2021 Trip 4: a perennial favourite

Headed out for a long stretch at Sandbanks, a journey to ‘The County’ that we have been doing for decades.

Navigated a different route this year, continuing on Hwy 7 until 37 at Actinolite, then down through Belleville to catch the 62 into Bloomfield. Although a few more kilometres, it allows us to avoid that wretched excuse for a road…Hwy #49 into Picton. 

Upon arriving at Sandbanks PP, we checked in at the West Lake Gate to bypass the crazy day use lineups at the Main Gate. We were lucky to secure a great site this year, only through our diligent early morning efforts battling the reservation seeking hordes. As I have mentioned here before, given the current state of reservation madness, the Ontario Parks Ministry needs to make some hard decisions to address the numerous issues. Typically though, no one has the guts to make those decisions. 

Barley keeping an eye from the safety of his little house

On Friday, our friends Lee & Howard, who live in ‘The County’, dropped by for a swim and a visit. We went to Lakeview Beach, also known through the years as Sandbanks Beach, or even as Lakeshore Beach…who knows what the official name really is??? The water was warm and clear, and the waves were light. Fired up the Q for dinner, then chatted around the fire. Great to get caught up.

Saturday was another gorgeous day, and the highlight of the morning was scooting up to the Fosterholm Farm Market for pan rolls and baked goodies. Hard to beat the doughy goodness of fresh made pan rolls, smeared with butter and jam. 

We trekked to the beach again in the afternoon for a serious float in the water. The waves were up, which meant we were bobbing like big corks…tons of fun. Our friends Mark & Angela are also camping here, and later we had dinner at their site, a yummy feast of fire pit cooked burgers, fresh corn, arugula salad, and butter tarts with ice cream for dessert. Now that’s living the camping life! 

Dale wanted a book to read while here, so we made a little trip into Picton Sunday morning. The bookstore is well stocked, and is attached to a cute little coffee shop called Lily’s…a winning combination. A couple of stops along the way, and we were back at the site. One stop was to pick up a bag of campfire wood at a spot recommended by Mark, just outside the Park. This year Park  wood has reached all time lows for quality, burning this crap produces a black sooty smoke that absolutely stinks. I think a creosote soaked railway tie would be a comparable fire. We are done with Park wood. We’ve seen those green bags of crap being delivered by transport trailers to the Park wood lots, so who knows where all that wood is coming from? Wood bought down the road from the Park is certainly more local, and far less likely to be transporting bugs, as the Parks would have us to believe.

Monday meant another trip on the foldy up to the Fosterholm stand, as the initial batch of pan rolls had been devoured into oblivion. A little tray of chocolate cookies, some cherries, and a bag of cheese curds so fresh they made squeaky sounds just by looking at them, also made the ride back. 

We met up with Lee & Howard for another swim, then headed over to a new County brewery called Slake Brewery, to have a quick bite, sample their craft brews, and watch the sunset. The brewery is set on top of a ridge that looks west, offering a nice view and refreshing breeze. The building is very modern and angular, but is not obtrusive and fits with the landscape. They have an inside and outside tap room, and lots of sun protected picnic tables. They offer a variety of beers on tap, with flavour profiles to quench most taste buds.

Over the past few days the heat and humidity steadily increased, with temps in the mid-90’s, and humidity hovering around 95%, an uncomfortable combination. We ran the A/C all afternoon to help keep Barley comfortable whenever he was hanging out alone at the site. We took a run into Picton on Tuesday to wander around a bit and pick up a few supplies. Mark & Angela were over for dinner, a tasty combination of BBQ grilled pizzas and a salad.

Then the rains began…it pounded down, and although not  apparent when we set up, our whole site was in a low spot. We realized it when the water was flowing down the road and making a turn straight towards our Alto. Our big orange camp mat was quickly under two inches of water. After about an hour, the rain slowed, the show was over, and we turned off the lights for the night.

a bit damp on the site

Woke up to a big hunk of bark residing in the middle of the mat, clearly having surfed there on the deluge of water last night. The water had soaked through the mat by morning, and was starting to dry. Then another black cloud rolled in and we were swamped again. Thankfully it passed, but more rain was called for later in the afternoon. Oh joy.

Our long time friends, Helen & Paul, arrived in The County on Wednesday, staying at an AirBnB in Picton. Before meeting up we were able to get in a refreshing float in the afternoon, and as the weather forecast did not look good, they invited us over to their place for a casual bite to eat. The next day we met in Bloomfield to wander the shops a bit, then grabbed a sandwich, a beer, and a crisp white Huff Estates wine…all the Bloomfield Public House. A great little deli, and nice to see it thriving in these uncertain times.

Later they came over to our site for a BBQ, then we made a nice fire in the Solo Stove after dinner.

Friday we did a little drive tour of ‘The County’. First stop was Waumpoos Winery, where we wandered their wine store, then headed down to the lakeside patio for lunch. The winery has a food truck and an outside bar set up where they offer a casual lunch with a great view of Lake Ontario. The food was tasty and the beer and wine were cold. 

We then drove over to Fifth Town, a local artisan cheese maker with an eclectic mix of offerings. The building is new, incorporating an underground ageing cellar and a large outdoor event area with a very creative wood covering. 

they have the best ventilated porta potty in the county

We tried a flight of nine cheeses, with my favourite of the bunch being one called ‘Where they Roam’, a salty feta like cheese made from water buffalo milk. A few chunks of delectable cheeses are making the journey home with us.

Overnight Friday the heat and humidity broke, and the cooler Saturday morning temps felt great. Amazing how 66F and 80% humidity make such a huge difference to one’s comfort. The weather certainly has been odd this summer, and in a lot of areas of the country, downright disastrous.

We packed up a picnic lunch and headed back to the beach for a few hours of splashing about in the waves and catching a few rays. The afternoon was fabulous and we thoroughly enjoyed the beach. We found a nice little spot nestled up in the dunes which gave us an overall view of the beach happenings. Lots of folks on the beach, but far less crowded than on the main Outlet Beach. The water feels fresher at this beach as it gets plenty of movement, new water circulating in by the wave action from the larger open lake.

not crowded at all if you walk down the beach a bit

Fueled by our last cold refreshing G&T we started to pack away a few items, as we head home tomorrow. Burgers on the Q made a nice simple meal, a tasty way to end our ten days here. It was a great week of lots of socializing, beach time, and wandering The County. Sandbanks continues to be our all time favourite ‘must go’ destination every summer.