Beaches attract all types

Crescent Beach Bliss

What do you think of when someone mentions Fort Erie, Ontario Canada? I cannot even start to guess what you think. But I bet you never thought of long sandy beaches. Fort Erie, like many waterfront communities, has an ok selection of parks and trails but the beaches got my attention.

Fort Erie. Ontario left two impressions with me. One impression is the good selection of the aft so mentioned sandy beaches. The other impression was the scenic drive and recreation trail along the Niagara River Trail.

If ever visiting the Niagara region always approach the community via the coastline highways and not Highway 401. The Niagara River Trail follows the same route. Locals and lunatics use Highway 401 to get from point A to point B quickly. People, like us, who want to take our time and see some scenery while exploring. The coastline routes are scenic and  beautiful. The traffic is more manageable and stress free.

The trail that follows the Niagara River is called the Niagara River Trail. It connects the community of Fort Erie and Lake Erie with the village of Niagara on the Lake and Lake Ontario of the Great Lakes via a 50+ kilometre network of trails and roadway. Much of the route is filled with amazing scenery of cliffs, rapids, waterfalls, bridges and our neighbors in the USA. The trail connects to attractions, heritage sites, historic monuments, gardens and marinas.

But still, the sandy beaches were a nice surprise – Bernard Road, Crescent, Crystal and Waverly Beaches. All beaches were fronted by Lake Erie and backed by a row of colorful, elevated cottage homes. Each with a very prominent deck and many with the Muskoka Chairs. Some of the sandy beaches were strictly beach access points with no services, just wide open sand and lake views. On my clear day, where the ocean met the sky, blue on blue, was my horizon.

Crystal Beach

West of Fort Erie is Crystal Beach. It is the main beach in the area. Beautiful beach with lots of beautiful people. It had all the traits of a main beach. There was litter. I had to mortgage a house for parking. There were beach patrols and a gated entry. And, of course, no main beach would be complete without the jocks, barbies and punks who think they are so tough and scary. Being a non local I made my time short at Crystal Beach.

My best beach experience in Fort Erie was at the beach with the least original name sign – Bernard Street Beach. I could walk for hours and I did. With my hiking boots off I let my toes make love to the sand. At this beach I did not feel threatened. All the main beach attributes were not present.

I enjoyed the scenery. I took my time. I met some nice people. I met one women in particular who impressed me in her humble attitude and quest for life. She was an older lady rigging up her newly purchased sail boat for her first voyage out on the water with a friend. (main BLOG Photo). You sensed the calm excitement. She dazzled me with her story about living dreams and how she worked her whole life for experiences like this. It is always nice to meet good people who leave a smile on your face.

I would of not met her nor would I have visited any of the beaches if not for me asking when I first stopped in at the tourism office. The tourism office did not even mention to me about their sandy beaches. In fact, they pushed paying attractions like most tourism offices do. Like most tourism offices they think we are all made of money and have no problem breaking the bank to see their community. Why are they so poorly trained?

It is a simple fact. There are very few of us who can spend wildly when vacationing. Most of us travelers, have to pick and choose, which paying attractions we will visit. Most, especially families, would like to mix up our time in your community with free outdoor activities like sightseeing, picnicking, parks, trails, hikes, swimming, lookouts and beaches. We will stay longer and that is what you want.

I had to ask about the trails and parks. Then once I got a map, I quickly noticed the beaches and then had to ask about them. The kids working the office, were sitting up on the counter talking about their social life. They could not care less about me. To a normal tourist I do not know if this attitude would fly. I guess it does if they are doing it. It works for me anyway , I prefer to snoop through the literature educating myself.