You have to take a boat to her cottage from Smith Marina. It's a fair trek. In the speed boat you can get there in about 20 minutes. If you take the pontoon boat it might take double the time.
The cottage is built on the rocks right off the Pickerel River. It's not too hard to locate because you pass under a railway bridge (just east of the cottage) before you reach it.
I believe the cottage used to be an old hunting lodge. The main cabin seems like it used to be an old store. Now it has a kitchen, dining room and living room area. Upstairs, I believe, are the bedrooms. I'm just guessing because I never went up there.
A few people stayed at the main cabin. Margaret's church friends and me stayed at another cabin nearby. It was very nice. They have full facilities with running water and electricity. The electricity is supplied by both solar power and a gas generator.
When Lawrence and I arrived at the marina the weather was pretty miserable. It was raining on and off the whole way up and the skies were overcast. I knew it would be like this before coming up, but I wanted to come anyway. I figured there would be nice breaks here and there.
Margaret was already there waiting for us when we arrived. We had talked with her on the phone prior to getting there so neither of us would have to wait too long.
We sat in Lawrence's car for a short time trying to wait the rain out, but, at one point, decided to make a run for it. Besides we got just as wet from the spray coming from the boat as we did from the rain above. So we weren't going to keep very dry either way.
Most of the people at the cottage came up the day before. They took Friday off and drove up that afternoon. Three people from their church group were already there - Ken and Elaine, and Josephine. Margaret's co-worker Enoch (I believe) and his family (wife and son and daughter) were there too. As well, Margaret's dad came along.
The weather didn't stay bad for long. The sun eventually came out and everyone went out to do different activities. Margaret showed Lawrence and I around a bit more in the motorboat. Some of the others took another boat out fishing. My favorite activity was canoeing. I took one of the canoes out quite a few times with different people. It's so nice and quiet in a canoe. Very relaxing.
It's also a great place to take pictures. The scenery is wonderful. I took a fair number of shots both on the water and around the cabins. I even have some hummingbird shots. There's a feeder on the porch of the main lodge. So I hung out there waiting for the birds to come by for a snack.
All-in-all I had a really enjoyable time. It was nice meeting a few new people. And it was great to get out of the city for a short time. To enjoy some "quiet time" and leave the hustle and bustle behind. Many thanks go out to Margaret and her father for opening their place up to us.
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