You should always go to the beach in deep winter.
My boyfriend and I went to Picton, a small community part of Prince Edward County, Ontario. It was in between Christmas and New Year, where all the shops only opened twice a week, and you got lucky if it didn’t close at 6pm. For two days, we spent a relaxing weekend exploring parts of the county.
On our first morning, we ventured out to Sandbanks Provincial Park. We began by parking without a permit and walking for what felt like a century in a forest trail. The wind felt like blades on my skin and pins through my jeans. My Canada mittens weren’t enough to keep me warm.
But I was met with a spectacular view. We were at West Point, where the trail gave way to large, flat sheets of rock that have been frozen over at night. I could not tell where the rocks ended and where the water began. The air was fresh and biting. I shuffled along the rocks in fear of slipping, and I knew that I will be back again.
Visiting the sand dunes was a fun exercise. We climbed the dunes easily as the sand was completely frozen. Even with the strong wind we were able to leave footprints in the sand. I sacrificed my hands to take a bad panorama photo, where you can’t even tell that I was up high in comparison to the beach. But I told myself that I will be back again, so it’s okay. All the while, the beach sang like chimes. The wind swept over layers and layers of white shells on the sand and it rang in my head.
On the morning we left, we visited Wellington Beach. There was snow on the sand and the water looked as cold as it would have felt. There was no one in sight and the beach felt like it was ours alone. We decided to get to the lighthouse, and it turned out being a semi-treacherous journey. The rocks were covered in ice and the path was packed with snow. When we got to the lighthouse, we spent more time sacrificing our fingers to take pictures full of smiles. I wasn’t warm but I was happy.
I’m convinced that every couple should make this trip in the winter instead of escaping to the Bahamas. Not to mention we had a lot of good food. Delicious fish tacos at the County Canteen, Greek lasagna at Island, poutine at the Acoustic Grill, you name it. We also visited the Black Prince Winery, where they sold amazing ice wine (that we didn’t buy, regrettably). If you live within a couple hours to Prince Edward County, I’d recommend this trip in the winter! We were cold all the time and didn’t have cellular reception but still had a great time. But bring your selfie stick because there will be nobody around to take pictures for you.
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