In the Moment at Summerhill Resorts
I have to admit, it’s been a while.
It’s been a while since John, Louis and I have travelled somewhere together with minimum service and wifi, creating the perfect opportunity to disconnect from the world, and reconnect when we choose to.
For this getaway experience, we have travelled to Ottawa Valley, approximately 5.5 hours from the Niagara region, 4 hours from Toronto, and 90 minutes from Downtown Ottawa.
We have booked a 3 night getaway with Summerhill Resorts, and are staying in their newest accommodation created for two people, The Nest. The Nest is dog friendly, and is created as an ultra-luxe Hotel Suite Style Cabin. It’s fully equipped with a 3-piece bathroom, a murphy bed, kitchen featuring a stovetop, fridge/freezer, and microwave with all the small appliances and cutlery needed to make a meal. They also have a personal BBQ on the deck with patio furniture for us to enjoy.
It’s 11:24pm on a Monday night, and we’ve been here for one night so far.
This morning, my boyfriend John, our dog Louis and myself woke up after a nice long sleep. John said it was the first sleep he’s had longer than 8 hours in months. We let out Louis to go pee, and we turned on the coffee maker (another mandatory small appliance that’s provided.)
We threw on a sweater for the brisk fall morning as the sun just started peeking out behind the clouds. We sat on the wrap-around deck, coffee in hand, and talked about what we wanted our morning to look like. What did we want to accomplish?
As a full time social media manager and business owner, that list normally includes checking and responding to emails from clients, creating posts/stories for clients, prepping for phone and in person meetings, talking to my team about tasks for the days and so on.
This morning we found ourselves debating whether we walk to the beach and play with Louis and his favourite thing in the world, (his ball), or head to the front desk and borrow giant Jenga.
We decided on the beach to keep Lou happy for the morning.
After hanging out at the beach we took the waterfront path back to make breakfast. We had the rare foresight to prep a bunch of protein pancakes that we threw in the toaster for a quick breakfast.
(Travel tip: To save time on cooking breakfast during this getaway experience, I made a batch of homemade waffles to last us our three mornings here. When we arrived, I put them in the fridge and used the toaster to toast them and enjoy them when desired).
Since this is as a work and pleasure trip for us, we decided to spend a few hours in the main lobby with the high-speed internet to get some work done with Louis happily passed out at our feet.
Now late into the afternoon, we headed back to our little paradise.
John decided to surprise me and say he would make dinner for us, while I sat in the Adirondack chairs overlooking our waterfront view. I quickly accepted his proposal because it also included being served a glass of red wine. I quickly changed into comfy clothes, grabbed a blanket, my book, and took a seat.
John barbecued some chicken, then mixed it in with some pasta he made on the stovetop, while doing the dishes from breakfast this morning. It really is handy having a full kitchen!
After a nice home cooked meal, and another glass of wine, we made a fire. The resort provided the larger wood we needed, and Lou helped us find some sticks and other kindling which was very easy to find in this wooded area. We also found a couple sticks to toast some marshmallows to create one of our all time favourite cottage snacks… S’mores.
We sat by the fire for a few hours, enjoyed each others company, conversation, and of course, both wine and s’mores before turning in for the night.
Which brings us back to now.
11:42pm.
It was a day mixed with sun and cloud, and luckily more sun while we were on the beach. But now the humidity has peaked, and the quiet windless day has been replaced by the sound of the pitter patter of rain on the tin roof.
It’s a lovely sound.
It’s not keeping me up. It’s just so pleasant and this day’s been so perfect I want to enjoy the last few minutes before midnight.
But as midnight has now passed, it’s time to put the phone down, and look forward to experiencing the rest of what our time away has to offer. If there’s one thing I can say I love about this place already more than anything, is it’s a perfect place to disconnect. To have the option to disconnect in the evening. To slow down, be with family, and truly enjoy our time together.
Fast forward to day three, it’s already time to check out and head back home. Now looking back on our trip, these are some of my favourite activities we enjoyed:
Family canoe rides
Swimming at the beach, and swinging from the rope off the custom built deck into the beautiful, refreshing lake
Exploring the hiking trails
Creating home cooked meals together. (Unfortunately, this is something we rarely have any time to do together and to enjoy at home.)
Playing board games on rainy days (Travel tip: Make sure to bring your board games from home if you have any, in case other guests are using the ones at the resort)
Making s’mores at our personal fire pit
Other activities offered for you to enjoy during your stay are:
Kayaking
Stand up Paddle Boarding
Volleyball
Lawn games, like a game of horseshoes!
Biking trails
Overall, this 3 night getaway has been the break from reality we have been dreaming of. To learn more about Summerhill resorts, you can visit their website at https://summerhillresorts.com and Instagram @summerhillresorts.
As always, if you have any questions about our getaway or staying at Summerhill resorts, please send me a message on Instagram @bycourtneytodd , or leave a comment below.
Thank you to the staff for a truly memorable experience, and we can’t wait to visit again.
Make sure to visit @bycourtneytodd on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest to follow along on for more great Ontario and Canada getaway recommendations.
