6/17/17 – 6/18/17: We motored the 3 miles from Covered Portage Cove to Killarney. Killarney is a very (very) small town located along the channel between the Ontario mainland and George Island. Just before we entered the channel, a sea plane landed in front of us, and we followed it into town!
The weather forecast for the next two days was not good. There were storms and rain predicted, pretty much for the entire 2 days, so we made a 2 night marina reservation at The Sportsman’s Inn and Marina. We arrived early, and were greeted at the fuel dock and helped into our assigned slip. After spending an hour cleaning our anchor, chain, line, and deck of the clay/mud/goop/ickiness from Covered Portage Cove, the rain started, right on cue. We did a load of laundry.
When we first pulled in, we asked the dock hand where a good place to eat would be. He said the pub inside the inn was probably the best place. We found out a short time later that the inn also had a fine dining restaurant in the same building (with white linen table cloths and cloth napkins folded nicely in each water glass). We laughed because he never even mentioned that part of the inn. He probably looked at us as if we were Clark Griswold’s cousin Eddie and family and thought “These folk are pub people”. “Yeah, Clark, and we even brought our own ‘possum to cook up!”.
Since we weren’t “invited” to the fancy place, we ate at the pub. Two burgers, 2 sodas, and an order of fries to share for the low, low price of $44 (USD). Guess we are pub folk after all ’cause we can only imagine what the other place would have cost. ‘Possum anyone?
We took a walk around Killarney, and it confirmed just how small it was. There were a few small marinas, a couple inns, a few restaurants, and a couple gift shops, and a small Catholic church. There were no grocery, hardware, or general stores. There were no banks or gas stations. We couldn’t even find the school! Of the handful of business on the main street, most were for sale, and some were closed permanently. Other than tourism, we didn’t see any businesses that would support the people in town.
For us, this was a town to “hole up” in, to let some weather pass. It was a nice visit, but there just wasn’t anything here. Reprovisioning will have to wait until Tobermory or further. Tomorrow we leave for a place that all the guide books, and many people we met say we must see before leaving the area: Baie Fine. Then we will begin our journey to Tobermory and down the east coast of Lake Huron.
UPDATE 6/19/17: Last night we found the grocery store when we went to eat at Herbert’s World Famous Fish & Chips (which was really good)! It was all the way down at the end of the street, and easily missed. We stopped in, and it reminded us of Ruth-Anne Miller’s shop from the TV series Northern Exposure. In fact, now that we mention it, the whole town kind of reminds us of that show. Out in the middle of absolute nowhere, with only one road leading to town, and a single airstrip for transportation. We don’t believe you could get much more remote than this…
Pics of Killarney
