Algonquin Weekend

We got back yesterday afternoon and what a great weekend! The weather was PERFECT - not too hot and muggy but warm and sunny. We drove and hit the yard sales on Sat and then went for a nice dinner and drive Sat night. We went and checked out a resort that is awesome and has 27 holes of golf! Sean was drooling like a little kid. We had gone shopping at some neat stores and galleries in the afternoon and some stuff was so cool! This town is full of inspiration. I was writing ideas left and right. There was also live jazz in the middle of main street with a full horn section. I love live music.

Then Sunday after sleeping in -YAY! we went to Algonquin. We checked in early and they were ready so that was cool. We needed a boat to get across and this was an old cedar canoe with a motor on it and a bunch of seats in it. It was neat!






We were in "Black Spruce" cabin and it was neat cabin with a stone fireplace, couch and chair and then up 6 steps to a loft area for the king size bed and bath. Wood on all the walls and floor. THere was also a screened in porch on the front and our own little rock flower garden.





We went back on the boat and used the included park pass to go to the logging museum and a visitor centre with a display of all the animals in the park and a neat high lookout point.


We came back and sat on the dock for awhile before dinner.



NOW.... Dinner. I had read the sample menus so I had an idea what I was in for and the price for non guests is 54.00 - no liquor - so I figured it would be good. There was to be 5 courses and you had your choice. They gave us a copy of the menu and I am showing it here and I will tell you what we got.






This is the dining room - we had a little place card on our table on a piece of wood and twigs.





The first course is an amuse bouche which is a surprise by the chef - a small thing to start you off. Tonight it was "Bacon and Egg" which was a piece of pork belly and a small quail egg. They were both good.

Next we both got the same - Seared sea scallops, avacado puree, shaved fennel, roasted yellow beet. There were two big scallops on a bed of the fennel and the beet on top with the avacado underneath.

Then I got Lobster tail sous vide, oven-dried tomato, tempura avacado, cucumber salsa and Sean got 12 hour braised bison shortribs, carmalized onions, pommes anna, bison jus. They were both SO GOOD. We shared of course!

My entree was Duck breast seared in French Brandy, roasted red beets, patty-pan squash, fingerling potatoes, peach compote, pistachio dust and Sean had Grilled beef tenderloin, chipotle demi-glaze, summer squash, wild mushrooms, arugala, brown butter mashed potatoes. I didnt know how much I would like the duck but it was amazing - it was cooked med rare which I guess is normal for duck and it was really good. Seans beef was good as well.

So all of our plates were clean! Then the dessert menu and cheescake? Of course thats my pick - Sean got it as well and we brought them back to the room to save for later. I had a bite right away and it was blueberry cheescake wrapped in phyllo pastry and caramel syrup all over and it was warm! OMG so good! I took a picture of Seans before he ate it.







WOW. NOw that I've bored you to tears.... lol! Really neat and I love variety so it was perfect for me. Not to mention breakfast! It was included as well and there were fresh muffins, croissants, danish, fruit plate, cheese plate, cereal and yoghurt and then you got your choice of hot dish! Sean got eggs benedict - really good and I got french toast with hot fruit compote made of fresh blueberries and raspberries. I was also torn about the apple and brie omelet- but didnt know if I would like apples and eggs together?


And since we didnt see any moose -;( I've lived up here for years and still havent seen one - I got this postcard of some in the park.




And a pic from the museum




I collect moose things and I still havent seen one! Bummer -I will need to go up in the spring because that is the prime time for them to come out of the bush because of the black flies. I'd be getting away from them too!

Next springs road trip!We are lucky that we are so close - just over an hour to a park that is thousands of acres. Lots of hiking trails and lakes to canoe.

It's cool too that on our way back we thought of the THOUSANDS of people that were returning to the big city - either Toronto or Ottawa after this long weekend(7000 people got stopped outside of TO and half of them were charged with speeding!) and we were taking the back way home - no traffic and coming home to a place that is less populated than the resort we stayed at!

Always nice to go away and yet nice to be home.