anniversary road trip (owen sound and tobermory)

It is no secret that travel is difficult for me these days. (I wrote about in a recent blog post, which you can check out here.) Despite being something that I used to love...travel brings me a lot of anxiety now. Where I live, the cases of COVID-19 are increasing again. Since it seems no one is wearing a mask anymore or taking any safety precautions whatsoever, this is certainly concerning. It also means that a lot of my favourite summer activities, like theme parks, concerts, and the CNE, will have to wait. Crowds are not my thing anymore! Well, my husband and I celebrated seven years of marriage recently and he wanted to do something special. We haven't traveled, just the two of us, since before the pandemic....but my fear of people made it difficult to really plan something. Ultimately, we ended up taking a little road trip to Owen Sound and Tobermory. The reason? All of the activities were outdoors and the crowds were low. Here are some road trip highlights from this getaway. 

Day One: Lots of Driving and Exploring Owen Sound. The first day involved a lot of driving. We didn't leave until later in the day, because I had some work to finish first. Then...we were on our way. The drive itself was pretty long, but there was good music in the car, and of course, Tim Hortons. Owen Sound was pretty and almost completely empty. We saw maybe two people as we walked around. It was a bit unnerving in a way, but certainly lessened my COVID anxiety. My husband and I walked around the waterfront for a bit, explored the area, and then ordered a pizza and took it back to the hotel room. The best part? The hotel had cable, which meant that I was able to watch lots and lots of HGTV shows. It was a low-key kind of day, but it was nice.

Day Two: A Very Long Hike to Inglis Falls. The second day was certainly the most intense. We went to Harrison Park in Owen Sound, where there was mini putt, boat rentals, a bird sanctuary, and a lot of hiking trails. We checked out the bird sanctuary, walked around, and hiked to Inglis Falls. The hike was far more intense than either of us realized! I suppose I thought it would be a straightforward trail, but it was steep and rocky and there were roots everywhere. It was a lot more advanced than anticipated...but we did it! We hiked to Inglis Falls and the waterfall was absolutely incredible. We stopped there to eat the lunch that we packed and then hiked back down. By the time we returned to Harrison Park, we were so exhausted that we decided to skip the mini putt. It was back to the hotel for a cat nap. Then we had some dinner and watched even more HGTV. 

Day Three: Exploring Collingwood. For our third day, we decided to do some exploring in Collingwood. We wandered around the downtown area, walked along the water, and hiked a bit. It was definitely a more relaxed day after such a challenging hike the day before! We were recuperating and took it easy as much as possible. At the end of the day, we ordered some Boston Pizza takeout, and then it was back to the hotel room for the rest of the night. Definitely a relaxing sort of day, but I suppose that is what a vacation is meant to include. I tend to be go-go-go on trips and love a full itinerary, so it was a little unusual to have such a quiet day thrown into the mix. However, it was needed, especially since we would head to Tobermory the next day.

Day Four: Tobermory and Wiarton. Well, the main reason we decided to spend time in this area was to visit Tobermory. My husband saw pictures of the flower pot rocks and that was that! Unfortunately, we did not end up seeing the flower pot rocks. The winds were intense and the smaller boats were cancelled and we missed our boat time on the ferry. (You had to arrive an hour before boarding time. Oops!) Despite that, we still had a fun day. We wandered around Tobermory, saw a lighthouse, and ate lunch by the water. It was really nice there! On the way back to the Owen Sound area, we stopped in Wiarton, where they had a Wiarton Willie statue, playground, and waterfront area. It was so neat! I love it there. That night, we went to a 50s diner for dinner. I love anything themed, especially 50s themed. The diner was great, but it was a little scary eating at a restaurant. We picked a booth at the very back and stayed away from people the best that we could...but it was still a lot. 

The next day, we packed everything up, and drove back home. It was only a short little road trip, but it was nice nonetheless. We managed to avoid people for the most part and make some nice summer memories. 

Will you take a road trip this summer? Do you have any travel plans?