Maitland Shores does not yet have regular weekly activities organized to the extent that they had them at Silver Dove Estates or Tucson Meadows for that matter. At Maitland Shores most of the activities are for the kids, like wagon rides and games. On long weekends they have a pot luck dinner (where the owners provide the main protein and a side) and live band one of the nights and fire works if appropriate. My first full weekend there was the May 24th weekend, the official start to the summer in Ontario. The meal was to feature hot dogs and hamburgers. I arrived on time, the others arrived fashionably late (about 30 minutes.) I met a couple of seasonal campers, but generally the group weren't that welcoming/friendly.
With a home base and golf membership taken care of I began to check out what else Dunnville had to offer. I went to town and found the local library branch. They have 4 computers you can use, WiFi throughout (useful as the campground doesn't have any, and with my phone plan I am supposed to be limited to 1GB per month of roaming, which Dunnville is considered, but in reality I am able to use more), lots of materials available to borrow, including a good selection of movie and TV series on DVD's, which would come in handy because over the antenna I wasn't getting a very wide selection of TV channels. I found a study carol, in a well windowed corner with a power outlet nearby. This pretty much became my spot.
At the library I saw postings for other events in the area like church run fundraising dinners and charity bingo games (Tuesdays and Fridays at the Optimists Club.)
I visited the local Chamber of Commerce where they provided me with a welcome package (a handbook listing business and services in town) and a copy of the weekly local paper called The Sachem. Through the paper I learned about a Euchre game in the nearby town of Lowbanks on Monday nights. By playing at Lowbanks, the other Euchre aficionados put me on the the games on Wednesday nights at the Dunnville Legion and the last Saturday afternoon of the month at the Presbyterian Church.
Dunnville is a big enough town, population around 6,000, that it has enough stores and restaurants to meet the majority of my needs, though the locals I met often spoke of making trips into Hamilton to shop, to me that was a little farther than I was interested in going just for shopping, but also shopped when I would go to Hamilton to visit my brother. There is certainly more in Dunnville than there was last summer in close proximity to my campground in Appin, Ontario. There is a Canadian Tire, a large Home Hardware, a couple of drug stores, Liquor and Beer Stores, Sobeys, Food Basics and Giant Tiger. In the downtown there are quite a few small boutique types stores and several banks. A local coffee shop, trying to be like Starbucks, a Tim Horton's, a McDonalds, a Subway, two Chinese restaurants, two Pubs, several Canadian style family restaurants, one upscale restaurant, one Italian restaurant and several pizza places, a couple of fish and chip shops. There are government offices for drivers licenses and health cards, police and fire departments. A very safe feeling and easily habitable place, without traffic jambs
My typical weekly schedule while in Dunnville would be:
Monday morning Mixed Seniors Golf
Monday evening Euchre in Longbanks
Tuesday evening Bingo occasionally.
Wednesday evening Euchre at the Legion.
Last Saturday afternoon of the month Euchre at the Presbyterian Church.
The other days of the week I would play golf, go cycling and go out for dinner occasionally.
When I needed to go into town for groceries or other activities, I would generally visit the library for an hour or two.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Moving To Near Dunnville Ontario
When I left Ontario for the winter, I was planning on returning to Silver Dove Estates for another summer. I had spoken to the owners about my intentions and had offered to leave a deposit, which they said was not necessary. In April, I emailed them to reconfirm my intentions and the response I received was that they had "rented my site to other people," and had no other sites available in the spring, but that they would have new sites available July 1st. I believed that those sites were the same ones that were supposed to have been ready the previous April, when I first arrived at the campground, so was not prepared to wait for July 1st, because of their unreliable track record and my need for a campsite well before that date. There was no explanation as to why they did this, and it was surprising because they had said on several occasions that they liked me and liked having me in the park because I didn't cause any trouble and I added a touch of class to the place. I suppose I fell victim to their poor management and organizational skills.
It was at that point that I started researching alternative places to spend the summer. First off I realized that there were no other campgrounds close to Wardsville Golf Club, where I had played the previous season, so relocating would require finding both a golf course and a campground.
One of the focal points of my summer in Ontario was going to be playing in the Canadian Women's Golf Championship, which was to be played at Lookout Point Country Club in Pelham, Ontario. Pelham is in the Niagara region, an area I had spent some time in in the past and held some appeal as it is closer to Hamilton and Toronto than Appin. So, I got to thinking that I could be really well prepared for that tournament if I played the course all summer and I knew that the Pro and Assistant Pro from my former club, Ladies Golf Club of Toronto, were working there, so if would be familiar. They had offered a one year trial membership program the previous season, which proved quite effective, so they didn't need to repeat it, to my detriment. But, there were other options like an out of town membership or a 10 round package. With this in mind I started looking for a campground nearby. I learned that there were three, but sadly two were completely full for the upcoming season and one had only one site open, but it was too small for my trailer. So, I started to pan out from the Pelham area trying to find a solution to my accommodation and golf needs. I was feeling there was a bit of an urgency to settle on a place.
I ended up landing upon Maitland Shores RV Resort and Marina, who said they only had two seasonal sites available at that point and Freedom Oaks Golf Club
on the basis of their websites, a few phone calls and google maps, I pretty much committed to both site unseen.
I arrived at the campground on Mother's Day (not my favorite day of the year, since my Mother passed away and I am not a Mother), Sunday May 13th, the ground was a bit soggy, but I was happy with my campsite, which was a corner lot at the far edge of the property, next to some woods and a farmers field. Being on the corner makes it easy to get into and out of, which I tend to want to do a few times throughout the season. I was able to level the trailer quite easily and hook up to the services, all of which were not the most conveniently located, but I had enough cord, hose and sewer pipe to reach them all. I soon met my immediate neighbors, who were all very welcoming.
The following day I went to the Golf Course. It was less than 10 minutes away, all on paved rural roads, a very stress free drive. I was initially encouraged to take a cart and drive around the course to check it out. I had a look at the east portion of the course, which looked fine, though wet and I was disturbing golfers already out playing, so I cut the tour short. I then went back to the clubhouse with the plan of playing a preview round, even though I was already in my mind committed to joining. The round was fine. The west part of the course is a little more interesting than the east. Freedom Oaks was going to suit my golf needs.
The owner of the course who looks after the pro shop, Pete, suggested that I get in touch with Lynn, who often walked the course (my preference) playing by herself.
She used to work in the clubs kitchen, but was now retired. We arranged to play the following day, and as kindred spirits became friends quickly. She helped to introduce me to a number of other ladies in the club, including Ella, Kathy, Joan:
Pat and Anna Loraine one of the owners who plays with her dog Darla, along side. Lynn suggested that I join the Monday Seniors League, but not the Tuesday Ladies League. Lynn and I typically played together two or three times a week when I was in Dunnville and did other things together, like going to play Euchre and having dinner together at each others places or at nearby restaurants as she was recently separated and had no interest in dating.
It was at that point that I started researching alternative places to spend the summer. First off I realized that there were no other campgrounds close to Wardsville Golf Club, where I had played the previous season, so relocating would require finding both a golf course and a campground.
One of the focal points of my summer in Ontario was going to be playing in the Canadian Women's Golf Championship, which was to be played at Lookout Point Country Club in Pelham, Ontario. Pelham is in the Niagara region, an area I had spent some time in in the past and held some appeal as it is closer to Hamilton and Toronto than Appin. So, I got to thinking that I could be really well prepared for that tournament if I played the course all summer and I knew that the Pro and Assistant Pro from my former club, Ladies Golf Club of Toronto, were working there, so if would be familiar. They had offered a one year trial membership program the previous season, which proved quite effective, so they didn't need to repeat it, to my detriment. But, there were other options like an out of town membership or a 10 round package. With this in mind I started looking for a campground nearby. I learned that there were three, but sadly two were completely full for the upcoming season and one had only one site open, but it was too small for my trailer. So, I started to pan out from the Pelham area trying to find a solution to my accommodation and golf needs. I was feeling there was a bit of an urgency to settle on a place.
I ended up landing upon Maitland Shores RV Resort and Marina, who said they only had two seasonal sites available at that point and Freedom Oaks Golf Club
on the basis of their websites, a few phone calls and google maps, I pretty much committed to both site unseen.
I arrived at the campground on Mother's Day (not my favorite day of the year, since my Mother passed away and I am not a Mother), Sunday May 13th, the ground was a bit soggy, but I was happy with my campsite, which was a corner lot at the far edge of the property, next to some woods and a farmers field. Being on the corner makes it easy to get into and out of, which I tend to want to do a few times throughout the season. I was able to level the trailer quite easily and hook up to the services, all of which were not the most conveniently located, but I had enough cord, hose and sewer pipe to reach them all. I soon met my immediate neighbors, who were all very welcoming.
The following day I went to the Golf Course. It was less than 10 minutes away, all on paved rural roads, a very stress free drive. I was initially encouraged to take a cart and drive around the course to check it out. I had a look at the east portion of the course, which looked fine, though wet and I was disturbing golfers already out playing, so I cut the tour short. I then went back to the clubhouse with the plan of playing a preview round, even though I was already in my mind committed to joining. The round was fine. The west part of the course is a little more interesting than the east. Freedom Oaks was going to suit my golf needs.
The owner of the course who looks after the pro shop, Pete, suggested that I get in touch with Lynn, who often walked the course (my preference) playing by herself.
 |
| Lynn |
She used to work in the clubs kitchen, but was now retired. We arranged to play the following day, and as kindred spirits became friends quickly. She helped to introduce me to a number of other ladies in the club, including Ella, Kathy, Joan:
 |
| Joan |
Pat and Anna Loraine one of the owners who plays with her dog Darla, along side. Lynn suggested that I join the Monday Seniors League, but not the Tuesday Ladies League. Lynn and I typically played together two or three times a week when I was in Dunnville and did other things together, like going to play Euchre and having dinner together at each others places or at nearby restaurants as she was recently separated and had no interest in dating.
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