Wedding rehearsal and dinner

We could not wait to check in to our cabins at the Gull Harbour Marina and Inn, the venue for our niece's wedding. I have reserved a cabin for 2 nights, and looked forward to sleeping in a regular bed, having an ensuite bathroom and getting a respite from the mosquitoes. Well, I got the first two but not the latter. The cabin was one of 4 adjoining cabins with a big common deck; it has two queen sized beds, a refridgerator, microwave and coffee maker. There was a ceiling fan and a stand fan, and best of all, the windows (with mosquito netting) look out to the lake. Outside each cabin was a big round table with comfy deck chairs; unfortunately we could not use them because of the mosquitoes waiting to attack any skin not doused with repellent. It seemed like I spent a lot of time trying to kill mosquitoes that got into the cabin, and ended up sleeping with the stand fan blowing on me to keep any remaining mosquitoes from landing on me.

My sister and her husband, the mother and father of the bride, arrived from Toronto later in the afternoon and we had a small reunion in their cabin. Like my brother and I, she is crazy about fishing and could not wait to get on the pier outside our cabins. However we did have to get through the rehearsal and dinner, as well as the wedding itself the next day.

Since we did not have a part in the wedding rehearsal, we socialized and watched the proceedings in the garden from inside the Lighthouse Restaurant and Lounge. The restaurant offered four local draft beers named after Icelandic gods. I ordered the Thor's Hammer IPA which was excellent. Their caprese flatbread and black island calamari appetizers were also very good. Too bad I forgot again to take photos of the food. Andrew, our server, was very friendly (people here are so friendly!), patiently answered our questions and gave us tips on the best places to catch pickerel.

Just before the wedding party was going to sit down for dinner, the restaurant manager also named Andrew, came over and offered to take a group of us out on his pontoon boat for a free tour of the lake and the islands. We had an amazing experience, he gave us a lot of information about the lake, activities open to visitors (sailing, fishing), including in the winter (ice fishing, dog sledding) when the temperatures can get down to -40 F.

Andrew lives in the boat below, and we saw his dog Gracie standing on the deck waiting for him.

Dinner was ala carte and superb; everyone enjoyed their meals. I had the chimichurri steak (excellent), my brother and his wife ordered beer battered pickerel and chips, while my sister had the orange miso pickerel. We also ordered a jug of Ordin's blonde ale which was good, but I liked Thor's Hammer IPA better.

By the time we finished dinner, it was pretty late although the sun set at about 10 pm here. We decided that we would not be able to go fishing until after the wedding. I went to my cabin to enjoy the space, room facilities and the view from the windows, relatively safe from the mosquitoes.