Thursday, July 4, 2019
We never celebrated our anniversary this year, 36 years on May 22. Busy preparing for this trip, we spent the day on doctors' visits. And now our days are filled with getting in miles, looking at maps, finding grocery stores, setting up camp, researching Warm Showers hosts, finding campgrounds, packing up camp, stopping along the way to sightsee. It's all great fun, but after four weeks on the road we were ready for a break in that routine, to have some time to just be together, the two of us in a beautiful, comfortable place, doing nothing we have to do.
We found it in Bayfield.
After spending the night at The Pinery Provincial Park, outside Grand Bend on the shore of Lake Huron, we sailed along for 28 miles, arriving in Bayfield by ten o'clock on the morning of Thursday, July 4. As we cranked out those morning miles, I was thinking about the conversation Rob and I had had earlier, about trying to find somewhere a little nicer than a cheap motel for the night. We were aiming for Goderich, a sizeable town 21 miles north of Bayfield, hoping for some good options there.
The first thing we came to in Bayfield was a town park where we stopped to use the restroom and have a snack. I sat down on a bench next to a couple young motbers whose children were playing in the sprinklers and asked them about Bayfield and Goderich. They said that downtown Bayfield, just down the street, didn't have a whole lot but that Goderich had quite a few restaurants and lodging options.
Back on our bikes we rode past the park and turned down the main street of Bayfield. My attention was immediately caught by an old building on the corner. With old brickwork and an upstairs veranda, it reminded me of an old hotel where you would go for a budget dinner in any small town in Australia. I slowed down to catch more of what looked to be a charming little town, just one street of shops and old buildings. When I saw the library I stopped. I had a good feeling about this town.
"Let's go inside and see if the librarian knows of some places we could stay," I said. I remembered our bike trip in Maine when the town librarian helped us out.
Rob said, "No. Didn't you see the hotel on the corner?" He had noticed the old building across from the one that had caught my eye. "Let's go back and check it out."
This building, too, was a relic of former times. A covered veranda on the second floor with a wooden railing overlooked the main street. On the street level flower boxes overflowing with colorful blooms topped a picket fence that separated an outdoor patio from the sidewalk. A dozen wrought-iron tables and chairs sat vacant. The Albion Hotel served as both a hotel and a tavern.
We leaned our bikes against the fence. Rob said, "Let me go inside and see what kind of deal I can get." I sat in a chair and waited, trying to predict, based on how long I sat there, if Rob would come out smiling. I thought, a hundred dollars, maybe a hundred twenty, we could do that.
Rob came out with a smile. "I talked to the owner. The rooms are usually $120 but he said we could have one for $80 if we paid cash." That was $80, Canadian (a little over $60 US), cheaper than the budget hotels we'd been staying in. And cheaper than our high-priced campground.
Rob said, "Why don't you go check out the rooms. See if you can get one that opens onto the veranda."
It was a small hotel, only four rooms. Jeff, the owner, said there was only one room off the veranda, it would cost more, and it wouldn’t be available until later. He showed me two rooms that were available right away. It was only 10:30 in the morning. We'd have the entire day to relax and explore the town. I picked the larger of the two rooms, took some cash out of the ATM in the bar and put the money down.
Upstairs was a lounge with fruit, tea, muffins, and a fridge with juice. and creamers We each took a muffin and I made myself a cup of Earl Grey tea. We showered and spent a couple hours reading and writing. After a picnic lunch in our room we put on our bathing suits under shorts and T-shirts and ventured outside to explore.
We worked our way down one side of the main street, reading the menus of each restaurant we passed. We saw some beautiful outdoor carpets for sale that would be perfect for the patio in our Boulder condo. I said, "Too bad we can't buy one of these."
I am particularly drawn to pottery. In one shop I said to the proprietor, “You have really nice stuff. I’m afraid we can’t buy anything because we are on bicycles.”
She said, “We can ship.”
But we’re on a budget so there will be no souvenirs from this trip. Just pictures and lots of stories.
When we got to the end of the street we took a path down to the marina. Adjacent to it was a small beach.
The beaches we’ve visited in Ontario are different from the ones we’re used to, no long stretches of sand to walk along in bare feet. Here the beaches are made of rocks, no good for barefoot walking. The beach in Bayfield is small. A handful of people were sitting in beach chairs, an umbrella was set up, a few children were in the water and sitting on the beach. The water was clear and, on this day, calm.
We didn't really go for a swim, just a dunk to cool off. Then we took the path back up the hill into town to explore the shops on the other side of the street.
We decided to have dinner downstairs on the outdoor patio of the hotel. It was Wings Night and the place was busy. We ordered a basket of wings cooked thrree different ways, beer, fries, and salad. Then we again strolled down the only street in town in search of ice cream.
I have no pictures of this beautiful town. As I was eating one of the wings, my fingers a mess of honey sauce, I said, "I should go upstairs and get my camera. I need to get a picture of this."
Rob said, "You can get a picture later."
I struggle to live in the moment but that often means forgetting my camera.
"I'll take some pictures in the morning," I said.
But I didn't. As we were loading our panniers on our bikes outside the hotel, two cyclists rode by and distracted us with a new adventure. Not only did I not get any pictures, but I took off with the room key in my bike jersey pocket.
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