Bobs Lake will always have a special place in my heart. I try to find words to describe my feelings and come up with the three M's. Magical, mystical, and magnetic. Anyone who has ever visited Bobs Lake knows this feeling.
Years ago when there was limited information on the internet about Bobs Lake I made a page on my website, and it quickly became my most popular page:
click here.
Many people have sent me e-mails and shared their special memories.
Since my first year at the lake in 1960, not even a year old, my family would drive over ten hours from Wilmington, Delaware to spend two to three weeks at the lake every summer. We would spend every vacation at Cedar Haven Camp. I'm excited that I just now came across this old postcard of what the camp used to look like when Chick and Elsie Reynolds used to own it, about two years before I was born circa 1957
Below is a photo of what the lodge at Cedar Haven looks like now.
The view (below) of Cedar Haven Camp taken from the boat, or Cedar Haven Cottages as they call it now. You can hardly see the lodge. They had called it a lodge, because that was all it was at first, there were no cottages, and you stayed overnight in the lodge and meals were served.
MAGNETIC - Definition: Having an unusual power or ability to attract
It has been about seven years since I have been back, so you can imagine my excitement about returning. I don't know why I have not visited more often, because I currently live only three hours away. This must have been the magnetic pull at work, but 12 years ago I met my husband who happened to be Canadian, in a Nascar chat room, and a few years after moving to Canada I became a Canadian citizen. The photo below is of us at Bobs Lake about 8 or 9 years ago.
The below photo is from 1972 of my Mom coming out of a cheese factory. This Cheese Factory was located just outside of
Westport on the long dirt road to Cedar Haven Camp. The place didn't look like much from the outside, but it was a true learning experience for me as a child to see all those shiny vats of cheese in the making, and to learn about the whole process. I would take home curds and whey butter to all my friends, as they didn't have a clue what curds & whey were. We didn't waste money on souvenirs, but a wedge of the oldest, sharpest aged cheese was what my Mom would take back for all her sisters in Pennsylvania. It made the best macaroni and cheese, and my Dads favorite, melted cheese on toast. And this leads into the next M . . . . .
MYSTICAL - Definition: Of hidden or esoteric meaning
Much to my surprise and delight someone had signed my guest book privately telling me about his newly acquired property on Bobs Lake. I was wondering why his name sounded so familiar, but just thought it was my imagination. You ask what does cheese have to do with this? Well my love of cheese and my bosses' vision led me to be Event Coordinator of The Great Canadian Cheese Festival. It was then I realized he was recently a speaker at a cheese conference that my boss had attended about a week or two prior. After many e-mails back and forth he offered me a week at his lovely property which just so happened to be close to my favorite area of Bobs Lake.
So call it what you will, mystical, six degrees of separation, or just the amazing powers of the internet, I was able to rekindle all of my Bobs Lake Memories this year! Thank-you!
The above photo was taken at 6:52 am. I went out to get some photos of the sun which had just risen, but instead got this photo of the full moon. It is always great to have a full moon during your visit to the lake, as its the best place to sit back on the dock and look for satellites and shooting stars. But between the full moon and the cloudy week, it hampered my star gazing, but I think I did see that NASA satellite go by:-)
MAGICAL - Definition: Enchanting; bewitching
To me the lake has always been magical. I remember jumping out of the car as a child and could not wait to get my bathing suit on and spending every possible hour that I could in the lake. And never forgetting that longest hour of my life that I had to wait after eating a meal to go swimming. LOL
In my teens I would just jump out of the car and sit on the dock and just look out over the lake in awe of the beauty and solitude and had to pinch myself to remind myself that I was not dreaming. So many times upon arrival the spirits in the skies would have a rainbow waiting for me. And that first night I would always catch a Northern Pike off the dock with my old faithful daredevil lure.
This year there was no rainbow waiting for my arrival, just a gorgeous view as usual, but I did catch a nice perch, and I did run to the edge of the lake and rip off my shoes and socks and walk in the lake, before I even unlocked the cottage or unpacked the car.
The cottage was absolutely the most comfortable and cozy place I have ever stayed at in all my years to Bobs Lake, and ironically it was located at the exact spot where I would get my first glimpse of my favorite area of the lake.
The view from the bay.
When I was 16 years old, staying at Cedar Haven, I became best friends for a week with a girl named Jane, whose family owned the white cottage (above) called Rocky Knoll. And thanks again to my Bobs Lake web page we re-connected after her cousin saw the page and contacted me. And ironically we hung out playing pinball and bumper pool and listening to the jukebox with the kids from Ohio who formerly owned the cottage I was staying in this year. Now if only I could get Rod Stewart's Maggie May out of my head. LOL
THE MICA MINES
I remember as a child my Dad taking me to the mica mines and I still have a big chunk of mica that I found that day. This year I had to go back and see if I could still find the remains of the mines. BINGO, I found it and some more chunks of mica for my collection.
From the lake you look for the old mining car at the shoreline (above photo). With my binoculars, I quickly found it and we began our exploring.
You have to be very careful as there are pits and deep crevaces hidden all over.
The above one looked very deep. We hiked up to the top of the hill and found more old equipment. (below)
John Lovelace did an episode "In Search of the lost (mica) mines" on his TV series Wings over Canada. This again confirms the fact of how special this lake is, when a bush pilot like John Lovelace actually lived there for a number of years. The tape can be ordered
from Wings over Canada, Look for season four episode 404.
THE WILDLIFE
I remember my family going for a walk, and we found a big nest up high in the trees in a swampy area. At first we thought it was an Eagle, but after getting out the bird books, we found it to be an Osprey. They were not very common back in the 60's but I am happy to say the lake now has an abundance of Ospreys. In fact so much so they never shut up. LOL Don't get me wrong I love to hear their gentle peeps, but I love hearing the loons so much more. And don't get me started on the annoying crows. I did see more Ospreys this year than herons.
The above photo is a little island with a man made stand for the ospreys to nest. At one time this little island had one single large tree on it, and I nicknamed it loon island, because when I would canoe over there, the loons would always be nesting.
A loon above and another osprey below. We did see a golden eagle.
I watched this little mink (below) swim across the bay, over to the boat house and then wander over to check out if I was catching any fish on the dock.
Photo below is of a red squirrel. I should have taken a photo of a black squirrel as I keep forgetting they are not common place for my friends south of the border. My husband calls them tree rats, and they can be a pain, as one had chewed a computer wire on my van. Luckily my husband is an excellent mechanic and I saved $1000. of labor, but was out $400. for the part. In my opinion the red ones are more of a menace.
Photo of a woodpecker below. My husband don't believe me, but I actually petted one when I was a kid at Cedar Haven.
Check out the below video for the peaceful sounds of Bobs Lake.
I only hope and pray that I don't see any cormorants there, or I'm going to have to go cormorant hunting. They are a species that are quickly becoming a problem in many areas of Canada and the United States. They destroy the vegetation on the islands and shorlines that they inhabit and eat up all the fish. The Canadian Government is calling their return a
success story. I say HOGWASH!
Read here to see what the Toronto Star has to say about their deforestation. I would hate to see any of Bobs Lake landscape be ruined by these evil birds.
I think we are being followed! We take the half hour dive into the beautiful little town of Westport and what is the first thing we see?
The Kawartha Voyageur.
I imagine one of the reasons we don't get to Bobs Lake as much as I would like, is because we have a boat on Lake Simcoe, which is where we see the Kawartha Voyageur quite often. We also saw her wintered one year closer to home in Pickering, where she was getting some work done, and the years we spent at the 1000 Islands we would also see her there.
She does have some of the most beautiful cruising grounds, but its not the most glamorous ship. But for someone who does not have a boat, its the best way to see the best of Ontario's waterways and quaint little towns.
St. Andrew the Fisherman, Anglican Chuch. Church services for the cottagers in the summer months. I wanted to get married here in the summer of 2000, but we were kind of rushed into a February wedding, thanks to immigration Canada:-(
Additional photos have been posted at our
Day Tripping Ontario facebook page. Please visit and LIKE the page!
And one last thing, while I was there this year I came up with a new word to describe my feelings:
SUREAL - Definition: having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream
Until next time, the dreams will continue:-)
For more Bobs Lake links, photos and viewer submissions,
click here.
The Original Bellini is a frozen blend of premium white rum, peach liqueur and sparkling white wine, topped with Boone's sangira. All of my favorites blended into one throat freezing experience!
This past February 2011, we visited the Niagara Falls location (above photo) which was inside the Sheraton Fallsview. We had a few hours to kill before our room was ready at the neighboring Embassy Suites so we thought we would grab a drink and some lunch. By the time I am getting around to writing this review the Shearton Fallsview is under new ownership and is now called the Marriott Gateway to the Falls Complex, with the Marriott Fallsview being next door.
You can see the former Sheraton on the left, the Marriott Falls view in the center and the Ramada Tower in the background.
The Embassy Suites (above center) which is our favorite in Niagara was a short walk from Milestones.
Ok, call me crazy, but I love the Winter. The Niagara Milestones has an outdoor patio overlooking the falls and we convinced them to let us go out there in February. You think I would be drinking something warm rather than a frozen Bellini in the snow:-)
Looking up from the outside patio (above) at Milestones, I imagine this now says Marriott. Like changing underwear, hotels in Niagara Falls change ownership often, and new ones are always popping up.
