it is a little planet, but how beautiful it is.

Though nature may not be my favourite...it sure does looks nice.  As you may recall from a recent blog post here on the creation of beauty is art. my family spent a week at a cottage a couple of weeks ago. This has become a bit of a tradition in the last couple of years. Originally, it was the result of the pandemic and not wanting to travel too far away from home. Now? My family just seems to enjoy the experience. I am not exactly Team Cottage (bug bites, spiders, no computer...oh my!) but I always try my best to make the most of the time away. There were some low moments, like several mosquito bites on my chin and face, and some high moments, like doing some local shopping and seeing a movie at an interesting theatre. In this post, I will be sharing some of the highlights from the cottage vacation as well as a few photographs from the trip as well. Here goes...

Each year, we visit a different rental cottage, but all have been in the same general area. This time, we stayed close to Fenelon Falls. This suited me just fine because we visited there during previous years and the shopping in town was excellent. The cottage itself was nice this time, but it felt a bit squishy for so many people! For most of the vacation, it was me, my husband, my parents, my brother, my sister, her partner, and her child. Talk about a full house. On the days where my sister was visiting, my husband and I had to sleep in the bunkie outside. Let me just say I did not like that. There were all kinds of creepy crawlies in there. I definitely had a breakdown or two...but cottage life went on. My husband loved being able to take the boat out and fish. He is a real nature lover, so he certainly made the most of the time away. My brother went kayaking a lot. My dad read books. My mom worked on diamond paintings. My sister spent time with her family. And I devoured cozy mystery novels. 

The weather was very hit and miss during the week. Some days? Grey and cloudy. Then lots and lots of rain. Then sunshine and blue skies. It made it difficult to know what to plan for the day. Despite that, there was time for board games, going for walks, lawn games, movies, and stops into various small towns. We all went to a restaurant in Fenelon Falls for dinner one night, got ice cream at a dessert place, and then my husband and I wandered around. On other days, my mom and I did shopping there, checking out all of the antique stores, thrift stores, and used book stores. We also went to Bobcaygeon and spent time in my favourite store, Kicking Cowgirl Designs. Another outing was made to Lindsay, where we visited the local mall. (There was a Winners there that blew my mind.) Though I do not necessarily love cottage life, shopping always makes me smile. 

One of the more unusual and exciting things that we did on this vacation was head to a really unique movie theatre in Kinmount called Highlands Cinemas. I hadn't heard of it before, but someone recommended it to my dad. So, my mom, my brother, my husband, and I all went to see The Haunted Mansion one night. The theatre was tucked away and you had to park up a hill. There was a cat sanctuary outside with all of these tunnels for the cats that live on the property. On the inside? There were a few very small theatres (they were about a quarter of the size of the movie theatres that I am used to) and an incredible museum. The museum had all sorts of movie props, old projectors, antique pop culture items, and movie posters. It was hallway after hallway of stuff. As someone who loved movies and popular culture...this was everything. I was surprised to see that some of the displays had items that were in my own home! Like a Pee Wee Herman doll that I purchased from an antique store several years ago and other such treasures. It was so much fun to watch The Haunted Mansion (the movie was really good but definitely would have been better suited to a fall release) and check out all of the fantastic items on display at the theatre. It was certainly a one of a kind experience and was the highlight of the cottage vacation for me. 

Another summer almost done and another cottage vacation over. Though I would much prefer to be at home in the air conditioning...there were certainly some highlights. I enjoyed spending time with my loved ones, shopping at antique and thrift stores, eating Kawartha Dairy ice cream, and checking out some unusual places. There were memorable moments! 

Have you ever been to a cottage? How are you planning to spend the last days of summer?