Killarney Blarney

Part of the planning for this trip included the assumption that I would be trapped by weather somewhere, so I allocated three days in the itinerary for grounding. It couldn't have worked out better to have that happen at Killarney, Ontario. Killarney is on the end of a little peninsula mid-way up the east side of Lake Huron. It might be interesting to explore how an outpost like this sustains itself since it's so far from anywhere.

Initially, a fur trade outpost established in 1820, it became a fishing village for much of its history. The lighthouse to the right, one of two built in 1867, sits on the east entry to the channel between Killarney and George Island, while the second sits on the west entry. It's not much, in contrast to the lighthouses we're used to on Superior. Kind of looks like a light on an outhouse with a window. But until they built the road in 1962, the only means to reach Killarney was by boat, so the lighthouses were essential navigation tools.

The road they built is the only access from anywhere and connects to a main highway that leads to the nearest town, Sudbury, some 67 miles away. It takes nearly an hour and a half to drive because the road is so rough you can't get much speed. 

This, and many other details of the area, were shared with me by what would become a personal host during my stay. Rob Maurice, from Toronto, started his new job this year as Yacht Captain and dock manager with the Killarney Mountain Resort. His history is in sailing, once racing on the Canadian team for the Olympics, and then as a C&C factory representative to new owners of C&C yachts, assuring customer satisfaction. For the last 30 years, he's run his own business commissioning client yachts in haul-out and put-in at the ends of each season and brokering boats of all kinds. As he tells me, "I should be retired, but I guess I didn't put enough money away for retirement, so here I am, living in the lodge sailboat and managing their fleet of three sailboats and two power boats," while his own two yachts lie in wait for that retirement.

He said none of that with any regret or resentment. In fact, he is a "glass is more than half full" kind of guy - enthusiastic about his responsibilities, looking out for the interests of guests and the resort owners, and encouraging all the staff. We'd chat in front of the lodge fireplace at the start and end of his workday. It made blog writing distracting for me, but I enjoyed following along in his onboarding ventures.  He and his associate, the marina manager from the adjoining resort Sportsman Inn (owned by the same owner of Killarney Mountain Lodge and the only other lodging option in Killarney) took me out to dinner one night for stories and observations of the youth being employed by the lodge (all very nice, but really don't like to work when physical effort is required.)

Some of those youth are an exception because they find themselves stranded in Canada without money or any access to family. They were in the country going to school or on vacation when their home country was invaded by Russia, and can no longer return. You could almost point them out by their distant gaze until a guest or co-worker interrupted and they put their hospitality face on.

The Sportsman Inn

Killarney's economy consists of a bakery/breakfast nook, a small and primitive marina, a fishery - complete with a small fish restaurant (stellar), a general store (think Ehlers, but scaled down), a food truck (more like a permanent trailer), an ice cream shop, and a couple of fish charter operations. That and, of course, the two lodges (there used to be four). 

Aunt Bea's original restaurant burned, leaving her daughter to continue the business this way.

The Mountain Lodge was originally built in the late 1950s as a wilderness corporate retreat (think Wonewok) by the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation. It was bought by Maury and Annabelle East in 1962, the same year as the road was constructed. They operated it until selling to Holden Rhodes, a London millionaire who made his money selling his start-up company CarProof to CarFax. Mr. Rhodes'  mother, whose family had farmed in the area beginning in the late 1800s, was born there.  Mr. Rhodes had spent many summers in the town and attributes his motive in buying the property to an interest in giving back to that community, And give back he has, buying the other two lodges in the area, turning one into staff quarters and the other into the lower budget Sportsman Inn, while investing over $35 million into a new lodge and very new conference center. The weekend I was there hosted their first two weddings utilizing the log-constructed event center with highly contemporary facilities.

The Canada House Conference Center

The bottom line is the town really has no other means of support. Without the tourist trade brought on by the lodges, I would think other businesses would not have enough trade on which to subsist, with the possible exception of the fishery. You would think the town would be eternally grateful. Apparently, some longer-term residents don't care for the tourist environment, which I could certainly appreciate, and others are just a bit suspicious of millionaires. It was suggested to me if Mr. Rhodes' family had not been even longer-term residents, and not for his mother being well known in the community, he would not have been nearly as successful in gaining approval for what he's already done. The town has blocked some of his other moves, including one in which he proposed to buy the airport to turn it into a lodge expansion. For that, I am grateful to the town.