HIMH (Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada)

Hang In My Hood

A weekly series, introducing you to new adventures around someone elses' neighborhood!

{dana - wonder forest}

Hello lovelies!

I am so excited to share my world with all of you {just.lovely.things} readers!

 My name is Dana and you can find me over at the Wonder Forest,

 spewing out thoughts, crafty ventures, and my collection of plush critters!

  I live in this little town in Ontario, Canada called Wasaga Beach with my fiance and our pets.

If you are from Ontario, you may have heard of Wasaga Beach

because it is a huge tourist spot in the summertime!

I really do mean that too.

Our population goes from 16,000 to 200,000

 when the warm weather hits, and at times it's quite the scene!

  Long weekends here are like a segment right out of Jersey Shore,

and it's quite hilarious to see this little Sweet Home Alabama type town turn into its polar opposite!

Before I get into my hometown tour,

 I must explain that Wasaga Beach has a series of beaches, all in a row.

They are numbered from one to five.

  Beaches 1 and 2 are the main tourist destinations...

the ones that cause traffic jams for what seems like hours.

Beach 5 is on the other end of town, and that's my resident beach.

 It is usually quiet, but it's missing everything the main beaches have...

shops, food, and entertainment. Got it? Good!

I drove down to the main beaches today just for you guys!

Thankfully it wasn't the weekend so it wasn't swarming with people.

The first thing you notice when heading towards the main beaches are all of the places to stay.

Motels and cottages everywhere... some nicer than others.

When I was in high school, before I moved here, Wasaga was THE place to go for a summer getaway

 and the shady motels were always a huge part of the adventure!

Ok so I'm not even sure what the turquoise house is... I just loved the colour of it so I had to include it! When you enter the boardwalk, you're hit with all of the touristy type things, like shops that sell sunglasses and those hideous Crocs, mini golf, bars, and of course blow-up water toys!

No beach would be complete without all of the bad-for-you-but-terribly-delicious places to eat.

  I have to admit, I have never eaten at a restaurant here.

 I do however like to frequent the candy shoppes...

Yum yum!!!

The main beaches used to have a larger amount of shops and attractions

(like this super scary 'Nightmare' fright house where

 I nearly peed my pants once after being chased in the pitch black by a dude with a chainsaw),

 but sadly in 2007 a huge fire completely damaged the main pedestrian strip.

This was a super sad day, because tons of businesses were shut down and ever since then,

 it just hasn't been the same.

They had planned to rebuild it but opted to put up this ginormous, hideous caged dome thing:

It's supposed to be a "live entertainment venue",

and it used to have a cover on it before a huge wind storm took it off.

So now it just kind of sits there.

Not the smartest idea, Wasaga Beach. Moving on...

what kind of tour guide would I be if I didn't show you my resident beach? Welcome to Beach 5...

Ah yes, trees, peace and quiet. Much more my style.

This beach is located just down the road from our house and is nestled behind quiet streets and forests. The river from the lake runs right through my backyard!

Well I think that about wraps it up.. I hope you enjoyed the little photo tour of my town!

  I absolutely love living here!

Just don't get me started on the insane winters or I'll have to bust out my photos of 6-foot high snow.

I hope to see you all around my neck of the woods.

  Thanks so much Heather for having me!

You are AMAZING!!!

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(thanks dana!!)