Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/299622
MADE IN MANITOBA 20 g o i n g p l a c e s | S U M M E R 2 0 1 4 (eXterior toP & Pool) lakevieW resorts, (eXterior & lobbY) roseanna schick Resort Revival Why I left my heart on Hecla Island by RoseAnna Schick I t's a perfect Manitoba morning to linger in the sun and gaze at open water stretching to infi nity. ere's not a cloud in the sky, and a gentle breeze rolls in from the shore. I close my eyes, breath- ing in the moist summer air. I can almost smell sea salt and fi sh brine. For a moment, I forget where I am. Standing next to the Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park sign and its lighthouse façade, 175 kilometres due north of Winnipeg, the need to hurry falls away. Upon crossing the causeway at Grassy Narrows, which has con- nected Hecla Island to the mainland since 1972, an immediate sense of peacefulness takes over. ere is absolutely no place else to be. I've been to Hecla Island once before, for a friend's wedding in 1991. Back then I had a schedule. This time, my weekend plan is to have no plan. Just experience the lay of the land – with the newly opened Lakeview Hecla Resort as my base – and go with the fl ow. N amed after a famous volcano, Mount Hekla, in Iceland, the island was set- tled by Icelanders in 1876. ey estab- lished a marine community tucked away on Lake Winnipeg, which must have felt like the ocean to them. Maybe that's why they chose to stay here, laying down deep Icelandic roots. I wind my way up the shoreline road to the "seaside" town of Hecla Village, a small place with a slow vibe. With six restored buildings – school, church, community hall, fi sh station, home and boarding house – it's like a step back in time. A one-km self-guided trail offers a glimpse of what life was like in the early 1900s, revealing tools such as ice saws, chisels and tongs used to haul blocks of lake ice up for ice houses designed to keep the catch fresh. One of the most fascinating buildings is the church, located in the centre of town. A structure steeped in happiness and sadness, it celebrates local life as well as honours the dead. A stroll through the cemetery reveals The Lakeview Hecla Resort opened in 2013; (below, l-r) back view; waterpark; and lobby. CAA creates golf vacations t to a tee! Pick up our golf travel brochure, Cart Away with CAA, at any service centre or visit caamanitoba.com. p20-23MadeInManitoba.indd 20 14-04-10 2:22 PM