The beach at Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Toluca on December 24th!

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Finally made it to Pelee Island!

Up at 6:00am yesterday morning, and on the road for 6:30. The Pelee Island ferry leaves from Kingsville, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Erie. At this time of year there are only two sailings per day, one at 10:00am, and one at 6:00pm.

But we had a 300 km (186 mile) drive to do. I figured I had done the math okay...at 100 km/h (62 mph), we should be there in three hours, right?

And I figured there would't be any traffic. And there wasn't. But there was one long section of highway 401 that was down to one lane, and that slowed things down a bit. I made up for it by speeding... something I rarely do! Not bad though... the speed limit is 100 km/h, and I was doing 115 or so. Lots of other people doing the same thing, of course!

Yesterday's drive, 300 kms (186 miles).

We made it to the ferry dock at 9:40am... twenty minutes until sailing time! However, walking in the door of the ticket office there was a sign that said ticket sales stop 10 minutes before sailing. So, we cut it pretty close... but we made it!

One way adult fare was $7.50 CAD ($6.00 USD) for the hour and a half ride, and we had to pay $6.00 CAD per day for parking at the ferry dock.

Leaving the mainland.

Windy, but it was a nice day so we sat outside on the top deck.

Better get out of the way of this big fellow.

Big great lakes freighter.

Arriving at Pelee Island.

 There's Heinz and Ulli waiting for us!

There's our boat. And, it's shorts and t-shirts weather!

Nice to see Heinz and Ulli again. We met them at Hacienda Contreras RV Park in Mexico quite a few years ago, and they have invited us several times to come and see them on Pelee Island where they have their summer home. We finally made it!

They picked us up with their classic 1979 Mercedes Benz. It's mint... only 110,000 kms (68,000 miles) on it!

Quiet roads.

There are 170 permanent residents on the island, but that swells to 1,500 or so during the summer. On busy summer weekends, there can be as many as 3,000 people on the island. There is also a ferry service from Sandusky, Ohio and many Americans have summer cottages on the island.

The view from Heinz and Ulli's back porch. What a beautiful spot.

 There's the Benz!

 Ulli and Ruth on the private beach.

There's a good spot to relax!

It's margarita time!

What a beautiful fall day.

We had some lunch and then Heinz and Ulli took us for a tour of the island. It's only maybe 12 kms long by 8 kms wide (7 miles by 5 miles), and there's a ring road that follows much of the coastline.

First stop, Heinz's airplane hangar! He's got his own airplane and runway on the island, but unfortunately Heinz's eyesight isn't what it used to be and the airplane is for sale.

Only $65,000 CAD ($52,000 USD).


I always wondered what all these dials and gauges do!

Out for a walk.

The Pelee Island Lighthouse at the north end of the island.

And this is the southern tip. This is the most southern inhabited part of Canada. 

If you look closely you can see an island on the right. That is Middle Island. While Pelee Island is the southernmost inhabited part of Canada, Middle Island is the most southern land in Canada.

This is where we are... the most southern point in Canada!

Today, we're off to the tour and tasting at the Pelee Island Winery!

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Nice little T-fal electric kettle on deal of the day today...


And in Canada...




33 comments:

  1. Reminds me of the old riddle: what's the first foreign country you come to if you go straight south from downtown Detroit?

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    1. I haven't heard that old riddle before, now we are going to have to remember that! ;-)

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  2. Nice that you made it on time , enjoy your visit with friends on the island.

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    1. Yes, we were quite relieved to have made it on time, although I am sure were wouldn't have had trouble finding things to do in the area to keep us busy until the next sailing but it sure would have cut into our visit with Heinz and Ulli.

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  3. It looks like a nice place to spend the summer. The lighthouse looks like it's leaning a bit...

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    1. It is a wonderful place for sure and really laid back at least at that time of year it was. Not sure what it would be like at the peak of the season though.

      The lighthouse looks like it is leaning because of the effect that the wide angle lens has on it.

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  4. Welcome to the neighbourhood. Hope you enjoy your tour of Canada's Florida.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. It's a beautiful island and would like to visit one day; "Canada's Florida" is a great analogy. Dang! I see that Detroit could have been in Canada; wonder if Canadians want it--the US I'm sure would make Canada a great deal. (Hope no one on this forum is from Detroit--LOL!).

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    2. Thank you Rick and Kathy, we wished that we had more time to explore the area but unfortunately that will have to wait for another year. It is a very pretty area there and it looks like there is lots to do on the mainland.

      We enjoyed our visit to Pelee Island as well but it was far too short. There are a ton of trails on the island that we didn't have time to check them
      out. :-(

      No Dee, I am thinking that we are just fine without having to add another big city to our country, we are quite happy the way we are. ;-)

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  5. Sounds like a wonderful trip enjoy. Have a glass of wine and celebrate this beautiful Thanksgiving weekend!

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    1. It was a great trip and we had more than just ONE glass to celebrate the beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. :-)

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  6. Our kind of vacation getaway - enjoy!!!!

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  7. What are the kilometers or miles from the inhabited most southern point to the shores of Ohio? I just love maps and geography! My family rolls their eyes when I mention how many historical events it must have taken to create those boundaries or borders. They also mention that I am easy to entertain--LOL!

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    1. It looks like it would be about 6.5 miles from the most southerly house on the island to the closest inhabited part of Ohio which is on Middle Bass Island.

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  8. Just lovely. I had no idea this place existed. So glad you got to check it our for all of us.

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    1. You are now going to have to check out their wines, I am sure you would love them! :-)

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  9. Once spent a weekend in Chatham, didn't realize it was close to Pelee!

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    1. You missed a very pretty spot in Southern Ontario. Surprisingly enough, there are lots of people in Ontario that haven't heard of Pelee Island.

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  10. Ah, this post brings back wonderful memories. We really enjoyed Pelee and so glad you were finally able to visit your friends. Enjoy!

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    1. So glad we could rekindle some great memories of your past summer. You sure have been moving around a lot this year. :-)

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  11. How cool! Had never heard of Pelee Island, but it looks gorgeous, and such a short hop from Ohio, where my husband is from and still has family. Enjoy your time there!

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    1. Don't worry, you aren't the only one that hasn't heard of this pretty little island. Maybe next time you go to Ohio you can take a trip over. A ferry leaves from Sandusky, Ohio during the summer months only.

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  12. Say hi to Ulli and Heinz. I bet you guys are going to have a blast.

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    1. We said hi to them for you and they said hi back. Now you are going to have to come and visit them! :-)

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  13. We have friends of the family who had a cottage on the island until they sold it this year. The Loops. Fine people they are fine.

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    1. Heinz and Ulli recognized the name for sure. They didn't know them that well though.

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  14. That car sure is an eye-catcher - a little too much orange maybe?

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    1. Yep, it is definitely an eye catcher and when they drive it around the island everyone knows who they are. That orange colour is the original colour!

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  15. It's a lovely island! I wouldn't mind relaxing in those chairs at water's edge ... in the summertime! :-)

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    1. The weather was so nice this past weekend that we sat in those chairs in the evening and we were very comfortable without having to bundle up. It was nice and balmy!

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  16. Like that lighthouse.
    They have an old world charm of their own.

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    1. They had only recently restored this lighthouse. It was missing it's top before and I think they did a wonderful job on it.

      Lighthouses are neat to see everywhere in the world, they are all so different.

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