LIFE’S A BEACH WORTH SAVOURING ON GEORGIAN BAY AND ESPECIALLY IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

Ed. note: Savouring East Coast ‘Staycation’ Part: 2

MARITIMES — Georgian Bay’s no comparison to the Atlantic Ocean.

Basking beach goers in Cavendish think Doug Ford’s “crazy” for wanting to sell off any part of the Wasaga Beach Provincial Park.

While walking the gorgeous white Prince Edward Island National Park beach Wednesday, Maritimers couldn’t believe news out of Ontario.

Cavendish National Park in Prince Edward Island is a more natural park than Wasaga Beach, which is surrounded by miles of parking lots. PHOTOS Mark Clairmont MuskokaTODAY.com

Thousands of local Atlantic worshippers and “Come From Awayers” were enjoying another hot afternoon lapping up the sun’s sizzling rays and frolicking in the big white-capped waves crashing ashore.

At 8 kms, Cavendish may not stretch as far as Wasaga’s 13 kms, but it’s as beautiful and pristine, I can tell you.

And more natural than the urban cluster of parking lots crowding Lake Huron. East Coast beaches have more hiking and biking trails alongside and through them.

Renowned for its bays, inlets, colourful red sands and the jagged rock cliffs of the Cabot Trail, Canada’s East Coast isn’t as recognized — lest celebrated — for its wonderful watery coastline, which is actually a perfect paradise for swimmers and wind surfers of all ages.

The optimum season may be shorter here; but I argue swimmers and those living off the land and water here are more hale and hearty when it comes to their life blood.

Be sure to catch the Cavendish beach, a playground for youngsters aspiring to for a CFL career with an elusive Maritime team.

Touring P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia last week during a “Staycation” was an eye opener and reminder of the evolution of the country where immigrants arrived centuries ago and helped expand our Indigenous roots.

With more than 2 million residents, the three provinces cultivate a creative culture that’s inspiring, hard-working and long lasting.

From those with First Nations, Scottish, French and British ancestry this quarter of the country still has as much of its own to offer as any other region nationwide.

Charlottetown is where Confederation founded us in 1867. And Province House, where the Fathers of Confederation met to finalize our amalgamation is finally expected to reopen this fall after being closed 10 years for reconstruction. It also houses the provinces’s provincial parliament.

Under construction since 2015, Province House where the Fathers of Confederation formed Canada in 1867 is also P.E.I.’s provincial parliament. It is due to open with a fall sitting.

Halifax has “The Commons,” Canada’s first public park, which is still busy as a beehive with baseball and cricket in summer, skating in winter and myriad of daily uses for city gatherings. It’s next to the Halifax Citadel, a British harbour fortress.

It’s close to Halifax’s City Hall clock where the hands still read 9:04 a.m. — the time it shook when two First World War ships collided in 1917 killing 2,000 people, injuring 9,000 and leaving 6,000 homeless. The largest human-caused blast before Hiroshima.

Canada’s first public park is in Halifax, where it is centrepiece of an historic city full of maritime culture.

Follow this East Coast tour as I delve in to well-known and unknown historical facts and figures about communities diverse and deserving of promotional consideration by all Canadians.

More to come in summer days ahead.

The Maritimes are renown for their coastal waters, but often overlooked for some gorgeously sandy respites like Cavendish Beach, a National Park.
Whether sitting under the shade of a straw hat in crystal clear water, above, or waiting for the waves to wash ashore, below, most Maritimes beaches are an oft forgotten bonus for locals and tourists.

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