What a poignant quote and one that I think really sums up a lot of 2020 so far. "Planning" is great but one thing I have learned is that in order to make it in this world, one must learn how to adapt to situations. Nothing stays exactly the same, as much as we would like it to. Life is every-changing. Sometimes we're at the top of our game, other times, we put our house keys in the refrigerator (yup, it's happened).
So our annual Stratford trip especially to celebrate our first year of marriage was definitely not happening, once the announcement was made by the Stratford Festival that the 2020 season was cancelled.
I was perfectly content with just staying home, maybe watching some movies like we usually do and perhaps ordering some take-out as a treat. I should know that being married to a magician, he always has something up his sleeve! Bill surprised me with a relaxing trip to Port Stanley so that was our pre-anniversary trip away! We had never been there before, and so it seemed like a great idea to take in some of its rich history, which you can read about here History of Port Stanley and just spend time together. The drive was just a few hours and the weather couldn’t have been better. Who knew when the next lock down would be, right?!.
Arriving in Port Stanley... Sun-screen – check, umbrella for shade – check, flip flops for sandy beach – check, snacks to prevent hangry times – check! The beach itself was pretty empty when we arrived, which was nice since a full busy beach during Covid would not be my idea of a fun time. We walked along the beach which was so tranquil, just listening to the waves and splashing our feet a bit in the water. We also got to walk around Hofuis Park, so a great way to get in some exercise as well. As the day went on, it did get busier. Most people were social distancing, but we still felt safer wearing our masks.
After a long beach walk and snapping some photos of the gorgeous scenery, we went to the shopping district, and browsed some of the shops. I really love smaller towns sometimes because merchants are just so friendly. Each place had hand sanitizer, only allowed a few people in at a time, maintained social distance, and all were wearing masks, some even masks and shields for protection.
They also have a cool festival theatre, but it was obviously closed. I think it would be fun to go back there and check it out as well as enjoy some of the fine dining - especially Lake Erie Perch! I felt very apprehensive to really eat “at” a restaurant, even with the option of being outdoors on some of the beautiful patios they had available. Next time!
Since it was such a hot day, our final stop before heading home was a cute place called Broderick’s. You'll see a huge menu with just about every ice cream you can dream of. I had been craving St. Jacob's Apple Pie ice cream all summer long and so what a nice treat. 2 please. It was rich, creamy and appley delicious! :)
Our first trip to Port Stanley was amazing. I am so happy that we were able to visit this growing harbour village community. They are really working so hard to thrive in a pandemic situation and so it will be exciting to go back again to explore all the new developments and enjoy a little more “Port” life.
Visit Port Stanley's website at: https://www.portstanley.net/ and be sure to like their page on Facebook to keep up with what's happening!
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