So to the two Canadians on this thread.
I was driving back to Vermont the other day from Montreal and about 2 miles from the border was a small town on Lake Champlain by the name of Phillipsburg. I took the short road to it. It is a town that sits on lake Champlain.
The lake at that juncture is only about 4 miles wide, and not nearly as deep as in Burlington. It was completely frozen, which it is not in Burlington, only 42 miles further south.
I saw literally maybe about 100 cars on the lake, and maybe about 250 people. Adults, children, older people, etc. Some were ice fishing, some were riding motor bikes and bicycles, some were taking brisk walks, some snow mobiling, and some were even barbecuing!
And there were small out house size structures made out of wood dotted all over the lake. People were going in and out of them. They were made of wood and so small you can fit maybe only 8 to 10 people in them standing up, maybe only 3 or 4 if they are sitting down in chairs.
It was like a day at the beach, but just happened to be on the lake.
I spent about 2 hours out there myself. Drove my car to the middle of the lake, where the "road" stopped. Then walked to about within a half a mile of the NYS side. I thought I better turn around least the border patrol maybe hassle me, even though I had my passport. I was not sure, being still about a half mile from shore, but I think some of the border patrol were in sitting in cars close to shore on the NYS side.
I have never seen this before. It was a new pleasant experience for me. The people were very nice.
We do not have this on the Vermont side of the lake.
My question: is this a long standing Canadian tradition or something? Is this common in Canada?