I am not a writer but I do enjoy Grand Bend.  I am going to visit places and events that advertise in my web page www.grandbend.com and make comments on my experience.  Just how I enjoyed it or found the service or generally the type of things that you would find if you were to visit.  That way when you do visit you won't be surprised.

Winter for Winter Carnival

February 9th, 2008

I was just over to the Ball Diamond at the Legion to see the winter crazy people warming up on the field.  Doesn't warming up take on a whole new meaning?  I only say crazy people cause they are going to have a crazy amount of fun playing baseball in the snow today.  I hope that they have a lot of hot beverages to keep their body temps up.  They actually have snow falling on them today to add to the ambience.  The firemen are readying the fire house for their traditional Firemans Breakfast, I saw Skip and Glenn and the boys moving things out to make room for the crowds.  I hear that there was some discussion about raising the price of the breakfast this year but their generosity of spirit - (what else would you expect from volunteer firemen and women) - would not allow them to do it.  They decided that this is not a fund raising event, it is done to bring the community together for a great time.  I have had the breakfast and the Hayters Turkey Farms sausages are the best sausages that I have ever had.  The breakfast is an event that should not be missed by anyone - it is fantastic.  In another part of the snow sculptures are kind of dying by now.  I thought the selection this year was very artistic.  My favourite was the cowboy boots and wheels - great effort for a first time.  Riverbend always does a great display and Benguin was tremendous and the watering hole was perfect too.  Alright they all were winners.  There are still a lot of events going on this weekend. Take a look at the home page of www.grandbend.com for the schedule and have fun.  Today at the Firehouse the Ringette team will be selling hot dogs out in the cold to raise money for a tournament that they have entered.  Please support the 8 and 9 year old girls team and buy a couple of hot dogs and show them that by hard work they can do the things that they enjoy doing.  That starts at 10:30.  I am heading over there now for lunch.  See you there.

Aunt Gussies Remodels

February 7, 2008

One of Grand Bends favourite eating spots will be sporting a new look come Monday morning!  Each weekend during the summer our tourists are amazed by the numbers of people lined up outside of the Aunt Gussies Restaurant on the north end of town.  Lined up from breakfast to dinner.  Let me assure you that this spot is not just a summer favourite, it is a regular hot spot for locals.  As an example they had a full house on mothers day - people streamed in all night long.  The steady flow of satisfied diners in and out of Aunt Gussies every day of the week attests to the superior quality of their restaurant.  They have a tried and true formula for success.  Great food, Great service and Great ambience.  So what now for Aunt Gussies?  Well, word is out that Pat and Leanne are painting up a storm.  It will be the same great spot only so much nicer.  They are also reworking the menu.  They are going over every detail to make sure that your dining experience is the best that it can be.  Are they going to remove all your favourites from the menu?  NO - not to worry - they are adding to the menu not removing things.  I have been ordering from the same menu for over 10 years so an update is long overdue.  To ensure that everyone has a choice of a meal that really excites them and makes them want to come back for more, Pat is going to add recipes that he has been trying out as specials over the last year - and only the ones that worked really well.  There will also be surprises on the menu that you will just have to go in to see.  Have a great season at Aunt Gussies.  We can't wait to see the menu.

Fireworks at the Legion

February 6, 2008

Grand Bend Winter Carnival has a new top act, one that would be hard to beat by any of the other events.  When you think of family entertainment do any of these events top fireworks:  Snow Pitch, Snow Golf, Snow Football, Drive In Movie at the Grand Bend Public School, Waiter Race, Ice Carvings, Snow Carvings, Turkey Bowling, Wedding on a Cake, Sledding on a Hill, Mr Science, Snake Lady - I don't think so.  While all of the many years of fun have provided all of the above mentioned events - I think that for our family we have a winning combination of our favourite things.  Imagine watching fireworks in the winter.  It was just great entertainment.  The kids had fun, the adults had fun and everyone complained about the cold - a perfectly Canadian conversation.  Hooray for the Fireworks.  The Winter Carnival Committee have a winter winner on their  hands.  I can assure them that if they do it for one more year the hundreds of spectators will grow into thousands of spectators, simply by word of mouth.  The idea was fantastic and the 5 different groups competing was a stroke of genius.  Way to go folks, can't wait until next year.

Kause for Kids Motorcycle Parade and Fund Raiser

October 5, 2007

Join the bikers on Main Street for the kids.

On November 3rd plan to join a great bunch of bikers.  You may see a number of grey beards on Harleys joined by kids on smaller bikes.  Everyone out for fun and a good cause.  Thousands of dollars have been donated yearly for local causes mostly related to childrens needs.  A huge pile of toys is gathered up to be donated to needy children for Christmas.  For years we have gone down to Main Street to watch the parade of bikes and donate a couple of toys for kids.  Then a party of monumental proportions takes place in Gables Tavern.  Great bands entertain until late into the night.  What a wonderful thing for these folks to do.  Many, many people come for miles around to help raise money for this Kause.  You know that these folks buy their tickets in advance and plan to attend regardless of the weather.  You can't guarantee the quality of the weather in November yet these folks come out year after year and brave the weather for a fun ride.  Kudos to Nelson Desjardine and the West Coast Riders for taking on this huge task.  And there is a chance for you to participate as well.  You can donate a toy or attend the event or Spin Two Win.  Throughout town until November 3rd people will be offering you a chance to spin a wheel and qualify for a draw for a 42" TV/DVD plasma tv.  Your chance only costs $5.00 and it goes to a good cause.

Location: Gables Tavern, Main Street just off Highway 21, Grand Bend, Ontario.  The parade is on Main Street down to the water and back.

Update:  Hats off to Nelson Desjardin and the West Coast Riders for a fantastic event again this year.  The town was full of bikes.  It was a tad chilly for the ride in and the ride home, but weather blessed this event again.  It must be because the benefit of all this hard work are the many childrens charities that are the recipients of the largess of the bikers.  I must say that there seemed to be less grey beards this year under those helmets!!  Way to go again.

Lambton Shores Recreation Facility

October 1, 2007

Hockey and Ringette Begins again.

Hockey players in Grand Bend have four choices for the location that they play their league games.  They have Zurich, Exeter, Parkhill and Forest.  All are good arenas but the most dramatic change has been in the facilities in Forest/Lambton Shores.  The old Forest Arena used to be the coldest facility in all of Ontario.  The staff were wonderful but the arena left something to be desired - like heat.  Ice crystals on the ceiling used to drip on warm days down onto the ice creating extra sets of lines.  The people in the stands had to be real fans because they were always cold.  And yet some great ringette and hockey was played there as the banners could attest.

Well last week was my first visit to the brand spanking new facility.  The improvements are dramatic.  Larger ice surface, great lighting, large warm area and a great set of stands for many people to watch from.  Three cheers for all those involved in fund raising, steering the idea through council as well as the builders who have finished on time.  I know, the YMCA facilities upstairs are not ready yet, nor are there seats in the stands.  But all those things are coming.  The heat in the seats will radiate up from the concrete, but for now bring something to sit on as the concrete, believe it or not, is hard on your butt.

The grass is starting to grow outside, the ice surface is larger, the snack bar is going, people are starting to return to watch great hockey and ringette.  A couple of problems noticed by my family is that the furniture in the warm room is not user friendly, the snack bar does not have chippies and the seats in the stands are really anticipated.  A couple of wonderful things are the good food being offered by the snack counter, the fact that the end boards of the ice surface form the wall of the warm room so that when a puck hits it or a check lands on it, the noise reverberates through the warm room and that keeps everyone involved in the game.  There is so much more room everywhere - the warm room, the parking lot, the change rooms.  Everything is better, especially now that they have a better selection of candy at the snack bar - even 9 year olds have priorities.

Location: North End of Forest off Highway 21 on Antelecom Road, Forest, Ontario.  Check out the running track above the ice surface.

Update - the seats are in!

Dinner at F.I.N.E. A Restaurant

September 20th, 2007

on Highway 21, this weekend (the off season) was beyond belief.  Located just between the two traffic lights south of the corner of Highway 21 and Highway 81.   Parking is great, you just need to know to park at the little parkette across the street and walk over.  The restaurant is very pretty and intimate and has patio seating and they have a party room upstairs.  We had a birthday party at the restaurant and took over the small upstairs room.  We had 19 people in our party for dinner.  It was  tight, loud and boistrous - just what we wanted for dinner - and we did not bother anyone downstairs.  The sound did not travel.  The air conditioning was good and the room did not heat up at all.  The service was superb, Jackie is the best.  She and the serving staff brought the food and drinks up and down the stairs with nary a complaint.  Table by table was served from the menu, not a fixed menu which was an option.  This made the servers and kitchen staff work even harder.  They had a full restaurant downstairs and had us all order apps, entrees and drinks.  There are separate washrooms upstairs that are quite pretty so once you go up the stairs there is no need to go down again until the evening is over.

The food was beyond great.  The little bread basket is filled with delicious treats that just wets everyone's appetite for what is about to come.  Erryn makes a fantastic Caesar Salad with a bun that I believe is probably deep fried, rolled in garlic and parmesan cheese and truly melts in your mouth, an experience that you really should not miss.  Real smoky bacon tops this magnificent app.  We have travelled to restaurants that she has worked at just to have this app. 

I have had the scallops before and they are my favourite app, so tender and perfectly prepared in a rich spicy sauce.  They are a little crisp and ever so slightly browned on the side and perfectly tender and sweet inside.  It is an art to get them just right.  We had ordered a special entree as a treat for several members of the party and the baked salmon, scallop and shrimp in a coconut curry sauce was unbelievable.  The chef was happy to oblige.  The salmon was crusty on the top side and served on what appeared to be garlic mashed potatoes.  Three cheers to the chef.  My personal favourite entree is the full rack of lamb which was pronounced fabulous by my friend who ordered it.  A deep rich sauce was liberally coating the plate.  My friend had stripped the bones of every bit of the meat so I cannot tell you what the plate looked like when it arrived.

We ordered the Double Chocolate cake as desert for the group.  The cake was beautifully decorated with fresh fruit swimming in deep icing.  It was taken away after presentation and cut into gigantic pieces and served with ice cream.  It was so moist, huge, tall, rich  and delicious.  I could swear that I even tasted a little mocha mixed into the thick icing layer in the middle of the cake.   I may be wrong but regardless the cake was a huge hit.  I heard about it from people for days.   Even the ladies to their credit ate their way through the desert.

It was really funny that most of the time jokes and laughter and conversation filled the room to capacity then as food arrived the conversation ended abruptly and all that could be heard was silverware hitting the plate.  I did not see any food left on any plates, nothing, nada.  It was all enjoyed to the max.

All in all, a wonderful time was had by all.  The restaurant outdid itself and made a lasting impression on all of the guests.  But you know, everytime I go into F.I.N.E A Restaurant they create a lasting impression because the restaurant is just so darned good.  You know, we might just go back again!

Location: 42 Ontario Street, Grand Bend Ontario.  Check out the F.I.N.E A Restaurant  for further details and reservations.  Please tell them that you were sent by www.grandbend.com.  I might get an extra scallop in spicy sauce next time I'm in.

Update - the scallops are off the menu.