We have some “favorite” destinations; they’re always special, like old friends.  We headed out for a few days to celebrate our anniversary this year, to a couple of special places:  destination Stillwater Reservoir by way of the Sandy Pond area.  I have to confess it takes us FOREVER to arrive at any destination; the fun part of traveling is stopping and poking around along the way.  We set out around 8:30 a.m., first fuelling up with a great breakfast at Bucky’s Sodus Bay Tackle and Marina Restaurant.  Next stop is always in Fairhaven, where there’s a wonderful “used and antique stuff” store on Main Street, on the east side of town.  We found yet another antique drip coffee pot for Ethan’s collection; we have nearly 60 pots of every shape and size on display in our kitchen.  It was tough, but I decided to pass on the camo hat and wooden lamb toy.  We almost made it out of town, but Screwey Louie’s tackle shop caught our eye, and of course, we HAVE to stop at all the tackle shops we come across.   You never know when that new lure’s going to catch the fisherman!  On to Oswego, where we decided that we were still too full to stop for our traditional hot fudge sundaes at Stone’s candy shop (they’re wonderful).  We’re quite fond of the Topps store there, and always stop and provision up with muffins and turnovers from their bakery for our next few days breakfasts.   Heading up “the coast” on Route 3, another must stop is the tackle and gift shop in Port Ontario, on the corner of Route 3 and Route 13.  They have a really nice selection of gifts upstairs…clothing, loon-stuff, my favorite Minnetonka moccasins, nature sound CD’s, jewelry, and just all sorts of neat stuff.  Oh yes, they have tackle and hunting supplies too!

A lovely sand beach reaches for miles, with a backdrop of sand dunes that separate the lake from the marsh area.  The ponds are alive with fish, and the water is so clear that it’s like looking down into an aquarium.   We landed a few small sunnies and bass.   I have to admit that I prefer catching small fish…the big ones are just too scary in the canoe!!  All of our fish go back to the water; most of them take themselves off the hooks, as we have removed all of the barbs from our lures.  I actually have begun taking my own fish off the hooks…sometimes.   My usual routine is to pass them back to Ethan for dispatching.

We found the channel between the ponds, and paddled through North Colwell and Goose Ponds.  There’s an area of the sand dunes that is a home to Bank Swallows, which  burrow into the side of the dune, with a small round opening at the entrance to their nest.  They are a protected species, and a sign asks visitors not to disturb the birds.  Unfortunately, too few people heed the advice. The dunes are a fragile ecosystem and all too often we see personal watercraft pulled up at their base, and people clambering all over the place.  Fortunately, the dunes have devised a way to protect themselves and the wildlife they support…they are mostly covered with poison ivy.

A word about our canoe…we purchased a Wenonah Sundowner 18 about three years ago.  It’s a love.   It’s made of Kevlar and only weighs around 35 pounds.  It has quite a bit of freeboard, which sometimes makes trying to stay on course in the wind exciting, but overall it suits our needs very well.  There’s plenty of room for our lifejackets, fishing equipment, drybag, and cooler, and the large pieces of driftwood that I insist on collecting.  We use bent-shaft Gillespie paddles (made in Webster, NY), which are very lightweight, laminated wood, and besides being extremely functional, are works of art.

We ended our day by paddling back to the car by way of the Lake; it was like glass, with not a breath of wind, and very few boat wakes.  There were a number of people who had hiked up the beach with their kids for the day, and they were having a ball playing in the warm, shallow water.   You can walk out from the beach a couple hundred yards and it only gets about 3 feet deep, with a smooth, sandy bottom.

Our favorite spot to stay for the night is at the Rainbow Shores Hotel.  It was quite a grand and elegant resort back in the 1930’s; there are a few rooms available now, and a couple of cottages suitable for 4-6 people.  It sits right on the shore  on the eastern end of the Lake and the sunsets are exquisite.  So is the food at their restaurant!  Broiled seafood platters, seafood alfredo pasta, homemade breads and soups, crab legs…more about Rainbow Shores and the rest of our “anniversary” trip in my next article!

In the meantime, get out your NY State Gazetteer and check out this area…it’s on Page 83!