Jill Browne, from home and away

The Answer is:

Owen Sound, Ontario

Clue #1: Billy Bishop, Canadian World War One Flying Ace, was born and raised here. The Billy Bishop Regional Airport is named after him, and the family home is now the Billy Bishop Home and Museum.

Clue #2 said you can jump in the lake. Owen Sound is the town’s name, but also the name of the Sound itself, a long, narrow inlet bringing the water of Lake Huron (Georgian Bay) right into town. Owen Sound is half on the east side of the Sound, and half on the west, roughly.

Clue #3: The Big Canoe, or Chi-Cheemaun, is the ferry that runs from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island. In the winter, you can see the Chi-Chee tied up in Owen Sound.

Clue #4: Prohibition until 1961. Owen Sound didn’t get a liquor store until 1961, long after Prohibition ended everywhere else. Signs of such temperance are no longer evident. The town has the same ration of beer stores and bars as its peers.

Clue #5: This was a pun! Everyone likes the sound of this place so much they want to own it.

Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.  A beautiful place all year-round.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Away: Guelph and Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

The drive from Guelph north on Highway 6 always makes me feel like I’m heading up there to make my own clearing in the Queen’s Woods.

Nellie McClung was born along this road. There are still two or three of what I take to be original cabins. Please don’t tell me they’re only repros.