Yea to Thanksgiving holidays and the long weekend that comes with it!!
The weather report said that Saturday looked like it would be a nice clear sunny day. This was good news to all in Ontario...because it had been raining all of this past week. So, like thousands of others across Ontario, we too decided to go and see some place different and spend the day outdoors.
After checking some websites on day trips from Toronto, we decided to drive up to a place called Gravenhurst. What was special about this little town, is that it was home to Lake Muskoka - a place where millionaires seem to all want to have a home. It is also home to the SEGWUN (pronounced 'Segwaan'), the oldest Steamship in Canada!
The drive should have taken us two hours, but as I said, it looked like thousands of people had the same idea...so we went with bumper to bumper traffic all the way and it finally took us three and a half hours!
Once there, we went to the ticketing office for the one hour cruise on the Segwun. We bought the tickets for 4.30pm and then found a Boston Pizza where we settled to have a nice lunch of Pizza (the kids) and an Italian penne dish for my husband and myself. It was excellent....and our first and certainly not the last time we will be dining at Boston Pizza. We also had a burger...one of the best we ever tasted! Each dish cost under $10 CAN, the kids meals cost under $7CAN. The kids meals came with a choice of drink and desert too.
At around 4.20 we left for the area where the Segwun was docked. We got on board and soon we left for the cruise around the Muskoka lake. The speakers on the deck would boom once in a while with the Captains voice, telling the passengers where the lifejackets were and details about the steamship. Like the fact that it uses 2 tons of coal a day!!
The Segwun, traveling at the speed of about 6 knots (one knot is equal to 1.8km) is a nice slow ride and there is a small snack bar on board where you can get tea, coffee, snacks and beer.
It is nice to see all the million dollar homes around the lake, each home having a matching little boat house and deck. All the people in these homes own a boat, or boats to go around the lake. We saw many families fishing and enjoying the sunny afternoon on their decks. I guess in the Summer time they would be swimming too. Right now it is too cold. The temperature was about 10 degrees C on Saturday the day we went.
We came back to shore at 5.30, and left for home. We reached home at about 7.45pm in time for dinner.
Review: This is a great idea for a quick day trip for the family. You can take both young and old for this trip, as you don't have to walk great distances anywhere. There is a big public restroom right next to the shore, so going to the bathroom for anyone is not a hassle. There are enough places to eat and a cute little museum right next to where the Segwun is docked.
Prices:
http://www.realmuskoka.com/steamship_sailing.php Click the link for all details.
For some idea of prices: SIGHTSEEING CRUISE for one hour (no meal included) taxes extra
Adult Child$
$17.95 $10.95
Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip to Gravenhurst and that you can experience it someday soon too!
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!
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