Things to Do in Grosse Ile

Pottery Creations allows children and grownups to bring out their creative sides through the art of painting on three-dimensional ceramic canvases. You can use the Groupon for the studio's firing fee ($5 for kids, $8 for adults) and put the rest toward one of more than 100 clay canvases, with items ranging from cups and picture frames to piggy banks and bowls shaped like bunnies ($6 to $40 each). An assortment of tools allows you to daub a pot with a sponge, stencil your surname on a serving tray, or trace your vestigial tail onto an ornament. Parents appreciate Pottery Creations' patient, easygoing staff, who permit food and drink and rarely cry over spilt pigments. Upon your masterwork's completion, they'll fire the piece, let it cool, and dust away its exoskeleton before making the handiwork available for pick-up about a week later.

With the help of her husband, Chris, Crissi Ballas put her heart and soul into opening Wicks & Stones nearly a decade ago. Blossoming from a simple idea, the business grew into a gallery, jewelry and supply store, workshop, and candle emporium. Today, Wicks & Stones offers a wide variety of classes, from basic beading to stitching bracelets out of high-grade tennis balls. For gift-givers, the shop stocks 100% soy candles, a smattering of Swarovski crystals and other semi-precious stones, and displays packed with already-assembled jewelry.

As planes come and go from nearby Windsor International Airport, grounded racers engage in their own form of high-speed action at Warp Drive Race Park. Strapped safely into one of four different 9-horsepower Honda-engine go-karts, helmet-clad passengers grab their steering wheels, don their racing nose plugs, and put their feet to pedals as they test the limits of speed. Up to 20 karts can take to the large 1,800-foot concrete track, currently organized into several straightaways, curves, and hairpins that drivers can take at up to 45 km/h. Little racers aged 4–10 can jump into child-sized single-pedal cars and roam around a smaller oval track, or parents and children together can strap into two-passenger cars capable of reaching 40 km/h. After the racing is over—or for quick breaks between speedy bouts—passengers can retire to one of the picnic area's 10 tables, partaking in sustenance or tall tales about close finishes.

Open year round, Hydeaway Golf Club's 18-hole, par 71 course unfurls across 130 acres of kempt fairways framed by trees and tranquil ponds. Water hazards come into play on more than half of the holes, creating strategic quandaries such as when to attempt to carry a distant pond and how to tell if provocative messages in a bottle were intended for you. Tall tree lines further complicate golfers' passage, stretching out their twiggy arms in a quenchless desire to scuff up dimpled orbs. Golfers can choose to loop the emerald links on their own bipedal steam or enlist a GasCar golf cart to help hunt down errant balls or misplaced playing partners.

Tucked into a curve of the Huron River, Wesburn Golf & Country Club traces its roots back to 1910 and its layout to course architect Wesson Seyburn. Extensive renovations have launched the bluegrass fairways into the modern age, enabling contemporary golfers to putt on sculpted greens that have existed for over a century. Before teeing off, players can warm up at one of the driving range’s 20 hitting stations, and after penciling in their final score, they can head toward the stately brick clubhouse. Here, plaid carpeting and a fireplace paint a comforting atmosphere, and the dining room’s overhead beams provide a place for athletes to do pull-ups until they can bend their clubs into pretzels.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course
• Length of 5,981 yards
• Course rating of 68.8
• Slope rating of 129

The Bogey Golf Tour grants golfers a chance to take to the links and compete against fellow amateurs in tournaments scheduled at some of the finest courses in the London, Windsor, Detroit, and Kitchener/Waterloo areas. At each event, scratch golfers compete in the Birdie division, 0–15 handicaps square off in the Par division, and 16+ handicappers trade pinpoint approaches and sequined divot tools in the Bogey division. The top five finishers in each division receive prize money—which can be paid out in gift certificates or cash—and the Tour also holds prize competitions for longest drive, closest to the pin, and 3-iron jousting. The Tour publishes the results from each tournament in local newspapers, and players can chart the peaks and valleys of their careers on the Tour Members list, which compiles all of their tournament results. Along with providing an outlet for amateur golfers to exercise their long-suppressed competitive side, the Tour and its sponsors have raised $74,000 for various area charities since 2003.