Lake District - Exploring Our Cottage Country

The Eastern Beaches

By Allen Willoughby 

The peninsula that juts into the south basin of Lake Winnipeg provides ample cottage land on either side of Highway 59—from Lac du Bonnet to past Grand Beach.

This beautiful peninsula community just north of Grand Beach offers an ideal mix of peaceful tranquillity and bustling activity.

My wife and I have been Victoria Beach cottagers for 35 years and love the fact that it’s a driving-restricted community in the summer months. The narrow, winding, wooded avenues remain very natural and walking or bicycling have become the gas-saving transportation modes of choice. This concept dates back to when the community was conceived as a quiet haven, patterned after an English hamlet. The fact that things haven’t changed much here is a characteristic many
VBers treasure.

We are golf and tennis lovers and at VB they are both a five-minute bike ride away. For others, their ”thing” may be sailing, jogging, fishing, bird-watching, or just sitting on the back porch soaking up the cottage ambience. Also high on the list of things to do is a visit to VB’s Einfeld’s Bakery with its taste-tempting array of guilty-pleasures–like their famous dream cookies.

The municipality also has a vibrant permanent population who blend nicely with the summer cottagers. This is a plus for those of us in retirement-mode who are perhaps planning on a permanent move to the lake.

If relaxing at the cabin or swimming in the lake aren’t filling your dog days, the all-volunteer VB Club offers a complete summer activity program for kids of all ages. It includes swimming lessons, arts and crafts, teen nights, hikes, soccer, sandcastle building and the annual masquerade! Event results and general beach news are reported weekly in the 82-year-old local newspaper–The Victoria Beach Herald.

We love transporting ourselves from the hectic city mode to the more relaxing country style of life. Although we like our modern conveniences, we also want the simple traditions of rural living to be carefully preserved. And, as generations of returning VB cottagers will tell you, this is definitely a place well worth preserving!

Allen Willoughby is editor of The
Victoria Beach Herald.

Lake of the Woods

With this amazing scenic area only a couple of hours drive from Winnipeg, it’s no wonder we consider the mostly Ontarian lake home.

As a feature film and documentary filmmaker I’ve explored the world–from Iraq, Greece and Italy to Mexico, Chile and Taiwan. As exotic and interesting as these places are, I’ve yet to find anywhere as amazing as Lake of the Woods.

I may be somewhat biased in my opinion considering I was born in Kenora and spent idyllic summers driving the boat with my grandfather across a massive, open stretch of water known as The Manitou to our island cabin. I recall him stopping the boat and putting tobacco in the water. I asked him why and he said, “It’s an offering to the spirits, so that you will be safe crossing these big waters.”

Wise words, because if you want to explore this body of water, you’ve got to respect the elements.

Out at The Lake, you are literally at the mercy of what Mother Nature throws at you. Sunny days procure not only smiles but intense sunburns. Windy days create massive swells that pound the beach and bring newfound treasures to its sandy shores. And on those rainy ones, it’s time to light a small fire, relax, read the paper, a book, and perhaps a magazine, too. Sunsets are magical, breathtaking experiences that re-energize the soul, banking patience for the endless parade of red lights and chaos that is regular life waiting back home in Winnipeg.

As timeless and iconic as such images may be, the lake experience is actually structured by mealtimes. In a place without mail or steady cable TV, you wake up and get the coffee on while listening to CBC radio for the daily forecast. Breakfast needs to be prepared for family and guests. Then, after jumping into one of many make-work projects, lunch creeps upon you. A refreshing swim, a lazy siesta, followed by some more work in the garden, and then, the most anticipated meal of the day: the barbecue, accompanied by a guilt-free bottle of wine. Yes, food reminds us we can survive these elements, and that it’s really not a bad way to live for awhile. And at the end of the day, when your head hits the pillow, the sense of peace, accomplishment and communion feels great as the sounds of loons and the lapping of the water lead your body to a much-needed slumber.

Out here, it’s all about the simple things in life–keeping harmony with the company you keep, whether that’s on the beach with the wife and kids, your old fishing buddy, or the spirits of the lake who will be here long after we’re gone.

For those who have never been lake people, they don’t get it, and that’s really too bad. Or, maybe it’s good for those of us who do, leaving more fish for us.

Jeremy Torrie is a filmmaker based
in Winnipeg.

The West Side

by Jon Waldman

From Winnipeg Beach to Hecla the western shores of Lake Winnipeg and the Interlake region are rich in culture and heritage.

I was asked, for this edition of Winnipeg Men, to do a bit of personal reflection on my summers in the western Lake Winnipeg region–to talk about what it is that makes burning 50 bucks of gas just about every weekend for two months of the year worthwhile. Well, it’s a lot of things, to be honest.

It’s family coming together for barbecues in the backyard (and watching your one-year-old cousin match you rib-for-rib and wing-for-wing).

It’s about driving your bike to get anywhere in town (and being run off the road by your friend’s brother’s car).

It’s a relaxing ride in your canoe, paddling down a creek with that special person in your life (and apologizing for tipping it over every summer. I really am sorry Elana).

It’s about going swimming at midnight, with an entire lake to yourself (and doing your damndest to not lose the bathing suit you had to borrow because you forgot yours).

It’s about going to the single-screen movie theatre and watching whatever’s playing (even if it means lying about your age, then reminding your buddy which way you were lying).

It’s about hanging out at the local arcade all afternoon after working a few long hours at day camp (and blowing an entire week’s pay from said camp on NBA Jam).

It’s sharing a couple of drinks with your buddies on a cool night (then doing your best to convince your friend to give his beer up to the nice RCMP officer).

More than the inside jokes and stories, going out to the Interlake is about having that place that offers a pure escape from the worries and concerns that happen on a daily basis in the city, with less than an hour’s worth of highway in between.

Some will say that nothing beats a street festival or a tailgate party in the summer; I say a Bruiser from Salty’s, a bonfire and a Tragically Hip CD is all you need to enjoy Manitoba’s hottest months.

Jon Waldman is a regular contributor to Winnipeg
Men magazine.