It's Almost July - Time To Reminisce About Britannia

Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, our extended family on my mother Mary's side would travel each summer to Britannia, a resort on the Lake of Bays near Huntsville, Ontario for a two-week vacation. My mother Mary, father Nelson, and sister Susan, along with our Grandmother and Grandfather Spillard, would drive up there from Chicago, while my Uncle Bill and Aunt Elsie, along with their children Judy and Linda, would drive up from Cleveland. Susan tells me it was always around the 4th of July, and the waitresses would put on a 4th of July show in the dining room in a tongue and cheek style. While my father and uncle played golf every day, everyone else would enjoy the beach and lake, among other activities. 

I guess Britannia was a pretty nice place, but when the owner died and his son took over, they tore down the old lodge, built a new, improved one, and made the place a year-round resort. And raised prices up the wazoo, pricing them out. They went to a resort called Lumina (which is still around), also on the Lake of Bays, for a few years, and then Torpitt Lodge on Sparrow Lake, near Orilla, Ontario, which I myself remember. Britannia was sold and the hotel closed in 1973, when that kind of vacation went out of fashion. The photograph above, taken in 1951, shows all of the family, except for Susan and Judy (who were evidently quite rebellious at the time), with the Lake of Bays in the background. From left to right are my Grandmother Louise, Grandfather Bill, Aunt Elsie, Uncle Bill, father Nelson, and mother Mary, with my cousin Linda standing in front. A second photo, which included Susan and Judy, which I have posted on previous blog posts, was taken after they were finally rounded up.