Before we left for our hike in Bruce Peninsula National Forest, Sandy looked at the sky and invoked an anti-jinx: “I really hope it rains!” But the Canadian rain god is polite, not perverse like the American one, and so he obeyed Sandy’s request. Despite the downpour and the raging black fly swarm, this was still one of the loveliest locales on the trip so far.
This was really the first we’d seen of the flies that all the Great Lakes travel guides warned about. We lucked out across the Apostles and the UP, just seeing sort of normal amounts of biting bugs. But today, holy shit. Black flies were covering my pants, and no matter how much DEET Sandy soaked himself with, he couldn’t keep them off his bare ankles.
After the rain and the bugs, we were ready to settle in for the evening. But we’ve hit the part of the trip where we didn’t make any reservations because we weren’t exactly sure which night we’d get places. So, it’s Saturday night near what seems to be the biggest tourist destination in Ontario, and we could barely find a vacancy.
We finally settled on a town a little ways down the peninsula, in an area we’d like to hike tomorrow. Sandy called a few B&Bs and finally found a vacant room at a good rate at the Cat’s Pajamas.
We’re getting a full-blown Canadian small-town experience here in Lion’s Head. We pulled onto Main Street and saw a big sign at the church: BBQ Pork, 5-7 PM. We had ten minutes to spare, and ran over for dinner. For $12 (Canadian, as if that matters anymore), we supported the Lion’s Head Anglican church, and feasted on BBQ pork roast, potatoes, bean salad, rolls, and pie. We had missed the gravy and the cooked vegetables, but it was still great. We met some nice retirees, talked a little politics, and got invited to church.
Two doors down from the church, directly across the street from our B&B, there’s a wedding a the Rotary Hall. So far we’ve had some disco hits, an ’80s medley, the Macarena, and a little Irish traditional music. Our favorite was the first dance, to a Brad Paisley ballad called “Little Moments” which is all about how even though his beloved screws shit up all the time, he loves her anyway. (“Well that’s just like last year on my birthday/She lost all track of time and burnt the cake/And every smoke detector in the house was goin’ off/…Yeah I live for little moments like that.”)
Sandy’s gone across the street to hang out with the father of the bride, and the garter toss will be in a few minutes. Soon, the bride and groom will jump in their Just-Married army jeep, and Lion’s Head will settle back into sleepy silence. At least we hope it will be soon. Otherwise we’re in for a long night.
COMMENTS
At my sister’s wedding on Friday night, the first dance was to Iron & Wine’s rendition of “Such Great Heights.” But there was no barbecue available. Also, it was in a large city in Florida, not in a small town in Canada.