Beyond the beach
Sure, Huron is known for its sunsets, but hiking trails, historic sites and businesses have lots to offer, too
LONG BEFORE the TV show The Antique Hunter knocked on proprietor Phil Gemeinhardt’s door, revealing his two dozen themed antique sheds (remember Cracker Jack prizes and 7UPp glasses?), the collector was already a local celebrity.
Collecting since he was a teenager, today the owner of Bayfield North Antiques still gets excited when he sees something rare. “Once and a while we get something in that I’ve never seen before,” he says. One of those finds was a sign for International Harvester Motor Trucks. “It’s like one of three or four that I’ve ever seen.” His business is just one of the ways Huron County pairs vintage with innovation and creativity.
In Ontario’s agricultural capital — which natives dubbed Huron in 1610 and where Mennonites still use horse and buggies — historical homes, a plethora of antique shops and farm-to-table dining are reminders of timeless quality while its hiking trails and kilometres of sprawling beaches on Lake Huron are classic rural settings. Less than two hours by car from Waterloo Region, Huron County is where funky meets retro.
Bayfield
You’d be hard-pressed to find a local inside the Black Dog Pub & Bistro on the weekend — that’s because droves of urbanites make the pilgrimage. Built in 1850, the former general store is an unpretentious find. “This place is warm and inviting and >>
>> guests know they can get high quality, but not at fine dining prices,” says Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh, author of many cookbooks and a food writer. Kathleen and husband Ted (a scotch expert) travel the world finding gems to bring back. “We just came home from Spain and I just fell in love with some of their wines.”
Beer is also king here: ask for a sample of their 20 varieties. Fruili is a Belgian strawberry-infused wheat beer while Austrian Stiegl tastes of grapefruit; locals include Guelph’s Wellington Brewery. Iron Duke is dark and dreamy.
The Dog, as locals call it, is a hot spot for events such as Bob Marley’s birthday and a whiskey night.
“I’m part Scottish and part Polish,” says Frank Biskupek, the Scotch “brand ambassador” for Glenlivet who spoke between five courses of whiskey-inspired dishes. “Which means, I like to drink, but I don’t like to pay for it.”
That’s the thing about The Dog: it’s a bit of quirky innovation and homey-feel all rolled into one.
Goderich
North of Bayfield, Goderich, which has been labelled “prettiest town in Canada,” has been tirelessly restoring historical buildings since the tornado hit two years ago.
A walk around The Square and its side streets reveals architecture that just isn’t built anymore. Blowing its last whistle in 1988, the former CPR building features bright red brick and a turret. Nearby, the octagon-shaped prison, the Huron Gaol, is a National Historic Site where Canada’s last hanging occurred.
On the side streets, the houses of Goderich are historically eclectic: The Strachan House has an ornate mansard-roofed corner tower and pattered shingles, while the grey brick Warnock House, built in 1885, is Italianate architecture — rare for the area.
North of Goderich, an entire building moved across the street to make way for the highway expansion. In 1960, the Exchange Bed and Breakfast relocated but sat empty and overgrown until 1999 when the owners
brought it back to life; the rooms still include the original pine flooring. Current owners are Terry and Gerry Knoop. Meanwhile, the barn in the original location is an antique market, and if you want to take home a bit of vintage, the Dunlop Livery Antiques, the former shed belonging to the Exchange, is stocked to the rafters — literally. Dressed in overalls, owner Bob Colkunoun says he has been dabbling in antique sales since he was a teen. His shop is among several in the area. “It attracts every weirdo in the world and I love it!”
Those “eccentric types” include everyone from daily visitors on the hunt to Toronto designers looking for pieces to incorporate into a new building. Not surprisingly, homeowners want something out-of-the-box. Colkunoun picks up a white ceramic doorknob—“you can’t get these at Home Depot.”
The shed, once a livery (stable for horses), is two floors of gems supplied by his “pickers” — suppliers who scrounge auctions, estate sales and pawn shops. The place is a tickle trunk of big and small: imagine everything from intricate skeleton keys for $2 to a nine-metre rowing skiff fastened with brass rivets for $4,500. Or find unique furniture pieces such as hand-carved pineapple-style table legs: “You couldn’t go into a woodmaker these days and ask for them to do this — it’s just not done anymore,” Colkunoun says. TV shows like Hardcore Pawn and Canadian Pickers have made his store popular with a young crowd looking to tap into nostalgia. “They come here and hold up a magazine page and say, ‘Can you make my place look like this?’ ”
Last year wrought-iron beds were hot. “I can’t predict what will be hot this year,” Colkunoun says. “It all depends on what’s hot on the TV shows and in the magazines!” Goderich visitors craving some time with nature can check out the Tiger Dunlop Trail from North Harbour Road. The threekilometre trail offers views of Lake Huron and the harbour, including the salt mine, the largest underground salt mine in the world.
The trail also crosses the historical >>