the music in Moulin Rouge! can become a game of playing “Name That Tune” as the references come at you fast and furiously.

Set in Paris at the turn of the 20th Century and telling the tale of star-crossed lovers Christian and Satine, Moulin Rouge! carries on with the precedence set by the movie, but updates the music with even more recent songs (e.g. Katy Perry’s Firework, Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, Sia’s Chandelier) and tweaks the story so that it has a deeper and more comprehensive plot.  The chosen songs add emotional resonance to the characters and the lyrics actually advance the plot, which is my criteria for a good musical.  I had a slight issue with the anachronism of the modern pop songs since they felt a bit jarring in the context of a play set in 1900, but I quickly let that go and just went with it.  I could not help but compare the musical to the iconic movie upon which it was based.  Other than a few changes to the plot, the main difference was in the portrayal of Satine.  In the movie, Nicole Kidman played Satine like a delicate damsel in distress who spoke and sang in a whispery, high-pitched voice while in the musical, Karen Olivio’s version appeared more sassy, confident and road-weary as she speaks and sings in a stronger, huskier voice.

As well as trying to use more current songs to attract a new generation, some of the plot changes were driven by the complicated and expensive negotiation process of trying to reacquire the rights to the large number of songs used in the movie so that they could be reused in the musical.  For example, “The Show Must Go On” by Queen was a highlight in the movie but rights were refused for the theatre production since it would steal the thunder from the pending release of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.  In total, 70 different songs were used in whole or in part within the musical and each song required permission from all the songwriters and producers who owned rights to it.  A single dissenter would render the song to be unusable.  For this reason, it is unlikely that Moulin Rouge! will tour much out of the USA since if it did, all the rights would have to be renegotiated again in the new country!

In addition to the music, the main draw of this musical production of Moulin Rouge! is its visually stunning set design, staging and lighting that just overwhelms the senses.  The entire auditorium of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre is bathed in a fire-engine red hue, with a giant windmill spinning on the left and an enormous purple elephant to the right of the heart-shaped stage.  A catwalk extends from the edge of the stage where CanCan girls and gorgeous courtesans in tight bustiers strut up and down.  Some lucky audience members paid big bucks to be seated at cabaret-styled tables on either side of the catwalk, although I think that seating would be too close to see all the overall choreography by the large cast.  While I was initially reluctant to choose Moulin Rouge! as one of our shows for this New York trip, I was quickly won over by the spectacular production.

Our last show was Scotland PA, an off-Broadway musical adaptation of a 2001 movie of the same name, which in turn is a spoof of the Shakespearean tragedy MacBeth.  Set in Scotland, Pennsylvania circa 1975, Joe McBeth (“Mac”) and his wife Pat work at Duncan’s, a hamburger and fast food diner along with their fellow employees Banko, and Duncan’s son Malcolm.  Mac has many ideas for improving business including implementing a drive-thru, but Duncan belittles his proposals. Feeling oppressed and unappreciated and spurred on by the visions of three “Bohemian hippie stoners”,  the McBeths decide to rob the burger joint but end up accidentally killing Duncan when he falls into a deep fryer during a struggle.  Mac and Pat purchase the place from Malcolm, rename it McBeth’s and start to implement Mac’s ideas (which parody McDonalds) to great success.  This includes the drive-thru, a new sandwich that has TWO patties with a piece of bread in between, and a new logo that channels the iconic Golden Arches, but are pointy (an important plot point) instead of round.  But trouble looms as police detective McDuff arrives to investigate the suspicious death.

Scotland PA is funny, clever and full of pathos as the story pretty much unfolds according to the plot of the Scottish play, but transposed to a modern setting.  It highlights the fact that Shakespeare’s themes are timeless and universal.  The songs are great, especially those sung by the characters playing Mac and Pat.  We did have a bit of trouble hearing what the stoners were singing and therefore missed a few of the omens that would signify the McBeths’ undoing.  I wish that there was a cast recording so that I could listen to them again.  This little off-Broadway show got such great reviews that hopefully it will get picked up and remounted on Broadway, and then I might get my wish.

We loved all three of these shows and would gladly watch any one of them again if they ever came to Toronto.  Here's hoping ...

Manhattan 2019: Christmas Lights and Window Shopping

Given our love of live theatre, a quick trip to New York City has become an annual event over the past few years.  This year we repeated an itinerary that we first executed in 2012, by visiting Manhattan in early December so that we could marvel at the city’s impressive Christmas displays.  Wandering up and down the major midtown streets including 5th, Madison and Lexington Avenues, we saw shimmering lights and decoration-ladened trees and wreaths everywhere we turned.  Most of the stores and hotels are adorned with festive decorations that ranged from witty and charming to elaborate and overwhelming.

The four major department stores in the area (Macys, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks) lead the charge with vibrant, visually intricate and sometimes technically complex displays spanning their multiple store-front windows.  Barneys used to have a good window too, but as they in bankruptcy there was nothing to be seen. We noticed that there were more vacant retail spaces this year - part of the changing nature of retail due to the internet I suppose.

Flying into New Jersey Airport and taking the train into Penn Station, the first store we came across was Macy’s.  Playing up on its starring role in the 1947 classic holiday movie “Miracle on 34th Street”, the windows on one side of the building permanently exhibit vintage vignettes from the tale.  A series of six windows at the other end of the building provide an updated 21st century spin on the “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” story, filled with an explosion of sights, sounds and motion.  In this version, self-empowered Virginia wants to be Santa Claus herself and is dubbed “Santa Girl”.   These windows feature shiny chrome-covered Santas and elves that resemble floats from the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, psychedelically coloured neon lights, automation, and interactive games.  In one window, when you pat the nose of Virginia’s dog Willow, she scratches her ear with her hind leg.

The last three windows include robotic arms that pick up and deliver gifts from Santa’s truck, an interactive game where you can grab a steering wheel to drive Santa’s truck along a road filled with presents causing lights to burst each time you hit a gift, and a camera that you can pose in front of to take the ultimate selfie.  For several seconds, multiple images of your head decked in a Santa hat are displayed in round kaleidoscope windows, turning each participant into Santa Claus while perpetuating the message that “We all have Santa’s spirit in our hearts”.

The decorations continue inside of Macy’s, where big spinning balls hang from the ceiling, highlighting the mottos “Believe”, “Dream” and “Imagine”.   We had fun checking out the toys in the FAO Swartz Toys & Games section found within the department store including the iconic piano dance mat that was featured in the 1988 Tom Hanks comedy “Big” and a giant Lite-Brite panel.  We also spotted other cute items including a distressed gingerbread man ornament missing a foot, a bag full of lumps of coal and Prosecco Pong (which sounds like a waste of good Prosecco!).

Next we moved on to Bloomingdale’s, whose windows pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.  They feature a rocket ship blasting off, astronauts and “Out of This World” aliens dressed in flowing robes.  Not to be outdone by Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s also has several high-tech robotic displays.  In one, robotic arms play on a xylophone from a choice of three Christmas carols while another employs a series of robotic arms to decorate a Christmas tree, passing a golden ornament from arm to arm until the final one gently places the decoration onto the tree.  Bloomingdale’s also has a selfie station that projects a huge blown-up image of your face onto the back of one of the display windows.

Inside Bloomingdale’s are a set of elegantly stylized, “avant-garde” interpretations of the 12 Zodiac symbols.  We saw the water jugs held by Aquarius, the ram horns of Aries, the claws of Scorpio, the half man-half horse of Sagittarius, the fish tails of Pisces and the crab imagery of Cancer.  They were all so beautiful that I regret that we did not have time to wander around and find all twelve.  We also spotted some whimsical beaded purses shaped like a box of French Fries, an ice cream bar and a cupcake.

Bergdorf Goodman’s party-inspired displays present scenes of celebration and revelry where the figures are rotated outward at a 90 degree angle so it appears that you are standing from above looking down upon the images.  One diorama shows two ladies in ball gowns playing chess on a small board while sitting on top of a larger board with giant chess pieces all around them (how meta!).  There is also an Art Deco inspired scene depicting party-goers in deep conversation while seated around a gramophone, a green-toned image of a man surrounded by wild animals as well as large playing cards, and a purple-hued window that portrays the shops on 5th Avenue like a board game.  Another window features a giant pinball machine with flashing lights and moving parts.  A giant nutcracker (from the Nutcracker ballet) can also be found in one of the windows.  The decorations inside Bergdorf are much more subdued, going for an elegant monochrome feel with its Christmas tree and ornaments all in grey and white tones.

Before arriving at Saks, the final of the big four department stores, we passed by Rockefeller Centre to see the giant Christmas Tree.   The lighting of this tree is a momentous occasion for New Yorkers, as we found out when we were inadvertently caught in the crush of people swarming towards Rockefeller Centre for the lighting ceremony, many hours before it was supposed to take place.  Just walking several blocks along 5th Avenue from 50th Street back to our hotel on 45th Street became a nightmare as we were herded through winding crowd control barriers at every intersection.  We had not planned on watching this event in any case, but after this experience, we never intend to try in the future.  By the next day, the crowds were gone and we had easy access to the tree although after all that hype, it was underwhelming.  I felt like we saw many more beautifully decorated trees through Manhattan.  Much more impressive is the massive castle-themed light display at Saks that covers the entire multi-level storefront along 5th Avenue.  They shine so brightly that we saw them from over a block away.  In terms of showy, gigantic and bright in-your-face bling, Saks wins the decoration war by a mile.

At the base of this light display are six windows dedicated to the movie Frozen 2.  The scenes depict images of Elsa as she journeys through the enchanted forest, encountering the four spirits of nature—wind, fire, water and earth.  Also featured are Olaf the snowman, Elsa’s sister Anna and Kristoff the ice harvester with his pet reindeer Sven.  Saks is offering exclusive holiday products inspired by the film and had Broadway star Idina Menzel (who plays Elsa in the movies) perform during the unveiling of the windows.

In addition to the major department stores, many other shops and restaurants in the area joined in with their own displays that blend Christmas cheer with the marketing of their products.  I liked the furry creatures at Artzia that reminded me of characters from a Dr. Seuss book, the little mice hauling jewelry at Tiffany’s, the two giant red teddy bears sharing an intimate table outside of Nello Italian Restaurant, the sparkly bejeweled cougar atop Cartier’s flagship  in store, the Louis Vuitton store wrapped up like a giant present, and the Santa chilling out midst of florescent plastic palm trees (not sure which store).

At Christmas time, Bryant Park (spanning 40th to 42nd Streets and 5th to 6th Avenue) turns into a winter wonderland.  It has a giant Christmas market with over 170 shopping kiosks and food vendors along with a lovely 17,000 square foot skating rink with the New York skyline in the background and a big tree that rivals (and in my mind is nicer than) the one at Rockefeller Centre.  On sale are all types of crafts and souvenirs ranging from kitschy to artsy.  You can get a doggy Christmas ornament in the breed of your pet, and have his/her name etched on it and there were truffles intriguingly titled “No Chewing Allowed”.  I was really tempted by a mug featuring extremely cute alien-like creatures made by a husband and wife team named “Kudu Lah” until I recalled the cupboard jammed full of mugs that we have back home.

While we were cruising the Manhattan streets looking for Christmas decorations, we also encountered many stores with cool, non-yuletide related displays.  One of the best was at the designer handbag store Coach, where artist Billie Achilleos has created a 12-foot tall dinosaur that they nicknamed “Rexy”, made from over 400 Coach handbags and hardware.  The work reminded us of pieces by Canadian Indigenous artist Brian Jungen who makes totem poles out of golf bags, indigenous masks out of Nike shoes and an enormous orca whale made out of white plastic stacking chairs. At FAO Swartz’s flagship store in Rockefeller Centre, Rich was excited about the toy version of a Jaguar E-Type (or “the yellow car” as I called it).  In the window of a store on 57th Street (might be Ippolita Boutique?), we saw the most awesome mannequin busts, made entirely out of thick coiled rope.  Just off of Times Square, there were huge snow globes featuring Broadway shows including Wicked, Ain’t Too Proud and Dear Evan Hanson.  We saw the creepiest cat-inspired purses at Kate Spade in honour of the upcoming Cats movie, which is probably appropriate since the cats in the trailer of that film are really creepy as well.  At the novelty shop PIQ in Rockefeller Centre, I found my souvenir for the trip—a Christmas rubber chicken dressed like Santa which makes a noise when you squeeze it that could rouse the dead.  Rich regrets letting me buy this as he is now regularly awakened by the squawking bird which I have named Arthur (for no particular reason).  Finally in the Swatch store on 45th Street, we saw some giant Swatch wall clocks including a cow themed one that my cow-enthusiast friend would have loved.

Christmas in Manhattan is magical as the city really knows how to “Deck the Halls” and the trees and the lobbies and the store windows.  It is an experience that should not be missed.

Port Dover/Port Stanley/Pelee Island 2019

At the last minute, we were invited by our friends Kevin and Olena to spend the Canada Day long weekend with them on Pelee Island where they had rented a cottage, after their original travel companions had to cancel.  Happily accepting, my husband Rich and I decided to extend the trip by a day.  We would leave on Friday morning, first stopping first in Port Dover and then Port Stanley on the shores of Lake Erie.  We had visited each of these port towns before, in 2010 and 2013 respectively and really enjoyed ourselves so we decided it was time for a return trip.  This would also break up the drive to Leamington, where we would meet up with our friends early Saturday morning to catch the 11am ferry for the 1.5 hour ride to Pelee Island.

From our previous trip to Port Dover back in 2010, we still have fond memories of our fresh perch meal at the Erie Beach Hotel and so we made reservations to have lunch there again.  Not much has changed since our last visit.  The famous perch (or pickerel) meal still comes with toasted celery bread and our own personal “Cove Room Salad Cart” which offers multiple salad choices whose recipes date back to the 1950s.  These included the horseradish jello (my favourite and much better tasting than it sounds), marshmallow and mandarin orange salad, sliced cucumbers in mayonnaise, green bean salad, cole slaw, and a plate of pickles, beets and pumpkin cubes.  The perch main course comes with either 3 or 5 fillets of perch, a heaping bowl of tartar sauce, choice of potato and steamed (overly cooked) vegetables.  The only thing missing from our previous meal here was the group of elderly waitresses dressed in their 50’s style uniforms,  white aprons and rubber sneakers that seemed to come straight out of the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.  Too bad they have now been replaced with much younger wait-staff in sleek, black uniforms that just don’t give that same cool retro vibe.

As hinted at by its name, the Erie Beach Hotel is situated on a boardwalk strip leading to the Port Dover beach.  The strip is lined on both sides of the road with shops selling t-shirts, beachwear and tacky souvenirs, as well as ice cream parlours.  In honour of Canada Day, Rich bought a rosy red coloured t-shirt with a maple leaf and the words “True North Strong and Free” emblazoned upon it.  After our lunch, we visited the Ice Cream Tank for dessert and claimed a couple of Muskoka chairs under a shaded patio to enjoy them.   When we saw that they offered Moosetracks, we thought we were eating Kawartha Dairies Ice Cream but it turns out that the flavour “Moosetracks” is offered by multiple creameries including London Ice Cream Company which supplies for this parlour.  I had a double scoop of Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mudpie and Coffee-Ferrero Roche, which Rich also chose along with a scoop of cinnamon.

Prior to our lunch, we spent some time wandering up and down Port Dover’s Main Street, which boasts many fun shops and eateries.  It was an extremely hot day so we started rating and ranking the stores based on the strength of their air conditioning.  Trish’s Bakery failed the test as the hot ovens made the small enclosed space even hotter than it was outside, but the bakery did offer “butter tart bars” which Rich coveted.  We withstood the oppressive heat just long enough to buy a couple to heat later in the day.  By contrast, the Dover Cheese Shop had very strong air conditioning, which was required to keep the cheeses cold and so we lingered as long as we could, slowly “browsing” all the offerings in the shop.  We tried their feature lavender flavoured cheese but preferred the bright green wasabi gouda, which we bought a small chunk of to eat later.  We also bought some cauliflower crisps and “maple moonshine” candy-coated pecans.  We ended up snacking on all of this for dinner at our hotel since we were too full from lunch to eat a full dinner.  We wandered into C-Squared Home and Décor to look at antiques and furnishings, Cozmic Candy store to check out the old-fashioned candies and chocolates for sale, and On the Fringe Leather and Accessories, which specialized in wardrobe for motorcycle riders.  For some reason, Port Dover has become a haven for motorcyclists.  A contingent of them congregate in the town on any month where the 13th day falls on a Friday.   We were informed by the clerk at the cheese shop that on Friday 13th, only motorcycles are allowed into Port Dover.  No automobiles are allowed unless the driver holds either a resident or work license and the license is only good for 2 people per household!

Following our afternoon in Port Dover, the plan was to visit Port Stanley, wander around its Main Street, watch a play at the local theatre and then spend the night there before heading to Leamington in the morning to meet up with our friends and catch the ferry to Pelee Island.  Since this was such a last minute trip, we could not find availability in a Port Stanley hotel that suited our needs and price point.  Instead, we booked a room at the Comfort Inn in nearby St. Thomas, a 15 minute drive from Port Stanley.  Our intentions of touring the streets of Port Stanley also fell by the wayside since it was too hot to be outside.  We bought tickets for the evening showing of a Norm Foster comedy called Lunenberg, ducked into a coffee shop for an iced frappe and then headed to our air-conditioned hotel where we would chill, rest and eat our Port Dover snacks before returning for the show.   We had watched other plays by Norm Foster in the past, but Lunenberg is by far our favourite.  The writing is both hilarious and touching with three well-rounded characters played by 3 excellent actors who had great fun delivering Foster’s witty dialogue.   The Port Stanley Festival Theatre is located on the main drag and has an upstairs terrace with a great view of the harbour.

Early on Saturday morning, Rich and I wolfed down a bit of the free hot breakfast offered by the hotel before setting out for the 2 hours drive from Port Stanley to Leamington where we were to meet our friends Kevin and Olena at the coffee shop across from the ferry dock.  The plan was leave our car at the Leamington ferry parking lot and travel to the island in our friends’ van.  Imagine our surprise when we pulled up for gas just outside of Leamington and found Kevin pumping gas at the pump right next to us!  When we arrived at the ferry dock, we were shocked and a bit alarmed to see the area inundated with rather large scary-looking bugs that we later learned were called “fish flies” or “May flies”.  As their name implies, the end of June is very late in the season for these bugs that show up for just a few days per year and then die off.  Luckily the bugs do not bite and will fly away if you swat at them.  But it was still really creepy to see so many large bugs congregated on the parked cars, light poles and walls at the dock and on the windows and walls of the Pelee Islander II ferry that took us to Pelee Island.  We continued to see these flies throughout our 2.5 day stay on the island but learned to ignore them.  We did not realize their power and impact until the Monday when we were due to depart the island on the 4pm ferry, but that story will have to wait until the end of this blog.

Our reservation for one vehicle, four passengers and four bicycles on a bike rack was for 11am but we were told that we should arrive and be online to board at least 1 hour in advance or else our spot might be given away.  We got there just before 10am and got into line as advised.  Very shortly after, we were told to drive onto the ferry, park the car in the lower hull and exit to the seating areas above.  We happened to be parked right behind a gorgeous vintage 1935 Auburn that we would see again later on the island.  As we settled into our seats, we were surprised by how many people were already on board since we thought that we were quite early.  Olena and I decided to go up to the top deck to get some fresh air and wait for the ferry to depart.  To our surprise, the ferry started sailing and it was only then that we realized that somehow, we had made it onto the 10am departure!  The sailing was so smooth that Rich and Kevin did not even realize for a while that we were moving.  This was all very fortuitous since it gave us an extra hour of vacation time on the island.  We also got lucky with the weather which had been calling for rain the whole week leading up to the trip, but miraculously the forecast changed at the last minute and we were treated to three warm, sunny days!

Pelee Island is the largest island on Lake Erie and is the southern-most point in Canada.  Its climate is amongst the mildest in Canada and the community is mostly agricultural based, growing soybeans, wheat, corn and grapes.  It is 19km in length and 6km in width with a circumference of about 28km of relatively flat roads that are good for cycling.  There are several restaurants and ice cream parlours, a winery, an excellent bakery and several public beaches on the island.  We landed on the West Dock and our cottage rental was a very short distance from there.

The cottage  that our friends rented, called “On Pelee Time”, was situated on the west shore of Pelee Island and we could see the waters of Lake Erie just across the road.  It was huge with four bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a powder room, a fully stocked kitchen, dining room table and large living room area.  But the best feature was the screened in porch that allowed us to get fresh air while providing protection from the bugs.  We enjoyed this area so much that other than sleeping at night, we spent most of our time at the cottage in this space.

We ate all of our meals on the porch, and sat there to read, listen to music and chat with each other.  At night, the bugs came out in full force and the sky was visibly filled with swarming mosquitoes and fish flies.  Accordingly I was perfectly happy to stay indoors at night since we could comfortably watch the sunset from within the porch. Rich and I could even watch the Canada Day fireworks which were being launched at the West Dock just down the road from us, although we didn’t have as good of a view as Kevin and Olena, who braved the bugs to go to the docks and captured some beautiful photos of the firework displays bursting in the sky over the glimmering water.

Our cottage was perfectly situated to watch the Canada Day Parade since the vehicles and floats gathered in the field right next to us and the parade passed right by our porch window.  It was here that we saw the 1935 white Auburn again, since it was participating in the parade.  There were cars decked out with Canadian flags, balloons, streamers and other decorations.  A Tractor pulled a float loaded with what looked like a group of farm-hands while a Shriner’s Hospital truck and a golf cart decked out like a Hawaiian dancer with a grass skirt went by.  Trailing the procession were several people on foot dressed like birds.  It wasn’t a very long parade but it was fun while it lasted.  It was interesting to see people holding  both Canadian and American flags (including one flag that seemed to be an amalgamation of the two).  Americans come to Pelee Island via a ferry that leaves from Sandusky, Ohio.

We went for a bike ride on each of our 2.5 days on the island and managed to cover most of the trails along the circumference as well as a few offshoot paths. The first day was supposed to be a scouting expedition as we were looking for a nice beach that we could go to the next day, as well as eateries and other points of interest.  We started north along the west coast and thought that we would ride around the coastline of the entire island.  But we took a wrong turn while coming back down the east coast and ended up taking one of the roads that cut through the middle of the island.  It was actually a blessing since it was so hot that day and we would have tired ourselves out for the next day’s ride, when we explored the lower half of the island.   We saw some interesting sights including a tree decorated with a bunch of sneakers tied together by their laces and a little miniature of a country home named “Vin Villa” with the sign “For Rent – Perfect for Small Family”.  We passed by the island cemetery and saw a plaque dedicated to William McCormick, a member of the Legislature of Upper Canada and a founding father of Pelee Island, building its first permanent settlement in 1834.  We also saw some beautiful scenery including a lovely pond filled with lily pads.

In our search for a nice beach, we were disappointed to find that the beaches closest to us on the west coast were closed due to high water levels washing out the entire sandy parts of the beaches, leaving either small pebbly surfaces or worse, large rocks.  At several of these washed out beaches, we were so hot that we took off our shoes and socks and waded into the water to cool off.  When we rode along the east side of the island, we finally found a beach with enough sand to lay down a beach mat, so we decided to return here the next day.  When we arrived, we found nice sand and warm, shallow water but unfortunately, the water was filled with moss and dead fish flies!  Rich and Kevin wandered out for a quick dip while Olena and I lounged on the beach but the guys decided it was too buggy and shortly after, we packed it in and returned to the comfort of our cottage porch. 

One of the first places that we encountered on our initial bike ride was “The Bakery” located at the north-western part of the island.  Here we found a wide array of pastries as well as lunch options including pizzas, savoury pies and salads.  You could buy frozen lasagnas and other take out food items to reheat and eat later on.  If we came back to Pelee Island, we would not have to bring as much food as we could just buy a few meals from The Bakery and just supplement with fruits and vegetables.  As a little treat, Rich bought a butter tart and I chose the chocolate peanut butter cup with the graham cracker crust that was so delicious that we decided we had to return for more.  We stopped by again on our last morning to get the chocolate peanut butter cups for all of us and also decided to get their breakfast croissant.  This was a freshly made-to-order warm croissant with fried egg, melted cheddar, shaved ham topped with house dijonaise.  It was delicious!

We also found Pelee Island ArtWorks, a small shop selling souvenirs and gift items as well as refreshments!  I was ecstatic when we came across it towards the end of on our first day’s bike ride since I was out of water on a scorchingly hot day and was in desperate need of a cold drink.  Sadly, the “Closed” sign dashed my hopes, but we did return the next day when the shop was open and Rich bought some local strawberry rhubarb jam (yum!), wisely foregoing the rhubarb, pineapple and ginger jam (Bleah!).  The shop also offered internet services which would help Kevin and Olena, who got spotty Rogers cell service, but Rich and I didn’t need it since our Bell cell service worked perfectly.  I found this interesting since we did not have good cell service when we were in the Port Stanley/St. Thomas area.

Following the disappointment of not being able to get refreshments from the Artworks shop, we came across salvation when shortly after, we came across the Pelee Island Vineyards Winery, which appeared as if an oasis in the desert.  The first thing we encountered after entering the winery was a big ice cold dispenser of lemon infused water.  We spent several minutes there, greedily gulping down the water and refilling our water bottles multiple times.  While the others went for free wine tastings, I settled into a large Muskoka chair and was soon blissfully taking a quick nap.  There is a photo of me sound asleep while my insensitive husband is mockingly pointing at me, but this photo will never see the light of day unless the perpetrators want to start an “embarrassing photo war” of epic proportions!  The winery was the perfect place to cool down and rest before the final push back to the cottage (a mere kilometer away but it would have felt much further had we not been able to stop).

On our last day, we returned to the winery for a closer look at the huge metal contraption in the back, which we spotted during our bike rides.  This turned out to be an old no longer functioning brandy distiller that the owner had found and bought as a curiosity piece.  We took some photos inside large wooden barrels and then watched sympathetically as an employee stood in front of a blazing wood burning oven preparing pizzas on another super hot and sunny day.  Out in front were samples of the vines of different types of grapes used to make different types of wine, but none of the vines actually had any grapes on them, so there was not much to see.  Kevin and Olena bought a case of their favourite wine from their tastings—the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc VQA which was nicknamed the “Ladies” wine and showed an image of women in long skirts picking grapes on its label.  This is described as a light and crisp white wine with apple and citrus flavours.  Rich was going to buy some wine as well, but then the fish fly debacle (remember that?  The story is coming soon …) quashed that idea.

Our second day’s bike ride around the lower part of the island actually turned into more of a hike, as we found a hiking trail that would take us around the southern-most tip of the island.  We locked up our bikes and headed onto the forest, not knowing what quite to expect.  We saw much flora and fauna as we marched through the woods, including a variety of trees and plants, different types of birds, “terrestrial snails”, little wiggly snakes and a cricket frog in a bright slime-green marsh.  We also saw many giant trees that had been uprooted by inclement weather.  The terrain of hard-packed soil eventually turned into sand as we got closer to the coast.

Our intended route was a loop that would take us south along the west side of Fox Lagoon by the Fish Point Natural Reserve, follow near the eastern edge of the point to reach south-most spot on the island, and thus also in Canada, then return north along the western edge of the point to get back to our bikes.  This plan hit several snags.  First of all, we thought we took a wrong turn and fell off the trail since we couldn’t get as far south as we thought we should.  Thank goodness for our Bell cell service and Google Maps or we might have no clue where we were at some points.  As it turned out, we did reach the south-most point of the island but it was much further north than usual since the high waters had covered the long sand bar and part of the tip of the island.  To prove it, Olena bravely wandered out into the water before we called her back, fearful that the waves would sweep her away!  Soldiering on, we walked on the beach along the western edge of the tip, grateful that we had escaped the bugs in the woods.  Since she was already wet, Olena strolled in the water while we walked on the sand beside her.  This was a lovely walk until we discovered a short distance away from completing our loop that the water levels had gotten too high and we were unable to continue along this coast line.  Not willing to blindly cut across the wooded interior in search for our starting point, we decided to turn back and retrace our steps.  This turned out to be a longer hike than we expected, but still an enjoyable one, full of different terrain, sights and experiences.  When we got back to our bikes and finished the ride of the lower part of the island, we came across mulberry bushes and happily feasted on the fruit before continuing on our way.

Now finally, for the fish fly story.  All during our stay, we were wondering why the island seemed so empty since the weather was fine and it was the Canada Day long weekend.  We found out the reason a few hours before our scheduled boat ride back to the mainland on Monday afternoon.  Apparently either late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, the massive influx of fish flies clogged the water cooling system of the Pelee Islander II, taking it out of commission for several days.  This was one of the larger ferry boats that could take up to 40 vehicles in one trip.  The second large ferry boat, the Jiimaan, was sent as a replacement but in an amazing stroke of bad luck, it also ran into mechanical issues early Monday morning shortly after picking up a boat load of passengers from the mainland.  These people were truly unlucky since they were stranded in the middle of Lake Erie for 5 hours and required food supplies to be transported to them while they were trapped.  This all happened while we were blissfully enjoying our time on the island.  By the time we found out what happened and checked on our return ferry reservations, we learned that only the small Pelee Islander I ferry boat was in service and since it could only take 10 cars at a time (as opposed to 40 for each of the two larger boats), there was a massive backlog of vehicles trying to head home.  It was not looking possible for us to get our car onto the ferry that day and we mulled the possibility of staying over an extra night.  Unfortunately Olena had to get back to work the next day, so we needed a plan B.  It was decided that Kevin would stay overnight with the car and most of our gear including our bicycles, while Rich, Olena and I traveled back as “walk-on” passengers, since the bottleneck was the vehicles and not the passengers.  Then Rich and I could take our car parked in Leamington to drive Olena home while Kevin would search for an extra night’s accommodations and return the next day.  We sadly left Kevin and made our way onto boat for the 5pm departure (delayed an hour from our originally scheduled 4pm booking).  Imagine our surprise when we got a text from him about an hour into our sail.  The Pelee Islander II had been repaired, passsed testing and was ready to set sail again at 6:30pm.  Miraculously, Kevin made it as the second last vehicle to board this ship and would land shortly after 8:15pm, a mere 1.5 hours after us.

We had always planned to have a final meal at Birdie’s Perch “Bus-taurant” in Leamington prior to our drives home, so we decided to go there while we waited for our reunion with Kevin.  Serendipitously,  I had read an ad for Birdie’s Perch in the LCBO magazine just prior to our trip and it sounded so much fun.  The restaurant is located in the bottom of an old double-decker bus, while the top deck was turned into restaurant seating.  Too bad it was way too hot for anyone to sit up there, so we joined the other diners at the tables outside, shaded by umbrellas.  The place was packed and as it turns out, it would take us over 45 minutes to get our food since there were so many people who had ordered ahead of us.  This worked out perfectly since we were waiting for Kevin anyway.  Had we not had the fish fly experience, we probably would not bothered with such a long wait and would have missed out on some deliciously fried perch, crispy fries and excellent cole slaw.  Kevin arrived just in time to eat his share while it was still fairly warm.  As the perfect end to our Canada Day long weekend adventure, we were asked to take part in a Canada Day video made by the owners, where we all sang “O Canada” while waving our water bottles or anything we could get our hands on.  Thanks to Kevin and Olena for inviting us to a fun-filled weekend!