Muskoka life in the Georgian Bay

A Muskoka cottage is among life goals now. The famous 'group of seven' painted the Algonquin Province in such a unique way that I can now recognize Canadian artists work when I see the lakes, cottages, trees, and hills in their subject matter. Visiting Six Mile Provincial Park was the best we could do to soak up lake life without a cottage. Relatives in Innisfil took us up north to paddle and picnic on a bank holiday weekend. Picture rustic cottages on islands scattered across lake country north of Toronto and sandwiched in between the great lakes of Ontario and Huron. Fir trees, cool water, canoes, and Muskoka chairs await you on decks to soak up the summer season.

On a rainy day that followed, we fell in love with the McMichael Gallery and sculpture garden which showcased the work of the artists who also spent time in Muskoka country without a cottage and captured the essence. They painted hundreds of small landscape portraits in the field and returned to the studio to enlarge them for gallery display. We were lucky enough to see dozens in both small field size and large form. Jeff puzzles here between styles in the other exhibits on display at the gallery.

Time near the lakes and artwork reflecting #lakelife inspired us to venture over to Collingwood on the shore of Lake Huron aka the Georgian Bay. Cycling friends Alex & Margaret, that we met on the Croatia tour last year recommended a bike trail at the lake's edge with a few breweries or cider houses along the way. We loved biking through the towns and popping into the lake to cool off albeit the temps were 20 degrees cooler up there than a summer in Georgia. There are also several old school ski clubs and mtb groups who rule the Niagara escarpment and we went up in summer for a view from the pub. I asked if they used dogs on their search & rescue teams (like we did in Tahoe) and they reminded me that an escarpment isn't a mountain, so they don't have avalanches. ;-)

Doing this trip without renting a car, we relied on loads of public transit and uber. GO bus, street cars, airport trains, and bike share were all part of the mix. Bit of a snag when we tried to uber from the Bay back down to Toronto 1.5 hours south. But we managed it. There we landed in a bungalow on the east end area known as the Beaches neighborhood.

We enjoyed lovely walks in the morning down to the lake, and grabbed a Tangerine bike share to follow the shore and out onto the infill quays. Toronto transit street cars ran frequently along Queen Street where we were lodged and every single mobility form allowed us to tap and pay as we hopped on. Easy peasy. City lifestyle was definitely lovely, but the Muskoka lifestyle might win out for us in this stage of life.

Until the next trip, adventurers always, Tracie & Jeff