Since the summer I was born (nearly 40 years ago) I have camped at Presqu'ile Provincial Park with my family. As I got older I made a point of visiting them as often as possible while they continued the tradition. The park and the camping experience played a big role in my life and some of my best memories growing up are linked to this place.
Presqu'ile has changed a lot since I was a kid and I'm sad to say, not for the better in many ways. The tree-huggers and bird lovers have forced their opinions on the park and sadly their voices were too loud to stop the parks decline as a summer playground. It is not nearly as well kept as it was in the past and the experience I had in my formative years is not nearly the same for the kids today.There are too many examples of how the park has been let go from the disappearance of the ball diamond near the Beach Two entrance to the marsh area near the park store that used to be a beautiful lush grassy area where children played and picnics were held. Beach Four has disappeared entirely as the birdbrains lobbied for and turned it into some kind of weed and wild-grass filled nesting area for birds. I can recall a time when the beaches were so full that they had to create that fourth entrance to help with the overflow. Even then the parking lots were jammed full and visitors were forced to park on the main road and walk in. I'm not against birds, (except the Cormorants that destroyed High Bluff Island) but the daily grooming of the entire beach is long gone and the bird droppings have forced many to seek enjoyment elsewhere.
Ahhh but thank goodness I have my memories of a much better time. Of course it didn't start out that way as early on I put a scare into my family. At the age of two I wandered out of the trailer early in the morning and decided to go for a stroll. Of course I don't remember this but as the story goes my mom was terrified that I might have gone to the lake since I loved the water. Ye of little faith. Even at that age I wasn't that stupid. No, I wandered along and was eventually picked up (kicking and screaming) by a nice couple packing up early. Eventually Dad came across me with them and returned me safely to my hysterical mother and my dirty and road oily pajamas had to burnt. Wasn't I a little stinker?
There are just too many memories but here are a few more of my favourites.
I remember the day a friend of my parents brought his cotton candy machine to the park when he visited and plugged it in at the washroom. Kids from all over the park converged on him in droves.
I recall when my Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy would come out to visit. Those nights were always eagerly awaited by our friends from Pennsylvania because this meant it was poker night. Mr. Ellison would hook up a light bulb to his motor home battery so the game could go late into the night. I watched this for many years before I was finally allowed to get in on a game or two.
There was a time when a Park truck would come around the campsites and they would be fogging for mosquitoes. Of course my friends and I would hop on our bikes and blindly ride behind this thing as it drove around. I don't know what pesticides (now banned) they used back then but I can imagine I'll pay for that bit of fun at some point in my life.
Games were a big part of the time spent at the park and it seemed like gambling was involved in all of them. We'd toss quarters. This is when there are two lines drawn in the dirt road and the players would toss quarters from one line to the next and whomever was closest got all the quarters for that round. We should do that one again soon. We'd also play lawn darts for money. I think it was 25 cents for a win and 50 cents for a skunk. The other big game that our friends from the states were big into was Rummy. Hours would be spent drinking beer and playing cards. Those were fun times.
Of course as a young boy in my early and mid-teens, a lot of time was spent hanging out with friends my age like Blair Locke. With Blair and I spending so much time together it was only a matter of time before our parents became close friends as well. I think most of our time was spent chasing girls. Every now and then we got lucky and actually found some that weren't repulsed by boys. This of course led to my getting to "Second Base" for the first time and some fun nights of skinny dipping and getting chased off the beach by the park wardens.We did plenty of other stuff as well. Riding bikes was always fun and I seem to recall we did that a lot. Mom had some glow-sticks and we'd tape them to our spokes and go riding through the campsites at night listening to everyone as they watched us go by. I can remember coming to a stop late at night and putting my foot down. Moments later I felt something brush past my leg and I looked down to see the white stripe down the back of the skunks back. I got lucky that night and most nights considering we never had lights on our bikes.
The most heroic thing I did happened when I was probably about 16 and in much better shape...back in my football days. Sitting in the trailer with Blair I saw a car coming down the road with no driver. I ran out the trailer and like a dummy I jumped in front of the car and did my best to stop if from rolling into the lake. Thanks to a little help from a woodpile at the edge of the cliff I manged to get it stopped in time. The woman had put the car in drive but forgot her toothbrush in her trailer and got out without putting the car in park...and away it went.
There have been so many great memories at the Park but I think the best memories of all are sitting around the countless number of campfires under star-filled clear summer skies with my family and friends. We'd watch for shooting stars and satellites flying overhead and just finish each day up in a perfect way.
The park has changed and many of the faces have changed over the years but the good times are still being had at my cherished summer getaway place.
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