The Great Canadian Cottage Life Thread

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

I don't get the point of camping for the sake of camping, but I love camping when part of a greater trip (kayaking down a Canadian Shield river over a few days, for example).

Maybe if I had kids, I'd see this differently - the camping itself would be an activity for them.

But at my level (), it sucks as a "main" activity.

We had great fun and made great memories when our kids were younger, going camping with a large group of friends with kids the same age.

Camping for some reason generally gives younger kids a lot more freedom than they would otherwise have, and also gives parents a break too.

We did both tent camping and also semi-glamping in those Hékipia or Huttopia permanent tents (with a hard floor) that the SÉPAQ has in their parks.

We've never been camping without friends, though.

[Acajack]

I can't imagine having a cottage to take care of in addition to taking care of my main house which I have trouble keeping up with as it is.

I am set up at home like MonctonRad (and I assume MolsonEx as well) with a backyard pool and all the outdoor stuff that accompanies that.

That was our choice too - setting up the yard nicely or getting a second property.

I am the type who says "if I am gonna pay for it I am gonna use it" so if we were to have a cottage I'd want to go every second weekend AT LEAST from May to September.

We have friends who bought cottages and almost none of them go with that amount of frequency, and certainly not every weekend.

Some friends have gone entire summers without going once. Because... "life".

[kool maudit]

This isn't my street, but it is very similar. So there are a lot of things that many houses or even townhouses have that for me must take place at the cabin!

Turns out I do like grilling etc.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

This isn't my street, but it is very similar. So there are a lot of things that many houses or even townhouses have that for me must take place at the cabin!

Yes, I understand.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I can't imagine having a cottage to take care of in addition to taking care of my main house which I have trouble keeping up with as it is.

I am set up at home like MonctonRad (and I assume MolsonEx as well) with a backyard pool and all the outdoor stuff that accompanies that.

That was our choice too - setting up the yard nicely or getting a second property.

I am the type who says "if I am gonna pay for it I am gonna use it" so if we were to have a cottage I'd want to go every second weekend AT LEAST from May to September.

We have friends who bought cottages and almost none of them go with that amount of frequency, and certainly not every weekend.

Some friends have gone entire summers without going once. Because... "life".

Same here.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

3. First generation Canadians are buying into cottage-life and experiencing this most wonderful of traditions; it's great to see.

That was my family. My mom had barely been in Canada for a decade when we got our family cottage. It's kind of funny, my parents were super thrifty, but the cottage was one of the few big splurges they ever made. We were one of the only households in our extended family to have a cottage... there were a couple of people with trailers, but that was it. Although mind you at the time in the early 80s, the cottage probably didn't cost much more than about $20,000. Curious as to what the uptake is like among new Canadians now that housing costs (for primary and recreational residences alike) have gone up so much. It used to be that you could save up for a few years and buy a cottage, but now you need a windfall of some kind (inheritance? investment proceeds?) if you aren't a high earner.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I've always been a tenting guy, and I also can't understand why people need these insanely gigantic 5th wheelers and RVs just to camp for a few days at a place like The Pinery. It makes a complete mockery of camping, and destroys the camping vibe for people trying to actually camp. When I lived in BC in the 90s, I would camp every weekend, going to different places across the southern half of the province: Vancouver Island, Whistler and points north, Fraser Valley and North Shore Mountains, Cascades, Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys. Then, and now, I was always tenting.

The 5th wheels and RVs parked in trailer parks can't be considered 'camping' in any meaningful sense of the term. It's basically portable cottages. My wife's cousin has a seasonal camping site in western Manitoba where they park their 5th wheel all summer. We go out and visit once a summer and rent a trailer for the weekend. The kids love it, they have a ball. But it's basically the cottaging experience... find some fun/interesting things to do during the day, have a BBQ, sit around the campfire and have a few drinks.

I'm sure some people use their 5th wheels and RVs to move around and "camp", but from what I've learned there is an epic amount of effort, and with the price of gas now, cost, that goes into doing that. Far cheaper and less hassle to park for weeks/months at a time.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

That was my family. My mom had barely been in Canada for a decade when we got our family cottage. It's kind of funny, my parents were super thrifty, but the cottage was one of the few big splurges they ever made. We were one of the only households in our extended family to have a cottage... there were a couple of people with trailers, but that was it. Although mind you at the time in the early 80s, the cottage probably didn't cost much more than about $20,000. Curious as to what the uptake is like among new Canadians now that housing costs (for primary and recreational residences alike) have gone up so much. It used to be that you could save up for a few years and buy a cottage, but now you need a windfall of some kind (inheritance? investment proceeds?) if you aren't a high earner.



The 5th wheels and RVs parked in trailer parks can't be considered 'camping' in any meaningful sense of the term. It's basically portable cottages. My wife's cousin has a seasonal camping site in western Manitoba where they park their 5th wheel all summer. We go out and visit once a summer and rent a trailer for the weekend. The kids love it, they have a ball. But it's basically the cottaging experience... find some fun/interesting things to do during the day, have a BBQ, sit around the campfire and have a few drinks.

I'm sure some people use their 5th wheels and RVs to move around and "camp", but from what I've learned there is an epic amount of effort, and with the price of gas now, cost, that goes into doing that. Far cheaper and less hassle to park for weeks/months at a time.

One of our siblings has a fifth wheel, and it takes a couple of hours to set up at the destination, and a couple of hours to get it ready when you leave. Not something you'd want to use to road trip around, stopping in different places every 2-3 days. At a minimum I'd want to stay put for at least 5 days in every spot if I was travelling with something like that.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I can't imagine having a cottage to take care of in addition to taking care of my main house which I have trouble keeping up with as it is.

I am set up at home like MonctonRad (and I assume MolsonEx as well) with a backyard pool and all the outdoor stuff that accompanies that.

That was our choice too - setting up the yard nicely or getting a second property.

I am the type who says "if I am gonna pay for it I am gonna use it" so if we were to have a cottage I'd want to go every second weekend AT LEAST from May to September.

We have friends who bought cottages and almost none of them go with that amount of frequency, and certainly not every weekend.

Some friends have gone entire summers without going once. Because... "life".

Yeah, it's not my jam. My predominant memory of the cottage, when we weren't at the beach or having guests (which was work in and of itself) was my parents always doing some sort of chores. Yard work, fixing something, building something, washing dishes, etc. Maybe it was just my parents' way of relaxing, but the last thing I need is more of that stuff.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Interesting. I guess it depends on your region of Ontario. A cottage on Lake Ontario is unheard of around here. It's just simply a house that's located on the lake. 'Cottage' is all the lakes to the north

IMO there are three main types of cottaging in Ontario:

There's the traditional "Cottage County" stretching from Georgian Bay to the Ottawa Valley, with the archetypal waterfront cabin on a lake in the backwoods. This is probably the most common form and the most quintessentially (Eastern) Canadian.

Then there are the beach towns, primarily along the shores of Lake Erie and Huron. While the cabins resemble the lakeside cottages, the focus is less on the property itself as a getaway, and more as a means of access to the large communal beaches & attractions in town.

And then there's farm country - especially in places like PEC, Northumberland, and Grey County. These tend to be more "lifestyle" driven, with the selling points being the local wineries, restaurants, heritage properties, and proximity to public beaches for recreation. I've never really heard these referred to as cottages though. Usually it's a farmhouse or country house. Still the same idea though.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

And then there's farm country - especially in places like PEC, Northumberland, and Grey County. These tend to be more "lifestyle" driven, with the selling points being the local wineries, restaurants, heritage properties, and proximity to public beaches for recreation. I've never really heard these referred to as cottages though. Usually it's a farmhouse or country house. Still the same idea though.

I know some guys around here who own marginal agricultural land or straight up bush who use it for hunting. They have a small house or trailer set up on it and use it for that. A bit of a niche interest but not uncommon.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, it's not my jam. My predominant memory of the cottage, when we weren't at the beach or having guests (which was work in and of itself) was my parents always doing some sort of chores. Yard work, fixing something, building something, washing dishes, etc. Maybe it was just my parents' way of relaxing, but the last thing I need is more of that stuff.

My wife's family had a cottage and she has very fond memories of it, and has never recalled her parents being slaves to the cottage. Though her father had his summers off and the mother often did part-time shift work, so they were at the cottage for extended periods during the summer, and not just trying to squeeze cottage time into a limited number of weekends.

The cottage has never been of much interest or use to us as it was too far away, being way up there in northeastern Ontario near the border with the Abitibi region of Quebec.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

My wife's family had a cottage and she has very fond memories of it, and has never recalled her parents being slaves to the cottage. Though her father had his summers off and the mother often did part-time shift work, so they were at the cottage for extended periods during the summer, and not just trying to squeeze cottage time into a limited number of weekends.

The cottage has never been of much interest or use to us as it was too far away, being way up there in northeastern Ontario near the border with the Abitibi region of Quebec.

My parents had fairly lengthy stretches of time at the cottage... my dad was a railway worker so if he took a couple of trips off, he'd have almost a month off right there. My mom worked part time so she could often spend several days in a row at the cottage. But they were still always puttering around.

Incidentally, the people I know who get the most mileage from cottages are either self-employed and can set up their lives to spend several days/weeks in a row at the cottage (I know some lawyers in private practice who spend damn near the entire summer at the cottage and work remotely), or teachers. Teachers with their summers off definitely get their money's worth from cottages!

[harls]

As far as I'm concerned, I am glad I didn't buy into the cottage life. I have plenty of friends that are more than happy to invite me to thier place on every special occasion - NYE, St. Jean (even Canada Day), Spring break, etc. They even have a damn boat. I can't imagine the upkeep of all of that crap, let alone not using it while you are living in your city home.

I will happily be a guest.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

haha! cute kid.

It gets worse. My son is nearly 17, and he can't stand to be in the same room as us. Terrible attitude.

Molson, 16-18 seems to be the worst period of teen angst + ridiculous hormonal rage + insatiable horniness
(I was probably doing the five knuckle shuffle and "distributing seeds" 3-8 times a day at that age)

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by jonny24

I always laugh at the "glampers" as well. Last time I camped we didn't even bother with a tent, just threw a mattress in the back of the pickup and slept under the stars. I do need some sort of cover so we can do that even it looks rainy.

I always assumed our love of campfires was anthropological - like, of course we love fire, it's what let us be human! But this is the second time this week hearing someone be mystified about it - my buddies mom is from Manchester and she was like "you bloody Canadians and your campfires, I don't get it".

The more I hear from English people, the more I'm thankful my Anglo Saxon ancestors (on both sides) told them to "get stuffed" and move to Canada 170 or whatever years ago. I enjoy Brit humour, but don't understand them.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by harls

• Video Link

Just for Proof Sheet.

nah, that was for every Canadian that lived through the 1980s no matter the age

[MolsonExport]

Kim Mitchell Represent! Bald with long hair at the same time.

Patio Lanterns is hilarious. The lyrics aren't very deep.

Our house had the biggest patio
Our house had all the summer shade
We had patio lanterns
I'd spend half the night making lemonade
Which we drank a lot
'Cause we were all so shy
Shy and nervous
Who was gonna be
Who would be the first to dance
Who was gonna be
Who would be the first to kiss
Under those patio lanterns
Those patio lanterns
They were the stars in the sky
Those patio lanterns
Lighting up our lives
Those patio lanterns
They were the stars in the sky
Those patio lanterns
Lighting up our lives
Oh, those patio lanterns
And I was stuck on Joy, that was her name
We didn't talk much
She was a nervous girl
I was a nervous boy
We stuck together like glue on glue
Dancing to an old song
Bobby Vinton's Blue on Blue
Heartache on heartache
Who was gonna be
Who would be the first to dance
Who was gonna be
Who would be the first to kiss
Under those patio lanterns
Those patio lanterns
They were the stars in the sky
Those patio lanterns
Lighting up our lives
Those patio lanterns
They were the stars in the sky
Those patio lanterns
Lighting up our lives
Oh, those patio lanterns

[Wigs]

my folks had a set like this they bought in the mid 80s

[Gresto]

The "Patio Lanterns" mockery is sacrilege! It's an '80s classic.

As to cottages, I have been fortunate enough to have spent time at a cottage my entire life. My parents bought a small cottage ("Hunter's Special") in 1975, when I was an infant. We were there for 40 idyllic years, but unfortunately we outgrew it. Now we have a spacious place on a larger piece of land a little farther away from the city; actually much closer to Ottawa than Toronto.
I can understand those who don't "get" the cottage scene, or don't want to deal with all the work that comes with a second residence, but I don't think I could survive mentally without an escape to a house by the lake.

[suburbanite]

Me and my friends were still semi-ironically signing Patio Lanterns at the cottage in our teens/20s in the 2010s. Kim Mitchell used to run a radio show that played on the classic rock station in Toronto and we would joke that it was just so he could keep plugging his songs for a few more years. The lyrics are all pretty hilariously simple when you break them down. Might as well go for a soda!

The one benefit of a cottage is that even with sub-standard maintenance, it is still real estate and should be an appreciating asset over the long-term. My buddy was the first of our friends to buy his own place in Muskoka and picked up a tiny cabin and a small lake with only 12 cottages for $300,000. He's put in a bit of work but it's still a relative fixer upper. During the Covid insanity when everyone was looking for any source of recreation they could find, he had a realtor reach out to him telling him he could probably list for $450,000. Probably not going to get that type of appreciation in normal times, but good buildable land is not always plentiful in desirable cottage areas. Compared to say a boat docked near your primary residence which you still have to use a decent amount to make it worthwhile, and depreciates significantly every year.

Now if a cottage means picking up a second mortgage and foregoing more extravagant vacations or other lifestyle changes, it's still a tough decision. One benefit of growing up in the GTA is you can develop a nice network of friends with their own cottages to get 50% of the benefits with almost none of the work.