Travelling In Ontario-Pelee Island

There are so many beautiful places to visit in Ontario.  Recently I had an opportunity to run in the inaugural Pelee Island Half Marathon (21.1 km).  Pelee Island is in Lake Erie on the Canadian half of the Lake.   It is truly a retreat away from the rest of the world.Going to Pelee Island requires some planning as you have to reserve a spot on one of the ferries going to and from the Island.  There aren't that many ferry runs during the day (during the summer there are 3 a day) and if you are bringing a car you need to reserve your spot in advance as the larger ferry The Jiimaan, (means canoe in Ojibway) only holds 40 cars.  There is a smaller ferry, The Pelee Islander but it doesn't hold as many cars (14) and if the water is rough, the crossing on the smaller ferry can cause a bad case of motion sickness. The crossing takes approx. 1 1/2 hours and the Jiimaan, has a food and bar service featuring local wines from Pelee Island Winery.   Depending on the time of year the ferries leave from both Leamington and Kingsville, Ontario.  From the States you can get to the Island from Sandusky, Ohio. The ferry schedule can be found at https://ontarioferries.com/peleeferry.

If you don't bring your car the best way to get around the island is by bike and the bike rental is right next to the  ferry dock.  It takes about 4 hours to completely bike around the perimeter of the island.  That's including stops along the way.

There is a Heritage Centre across from the West Dock including exhibits and photos of pioneering days and photo's of Al Copone who used Pelee Island to move liquor to the States during prohibition.   The Centre also houses a kite museum.

The island is intersected by dikes and canals that keep it from flooding.  There is a pheasant farm that raises and releases thousands of birds for the annual fall hunt.  Fishing is fantastic due to the surrounding shoals and walleye, Pike and Perch are abundant.






Leamington Ferry Dock.

Loading cars into the holding area of the Jiimaan

The small ferry, Pelee Island only holds 14 cars and is mainly used by visitors bringing their bikes over to the island.

Approaching Pelee Island.

Special Pelee Island Wine label on the wine bottle showing the Jiimaan.  (Very refreshing wine)

Coming into the West Dock On Pelee Island.  Pelee Island is only 10,000 acres and the main crop is soy beans but they also grow wheat and of course grapes.  There are 9 islands in the group with Pelee being the largest.  During Prohibition, All Capone and his Rum Runners used Pelee Island as a jumping off point to transport liquor to the States.  It is rumoured there are the remains of a hide-out on one of the smaller islands.  In fact there is a museum housing some old photo's of Al Capone and his Rum Runners by the West Dock along with the maritime museum.

The Westview Tavern, right across from the dock

One of the Islanders returning home after spending the winter in the Florida Keys.  His T-Shirt says it all....Pelee Island is the Canadian Keys.   It has such a wonderful laid back atmosphere.  People passing on the road wave at one another and it is said no one locks their doors.

There are many B&B's and cottages on the Island.  We were lucky to have reserved the Lake Muse Cottage just about 10 minutes from the West Dock, right across the road from Lake Erie.  Our gracious and accommodating hosts were Ron and Lynn Tiessen.  Both are native to Pelee Island. Ron's family has been in farming for generations and Lynn taught school on the Island for 25 years.

The cottage has two bedrooms, one with a double bed and the other two twin beds.  There is a screened in front porch facing Lake Erie and a back deck complete with gas BBQ.

This is the view from the private dock for the cottage. The sunsets from here were amazing!

Lake Muse Cottage

Screened In Front Porch

1st Bedroom. That window opens onto the screened in porch

second bedroom

Living room

Kitchen  (bathroom off to the left side of picture....great shower!)

View of gardens from back deck.  Pelee Island is a birders paradise, especially in the spring and fall during migration.  

You quickly adapt to the laid back style on the island.

This is an old photo of Vin Villa, Canada's first commercial winery dating from the 1860's. The wine industry on the island died out in the early 20th century and was restarted in the 1980's.  Vin Villa burned to the ground and all that remain today are the ruins.

This is a miniature replica of Vin Villa

Places to eat on the island are limited: There's Conorlees Bakery, The Anchor &  Wheel, the West View Tavern by the dock, The Pelee Island Wine Pavilion and Scudders Beach Bar and Grill where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of fresh perch right out of Lake Erie.  The atmosphere is laid back and friendly and they have a lovely outdoor patio.

There's a kind of Jimmy Buffet feel to the place including the pirate on the front porch!

They also make a great Caesar.  One of the most unusual and spiciest we've ever had! If you go ask Sam to make it for you!

Everywhere you look there is something beautiful to see on the island. This Inuksuk is on West Shore Road

Look closely and you will see the shoes in the 'shoe tree' (Also along West Shore Rd)

 This is the smaller shoe tree seen on the left in the picture above

Old Church...the door is never locked.....

One of the stained glass windows in the church

Small Service Boat on north side of island. You can see the ferry returning to Leamington in the background

The Iris were still in bloom

Looks like one of the original buildings on the island

A nice hike is to the Pelee Island Lighthouse

The walk out to the lighthouse takes you through a march lake where we saw both a box turtle and a snapping turtle

This clever Islander has two wine bottle 'trees' in the yard!

Another great hike is to Fish Point

For all you half marathoners, here is a map of the race route.  It started by the west dock, went north along the shore and then along the east side of the island before turning in and heading to the finish line which was at Pelee Island Winery.  The race route is flat and very scenic and the best part is finishing at the winery and enjoying a fantastic lunch and a bottomless glass of wine AND we got to keep the wine glass!

Besides an amazing finishers medal which you'll see later, we also got this great hoodie T-Shirt with an image of an  old wine label on the front

Pelee Island Winery.  

There were lots of these signs along the race route to keep us smiling!

Finally!  21.1 Kilometres later!  Time for WINE!!!

The finishers medal was a silver tastevin....that's a small little cup sommeliers use to taste good wine before serving to make sure it isn't 'corked'

This race was so much fun!  At around the 12 km mark, under a very hot sun and 35 km winds I came upon this lovely woman, Anne, who stopped at a special watering station that had Jack Daniels and beer.  Her philosophy was she couldn't feel any worse than she did at that moment so she downed a double Jack and a beer chaser.   So, I thought...'when in Rome....'.   We lost sight of one another until the end of the race and of course we had to take a picture together!

Hopefully I've inspired you to make the trek to Pelee Island.  And I hope you've enjoyed the blog.