This is one of the things we've been spending time on. Our house's previous owner planted beautiful perennial gardens so every week brings a new surprise.
But last weekend we decided to take a break from our garden and head on a little road trip to Bayfield, Ontario. Bayfield is a little village on the shores of Lake Huron, between Goderich and Grand Bend. It's only about an hour from home. We've been there on day trips several times but this time we stayed overnight at The Little Inn of Bayfield, located right on Main Street in the centre of town.
The Little Inn is an historic property recently under new ownership and it was a perfect place to stay. We had a little room with a king sized bed on the second floor. Service at the front desk was beyond friendly and helpful. In fact, service was absolutely fantastic everywhere we went in the Inn and its restaurants and bars.
The first thing we did when we arrived was make a beeline to the Inn's weekly Backyard BBQ, every Saturday this summer from 11:30 am until 3:30 pm or until the food is gone. It's all you can eat for $19.99 per person and the food was surprisingly delicious! We had pulled pork, ribs, chicken, brisket, corn, potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, amazing biscuits, and even pie for dessert.
We also ordered some craft beer for Matt and a bourbon sour for me. The BBQ is served outside in a lovely back garden with plenty of sun and shade. The service was once again terrific, especially from the young man handling the grill.
Next we headed for a walk down Main Street, which is great for shopping. And then we walked down to the marina and main beach. There are three beaches in Bayfield and we had a lovely time swimming in the lake.
For dinner we headed to the Black Dog Village Pub. We've had lunch here many times and we were looking forward to being able to stay longer and enjoy their extensive beer and cocktail list. Unfortunately, service wasn't quite up to their normal standards so we were only able to order one cocktail each with dinner.
The food was fantastic though! This cauliflower & quinoa salad was so good I can't wait to attempt to make it myself.
After dinner we were still thirsty so we headed to the Ashwood Inn's bourbon bar. This place has been nicely renovated and has a huge patio.
We headed back to our Little Inn for one last cocktail in their wonderful bar.
We had a great sleep and in the morning we were delighted to find that breakfast was included with our room rate. The breakfast buffet had eggs, bacon, sausage, cold meats and cheeses, excellent chicken and roasted vegetables, salads and desserts, plus juice and coffee. It was an unexpected treat.
Before leaving Bayfield we stopped at the cutest bird store I've ever seen. Porter's Hill has a great selection of bird feeders and seed, plus other great gifts. And the service is extremely knowledgeable and friendly. We will be back here for sure.
On the way home we stopped by one of our favourite places, Twin Pines Cider House. We've been here several times but were pleased to see they now they have a new tasting room on the main floor. We picked up some cider and glasses and headed home.
It's so great to have such a wonderful getaway so close to home. Bayfield is definitely close enough for a day trip, but it was very relaxing to stay overnight. We will be back soon for sure!