2020 is shaping up as the first year in my life I won’t get to stand on the shore of an ocean, dip my feet in, and gaze out over the water. Living on the prairies, I’ve cut it a bit close in the previous four years, but there has always been an ocean somewhere in my travels. Landlocked in Saskatchewan, I felt the need to improvise this year, and luckily the mighty shores of Manitou Beach are renowned for their salt water. That’s right, a salt water lake in Saskatchewan.

2020 has been a year of making the best of things, but honestly, standing at the water’s edge, I was simply just happy to be looking out over a body of water.

Adding to that happiness was my breakfast of a couple of doughnuts I picked up at the Watrous Bakery and Coffee Shop. Decadent, I know… but it was a vacation day!

As this is likely to be the only salt water beach I make it to this year, I took off my shoes, walked out to the water, and as I do whenever I travel and am on a beach, I dipped my right foot in the water. Tradition alive for one more year.

I finished up my late breakfast, dried my feet off, and did a short hike along the water heading east. About a half kilometre from the main beach was this lovely piece of public art entitled “Manitou Reflections Project”.

The early morning clouds were just starting to pull away as I kept walking east along the road hugging the water. At this bend, I felt I could have been somewhere in Nova Scotia.

To complete the feeling, as I rounded the curve, I stood here looking to perfectly blue skies to the west and facing into a stiff breeze blowing the smell of salt water. I stood here for some time just enjoying the smell and the sense of feeling a form of connection to Nova Scotia.

My walk to this end of Manitou Beach was to visit the famous Danceland ballroom. Built in 1928, it has a more than 5000 square foot dance floor built on horse hair which gives a nice spring to your step. Someday I’d like to make it back here to take in a concert.

No trip to Manitou Beach is complete without a stop at Mike’s Beach Bar. This place is a beauty of a dive bar, a term I use for only its most positive connotations.

I stopped in at the crisp hour of 11:15am, headed out to their patio and enjoyed a vacation morning beer overlooking their beach volleyball court and the water.

When their kitchen opened up at noon, I ordered another beer and what turned out to be a very reasonable fish and chips. Being a Nova Scotian, I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to this dish, but I had no complaints with this perfectly beer battered and fried cod.

After thoroughly enjoying my lunch, I walked westward along the beach which was starting to fill up with people out to enjoy what was a beautiful summer afternoon.

Before hopping in my car for the drive back home, a drive where I cracked open the sunroof and listened to the newly released Kathleen Edwards album “Total Freedom” on repeat, I needed to complete one more tradition. Whenever I’m on a beach away from home, I write my dogs’ names in the sand. While the sand here was very loose making my scribbling hard to see, on this August afternoon I paid tribute to the best two dogs to have ever lived – Chloe (my current dog) and Chewy (my previous dog). A perfect ending to a perfect vacation day.