This is my place.
Third Beach in Stanley Park. I have been frequenting this spot on my bike for 30 years. Theses days, I make it part of my 30 km route home from the office. Today, I biked downtown for a much needed haircut and then lunch at 3rd Beach – a veggie burger and coffee.
We all have a special place. A place where we always feel comfortable. A private place we don’t often share. A place where we can relax. Think. Create. A place for quiet reflection.
I have 2 places like that.
3rd Beach is one and I am here most days if only to fill my water bottle and empty my bladder. And, the other is the family cottage in rural Ontario. For over 50 years, I have felt one with the place. My father and I built it and, it was the one place that remained constant in my life. We moved a lot during my youth but the cottage remained central to our lives.
I am headed to the cottage in a few weeks to bike, rest and rejuvenate. I don’t get there often these days. It is a long way. This trip I will evaluate whether to sell or renovate. It would be a great place to retire for part of the year. Great biking. Quiet rural roads. Clean fresh water swimming. And, a nine-hole golf course perfect for retirees.
This is my place too.
PedalWORKS 
Hope you make a good decision re the cottage. I enjoy Prospect Point in Stanley Park (when it’s not crawling too much with visitors), certain spots in Olympic Plaza, etc.
I seldom stop at Prospect Point. It is usually too busy but certainly pretty. And, I am often in Olympic Park. It’s on my way home at the start of the climb up “little mountain”.
The cottage has been an issue for 15 years. I used to travel frequently to Toronto on business and would steal a lot of long weekends up there. These days I am in Vancouver most of the time and, it is too far for my family to enjoy regularly. A dilemma.
Having a cottage north of Toronto is a bit of an effort if one is based out of Toronto –there’s all that car traffic to battle to get out of the city. Are you aware that the GO train and bus system has expanded? The trains and all GO buses apparently have bike racks.