Imagine savouring gourmet, hand-made, cuisine while cruising along serene waters, surrounded by gorgeous views of the Highlands.
Heather Lodge and Ski-Mazing Watersports have launched a Cruise N Dine experience, offering guests a blend of culinary delights and scenic beauty.
Guests climb aboard a pontoon boat for a three-course meal prepared by chef James Jennings from the lodge. The menu features Canadian fare, with local products infused, such as from Abbey Gardens and Wintergreen Maple Syrup. The menu features steak, chicken, pork, shrimp appetizers and smoked chicken, mushroom white wine gorgonzola cream fricassee on a puff pastry.
Music can be played on the pontoon boat, which can seat up to nine people, and has been chartered by Ski-Mazing.
The boat leaves from the lodge’s dock and onto the waters of Twelve Mile Lake, and along the lake system connecting Twelve Mile, Little Boshkung and Boshkung lakes.
Maria Jennings, owner of Heather Lodge, was on board July 4 to share some stories of homes along the waterfront, and talk about the lakes and how they’re connected to the Trent Severn Waterway.
Spencer Bowker captained the boat and also offered commentary on the lakes and how they’re connected to other bodies of water around the County, such as the Gull River.
Craig Bowker, owner of Ski-Mazing, called the venture “a new concept for dining out at sea. We’re offering dinner cruises that are chartered through Heather Lodge, which is a well-known dining establishment, and people can choose from their menu.
“We thought it would be a nice, new, unique concept that hasn’t been done in Haliburton, probably since the 50s, so we’re reviving dinner cruises for the area, and we really hope that people will come out and enjoy it with us,” Bowker said.
The cruise lasts an hour-and-a-half. Jennings added, “it’s a fine-dining experience. Everything’s made to order by a professional chef.”
Tickets can be purchased at Heather Lodge and are $230 per couple. The cruise leaves from the lodge at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. More dates of the week may be added as the event grows in popularity, Bowker said.
Angelica Ingram, the County’s tourism manager, was on the cruise and said, “it was a very enjoyable experience, from start to finish. I thought the collaboration between Ski-Mazing and Heather Lodge was incredible, and it was an experience unlike anything else in the County, and so it was fun to be a part of.”
