Parry Sound and Georgian Bay Cottage Country

• Author: WantsToTravelMore
• Accommodation: Parry Sound Accommodations

Think Parry Sound you might think of Bobby Orr, famous hockey player, or wonderful cottage country. But you may not realize that with its access to Georgian Bay it has a storied maritime history. Georgian Bay is a bit of a misnomer. It covers 15,000 sq. km (5,800 sq. mi.) and is part of the Great Lakes even though it’s technically a bay of Lake Huron.

So, to find an example of the diverse experiences, I picked up a free tourist magazine called Sideroads of Parry Sound & Area. The July 2015 edition was surprisingly full of information about the area. I say surprisingly because the usual tourist magazines are full mainly of advertorial, but this one has these articles and more:

• Camp Mi-a-kon-da, in which the 60-year history of a girls camp in the north is profiled.
• Backwood Filmmaking in which a Parry Sound filmmaker and doctor describes retiring from medicine and heading into the bush for nine months
• Sunken Treasures: The thrill of diving Georgian Bay. Another reason why this Georgian Bay is more ocean than bay, is that you have excellent wreck diving to try.
• Belvedere … covers history of Iroquois-Hours wars back as far as 1649 and brings it up to the settling of Parry Sound.

Parry Sound itself these days has a tired feel to it — weather beaten in a way. Down by the waterfront, it’s a bit more lively. We had dinner the Bay Street Cafe, which has a heavily nautical decor.

But maybe 45 minutes away is some cottage country that is practically the text book Canadian Cottage Country. The rocky lakes and woodsy scenery is hard to beat.

The images for this article are near Parry Sound, but a fate worse than you can imagine will befall me if I reveal the secret location.

Go explore for yourself or find a way to be invited into Georgian Bay Cottage Country.