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| Summer vacations as a child went between time at a cabin at a nearby lake and trips to Ontario to see my mom’s side of the family (my dad’s side lives where I live). So pretty much every summer, we would leave the city and go to a place where you were just steps from the water and could easily jump into a lake if you wanted to. | |
 | When we would go to Ontario, a place you just had to visit was Sauble Beach. Situated on Lake Huron, it has been named the best freshwater beach in Canada, and for good reason. Every time I go there, I think of one of those typical resort towns that you see in the movies – complete with a burger stand on the beach, water that seems to go on forever (it actually doesn’t – Michigan is on the other side somewhere) and an amusement park right off of the main road. We used to drive right onto the beach (although you can`t do that anymore), set up a spot to stay for the day, and go out into the water. Because of the sandbars, you could walk out for quite a long way. It is still like that as a beach but it has become very popular among those around there (not that it wasn`t before) and having a Readers Digest section name it the best beach has helped with that a lot. |
| Something else we would often do is go to a waterfall that is literally in the city and go hiking on the paths around it. Because of the location of the Niagara Escarpment, you can actually see water coming right off the side of the road, and when the waterfall is running a full power, it is quite the thing to see. It has actually been featured in the beginning of a Jackie Chan film. |  |
 | Another thing that there is to do is head up the coast of Georgian Bay and take the glass bottom boat to Flower Pot island. On the way there, you can see shipwrecks through the bottom of the boat (well you used to be able to, but the boat has since sunk itself) and then you get to spend time on the island itself, exploring all that is around you. |
| When we didn`t go to Ontario, we would go to a lake closer to home, rent a cabin there, and have a lot of fun just relaxing and going to the beach. We would be able to live in relative seclusion from everything else that was going on in the world, though there was a time when we had a bad storm and it managed to knock out most of our power. Or there was the time that our neighbours found out that we would not be returning the next year and so their daughter threw an egg at my head. I was very glad we were at a lake. |  |
Overall, my childhood summer vacations were very much a fun part of my life and in fact, I still often travel to the beach or Ontario and spend my summers lazing in the sun, although that often results in a sunburn. | |
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