The Sunset Coast

Captain Henry’s namesake

Photo by Sharon Matthews-Stevens

If you book an overnight berth at Bayfield you might learn some nautical history.

Captain Henry Bayfield was a Royal Navy surveyor assigned the job of sounding and charting the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. After a Dutch baron later enlisted Bayfield’s help in choosing settlement sites, he honored Bayfield by naming this village for him.

It’s a steep if short stroll to the village from the marina but it’s worth it. Main Street is a wide thoroughfare with historic stores and homes beneath towering oaks, maples, elms and weeping willows that offer welcome shade on sunny days. The entire village is a designated historic district. Pick up a brochure at the library for a mile-and-a-half historic walking tour beginning at Clan Gregor Square, passing those mid-1800s shops and stately Victorian homes.

Or maybe you’re just seeking retail therapy or a shoreside meal.

If you’ve tired of reading charts, visit the Village Book Store, a lime-painted board-and-batten cottage nestled in an emerald garden, for the latest best-seller. The Pink Flamingo Bakery & Boutique down the street (look for the pink flamingo statue) will satisfy the most demanding sweet tooth.

Marten Arts Gallery offers a Garden of Artists outside, replete with water features, while inside the multilevel gallery you can purchase anything from kitsch to serious art to First Nation masterpieces.
Check the cool offerings at Nab It Eclectic Oddities. This place boasts such fun wares and gag gifts you’ll find it tough to tear yourself away.

But then you might miss lunch or dinner at The Little Inn of Bayfield. Here flower baskets festoon a two-story wraparound porch sheltering a buff brick façade of this circa 1850s former stagecoach stop; here you can do drinks in Four-in-Hand taproom or book a pre-sunset dinner and go haute cuisine in the Willow Room. Tip: Don’t miss the truffle fries. Maybe you seek a more liquid repast. Stroll past the painted carving of a fisherman (his official name is Captain Harry) and make your way to the Black Dog Village Pub & Bistro near Clan Gregor. Housed in a circa 1850s general store, this establishment, done up like an English pub, boasts 20 different draft beers, making it the perfect place to toast Captain Bayfield.

The big turn

Long, long ago sand dunes once blocked the flow of the Ausable River into Lake Huron. The river, not to be dissuaded, took a big turn to the south, finally entering Huron at Port Franks.

That river bend gave Grand Bend, one of Ontario’s most popular beach resorts, its name. This is no ordinary beach. Grand Bend Beach is one of only 27 Blue Flag beaches in all of Canada. A children’s playground with a whimsical splash pad is positioned beside a pavilion boasting huge murals and a second-story deck offering great lake views. The beach itself offers volleyball pitches and lifeguards and is wheelchair accessible.

Grand Bend’s main street rises gently from the amber sands, populated by the usual suspects of fast food joints and T-shirt shops, though there’s also some great shopping. “Great places to eat and drink too,” Majerle says.

Grand Bend Clothing Company, a long-time family run local feature, offers men’s and women’s casual wear, while Archie’s, another local institution, sells everything from T-shirts to gag gifts. Iron Barn sells unique metal sculptures from custom signage to fireplace circles, offering beautiful additions to any home — or boat. Just down from the marina you’ll find Sunset Arts, a co-op gallery. “We feature the work of 15 artists,” says proprietor Janette Baillie. “Every piece here is either local or has a local connection.”

If you’re looking for respite for the galley crew, snug down at Midori Sushi Bar & Restaurant, where you can dine on the elegant patio. They call themselves a sushi place but the menu is extensive and delicious, and the drink menu features a wealth of local craft beer.

If you want that beach vibe, check out Willie’s Beach Bar (one of the town’s newest establishments), sip a cold one at the Tipsy Pelican or head across the street to people-watch on the (almost) lakeshore patio of the Growling Gator.

Looking for more upscale fare? Then check out F.I.N.E. a Restaurant offering casual décor and haute cuisine. Want to hang with locals in the know? Do dinner at The Lake Hound. Here at The Lake Hound, in this local tradition that shows like a cross between a cottage and a summer camp dining hall, I experience an epiphany.

“There’s no shortage of great places to eat,” I say to my wife. “Grand Bend’s got something for everyone.”

Something for everyone

Photo by Sharon Matthews-Stevens

Berth here on a summer Wednesday night and be serenaded by the sound of music emanating from the Rotary Community Stage during the Wednesdays’ Familiar Favorites Concert Series, joining hundreds of other locals and visitors who plunk their lawn chairs right on the sand for an evening of entertainment.

Musical tastes a bit edgier? Stroll up main street and check out the playlist at Gables in the Bend, the Huron Coast’s premier rock venue. Soak up some culture at The Huron County Playhouse just outside town, which offers seasonal live theater productions. You could even book a matinee and add a tour and wine-tasting next door at Dark Horse Winery to complete your culture quest.

Channel your inner Van Gogh. The Kiwanis Club in Bayfield offers free summer sunset painting sessions. Or channel instead your inner Richard Petty at Grand Bend Motorplex, where they offer weekly drag races and national race events over three different tracks.

If peace and solitude is more your thing, head over to the Pinery Provincial Park a few miles outside Grand Bend. Go to enjoy your own stretch of sand, or work out on one of the park’s 10 nature trails. Inhale the scent of those signature pines as you march beachward, climbing steep dunes or listening to the call of cicadas in one of the most northerly Carolinian forests in existence.

If your taste runs to the adrenaline rush, Windmill Lake Wake and Eco Park just outside Bayfield offers a unique wakeboarding facility where the rope tows traditionally powered by runabouts are actually fueled by eco-friendly electrical pulley systems.

It’s a great practice facility for experienced wakeboarders, it offers periodic competitions, and it also offers lessons and rentals for those who are strong of heart.

Up the adrenaline at Xtreme Watersports, just across the channel from the Grand Bend Marina. Think jet-skis, parasailing and the newest thrill-seekers’ must-do: Flyboarding. Take things up a lot of notches by jumping out of a plane with the Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Centre. Or maybe go for saner pursuits.

Play the 18-hole, par-70 golf course at Oakwood Resort at Grand Bend or slip into Bluewater Golf Course for nine holes if you’re staying in Bayfield. Grand Bend offers a collection of kid-friendly activities from mini golf and axe throwing to three different escape room activities at Grand Bend Escape.

The Sunset Coast Having heard about the pastries and coffee roasted on-site at Shop Bike Coffee in Bayfield, we decide to make that our first waypoint once we make landfall. During a chat with owner Leanne Kavanaugh, we get a sunset insider’s tip. “Watch it first at Pioneer Park way above the lake,” Kavanaugh says, “then go down the stairway as quickly as you can — sunset part two.”

We take her advice that night, first admiring the view from the heights, then making our way down to the pier far below, where the river meets the lake. National Geographic magazine once rated these Sunset Coast spectacles among the 10 best in the world. They’re even better the second time around.