Note to readers of my monthly column Michigan's Small Town Treasures: I am about to go global. As of November I will be the Travel Adventures Editor at Wandering Educators.  While I will still look for Michigan's small town treasures, I will also be searching for exciting places to visit world-wide (expect upcoming articles on Australia and New Zealand).  Since I spend several months each year in the San Francisco Bay Area, I will be bringing you some amazing places to travel  in Northern California.  I also have plans to write upcoming articles about two Midwestern treasures that can by no means be called small pleasures -  the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids (which has been called one of the best museums in the world) and the unique and fascinating Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.   

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Sombra, with a fine museum, a bit of shopping, and great eateries, beckons just a short ferry ride from Marine City. Exiting the tiny terminal on Canadian soil, you are but a quick block or two walk from places whispering your name.
    
The little village is exactly the kind of ‘small town treasure’ I had in mind when I started writing this column and I recently made a repeat day trip to Sombra with two friends who had never savored its pleasures. We reveled in the quiet of this hamlet devoid of freeways, traffic jams (you may not even see a moving car), malls, roller coasters or big city amusements. My friends concurred: it was a captivating place to spend a few hours.    
    
Sombra has a handful of unique shopping stops. Barnacle Bill's Beach Shoppes was the first to greet us after we disembarked. As the name suggests, this is the place to find beach wear, but the boutique also carries a line of Woolrich brand men and women’s clothing and a selection of luxurious sweaters. Owner Pat Lozon has a sense of fashion far broader than the four corners of Sombra. Stylish sundresses and jewelry winked at us from every rack and case. You will find clothing for all seasons, all year long.

Barnacle Bill's Beach Shoppes, Sombra, Ontario

    
Make a quick stop at Ansell's Mementos & Gifts, corner of King and St. Clair Parkway, for Canadian made souvenirs, a selection of moccasins and Canadian maple nut fudge. Hours are 10-4 or thereabouts.

Ansell's Gift Shop

    
Walk a half block north on St. Clair Parkway to the Three Sisters Gallery and peruse Native Canadian Fine Art, crafts and gifts. Three Sisters is owned and operated by Sue Walliser, a Metis of Chipewyan and Welsh descent. Sue displays the art of her younger sister, well-respected artist Dawn Oman, as well as that of many others including Elaine Tooshkenig (superbly crafted sweetgrass baskets), Patty Dodge (handwoven dreamcatchers), Maxine Noel, Rick Beaver, Norval Morriseau and Lee Claremont. You will find cornhusk dolls, jewelry, Algonquin teas, scarves, clothing, candles, soaps, fine porcelain giftware, umbrellas (I loved the one that was quite plain except for a small sentence in French: "MERDE, IL PLEUT!” (shit it’s raining), stained glass, and Canadian art prints. Introducing my friends to this shop’s cache of interesting merchandise meant letting them browse for an hour before they were ready to move on.     Later in the afternoon we returned to Three Sisters and purchased delightful temptations we couldn’t get off our minds: for me a lovely beige/brown scarf with geometric circles (perfect as an evening wrap for my upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand), for one friend an elegant silk coat in the most vibrant colors (I could never pull off wearing it, but on her it was stunning), and for my other friend a ruggedly, handsome jacket that delivers warmth with an abundance of style. Those were our major purchases, but the numerous bags we carried bore testament to many smaller treats. Three Sisters Gallery is open daily from April to Christmas.

Three Sisters Gallery

Three Sisters Gallery

Three Sisters Gallery

    
In the building adjacent to Three Sisters Gallery is the Red Hat Shop and its appeal is wider than you might suspect. While it does offer the largest selection of Red Hat gifts in Southern Ontario, Red Hatters don’t have the market on beautiful red and purple merchandise so take a look at the cashmere and lamb throws and designer purses. You will also find hats in cream, white, soft pink, navy, grey and black – not just red. So step inside and see if something catches your eyes.  
    
At Whittington’s Tearoom and Boutique we browsed the rooms of the gracious old Victorian home for candles, rugs, towels, giftware, jewelry, clothing, children’s gifts, garden art and more. Whittington’s is open year round.

Whittington's Tearoom

Whittington's Tearoom

Whittington's Tearoom

    
Where to have lunch was our biggest decision of the day. I had eaten at Whittington’s Tea Room in the past and could testify to its unique and tempting entrees. I had also dined at the Aft Cabin, an upscale restaurant where the food was superb and the two outdoor patios provided the perfect place to unwind with an afternoon drink. Seafood is the specialty but the menu is broad enough to satisfy any taste. The Aft Cabin is open all year but offers expanded hours in the summer.

Aft Cabin

    
However, there was now a new spot in town and the locals were regaling us with accounts of the unbelievable Fish ‘n Chips at the Yorkshire Pudding and Pie Shop. We heeded the recommendations and met Marilyn Malcolm and Wendy Everett, two transplanted Brits who have made their way to Canada. They opened just a few weeks before we stumbled on this humble but endearing establishment. We began our lunch experience with a “Scottish Egg” (boiled egg wrapped in sausage, rolled in crumbs and deep fried) for no other reason than we had never heard of such a thing and curiosity got the better of us. We then moved on to Marilyn’s authentic London Fish and Chips - as good as hyped. It might have been more interesting if we had each ordered something different (like maybe one Shepherds’ Pie and one Yorkshire Breadcake sandwich) and then traded bites. As it was, we all wanted the house specialty and when we finished we found ourselves too full to even consider the dessert confections casting come hither looks from behind a glass case.

Yorkshire Pudding

    
After lunch we walked a half block further north to the Sombra Museum. Housed in a restored 1881 Victorian cottage we enjoyed the museum’s eight rooms furnished as they would have been in the late 1800s. We felt the warmth and hominess of an old-fashioned kitchen and the elegance of a dining room with period silver, crystal and china, as well as the children’s bedroom displaying toys of the era - not a tech-toy in sight. The museum also features a maritime heritage exhibit that illustrates the importance of the St. Clair River and the Great Lakes to the development of the area. The museum is open April to November, weekdays 2-5 and Sundays 2-7.

Styles of Days Past at the Sombra Museum

Imagine cooking on this! Sombra Museum

Maritime Display, Sombra Museum

    
For visitors taking their car on the ferry trip, it is a short ten mile drive north of Sombra (94 Moore Line Road) to visit the Moore Museum which explores the old days of a riverside township and provides glimpses into pioneer living, Great Lakes shipping and the Victorian Era in a complex of eleven historic buildings. The village includes a one-room schoolhouse, a chapel, lighthouse, log cabin, railroad station, and Victorian cottage. There are also exhibit buildings which house everything from a ten-thousand-year-old mastodon’s bone to miscellaneous marine equipment.
    
Blue Water Ferry Information: First boat leaves Marine City at 7:00 am; the last leaves Sombra at 10:15 pm. The ferries run approximately every 15 to 20 minutes and the trip only takes ten minutes which is a good thing because there are no cushy seats for the ride. Passage costs $2 per person, round trip, cars $6, motorcycles $3. 
 

Julie Albrecht Royce, Travel Adventures Editor, is the author of Traveling Michigan's Sunset Coast and Traveling Michigan's Thumb, both published by Thunder Bay Press. She writes a monthly column for Wandering Educators.