August 18, 2003
It must be something in my Maritime heart that keeps me returning to Wasaga Beach.
Languid summer afternoons at the ‘Dog Beach,’ where my terrier mix companion Kiko can swim out to fetch sticks, are heaven. But Wasaga is an interesting place to visit any time of the year.
At Christmas time, it is the only place I know of where the wind picks up pockets of gutter sand to send them swirling over the roads, disappearing only when the snow comes.
People with cottages in Muskoka take a dim view of my ravings about Wasaga, some even pronouncing it as "tacky." They can contemplate life over martinis in their cold rock setting, but give me lively, colourful, tacky Wasaga Beach.
With its population of 14,000 residents, and two million visitors a year, everyone knows that Wasaga boasts the world’s largest fresh water beach.
It will never be Nova Scotia with its plethora of Atlantic Ocean beaches, or even Cape Cod, which I still dream about after only visiting once.
Yet there’s something special about being able to walk out until the water is up to neck level along a smooth sandy bottom.
What can make the city seem further away than a barbecue under a shade tree right on the beach? Toasting marshmallows with the moon reflected on water makes you feel, if only for the moment, that life can be a beach. Even the souvenir shops and fast food joints along the beach lend a holiday feeling.
An elegant little Beach bistro known as the Sizzling Shrimp is as inviting as any in downtown Toronto. Dining on lobster tails and scampi on the restaurant’s tiny backyard patio is a special summer treat.
If Wasaga Beach is really a tad tacky, we could all use a little tacky as a refreshing change to skyscrapers and hot city pavement.
As a visitor for six years running, it wasn’t until this summer that I finally read up on the history of Wasaga Beach.
According to the Internet, "The sandy soil of Wasaga Beach may have been unsuitable for farming, but when the potential for logging in the 1800s was realized, Wasaga Beach began to attract settlers."
As someone wanting to believe that there was something about Wasaga Beach to set it apart from other areas, I was thrilled to discover that "an event of national significance" took place there.
The first plane to make an overseas flight for Canada was recorded in the area; Wasaga Beaches’ long flat sandy beach made a perfect runway for the momentous occasion. A plane, called the "Trail of the Caribou" used the Beach as a takeoff strip, back in 1934.
The Town of Wasaga Beach has a history dating back to the fur trading days, when it was the main route to the great North West.
The town evolved into a strategic location in the War of 1812, when the schooner Nancy was sunk in her moorings in an effort by the Americans to cut that supply line to Fort Michillimacinac and points to the North and West.
In my waking dreams, I always find this gem of a house on the beach, to which I move, away from the city. From this all-season setting, I can email columns to my downtown Toronto office from the Beach house.
Meanwhile, there are day trips. If I can’t go all the way to the salty spray of the ocean, then Wasaga Beach is the next best thing.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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