For the last two-and-a-half months, I have been criss-crossing Ontario…mostly to play in tournaments. As a result, I haven’t had as much pure “travel” time. Special experiences, sites, and food have been squeezed in when and where possible. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve been up to.
My dinner at “My Place”, in Smiths Falls, Ontario
I like to play early season tournaments on the artificial grass surface in Nepean (Ottawa). At that time of year, most other Ontario clubs (which have natural grass) suffer from damp and very slow greens. As it is a two-hour drive, we often stop in Smiths Falls for dinner on the way home. And our favourite restaurant there is called “My Place.”
Canada geese, also known as cobra chickens, are much less threatening when they are young.
Despite the fairly anonymous name, “My Place” is clearly rooted in the cuisine of Czechia (Czech Republic) and nearby countries. Schnitzel and goulash are very well represented. I’ve never been disappointed with their food. And while dessert would have been too much, their desserts looked home-made and delicious.
The Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club has a beautiful location near Lake Ontario
In June, I went to a provincial championship tournament in Hanover, Ontario. It’s nowhere near Smiths Falls. But we had stopped in Hanover 10 years ago, on our way home from Goderich, so we looked forward to seeing what changes the intervening decade had brought. Sadly, the Dutch store on the main street was no longer there. But the Schultz Home Bakery *was* still there, and I managed to get a photograph this time!
Schultz Home Bakery, in Hanover, Ontario
But we didn’t stay in Hanover. Instead, we went to the nearby town of Flesherton. We found a freshly renovated hotel (Leela’s Villa Inn) offering large rooms and an included breakfast at the adjoining restaurant. The price was right and it was nice to stay in a quiet, small town that we had only passed through before. And apparently Flesherton is the home of former NHL player Chris Neil (for proof – see the photo at the very top of this post!).
The main intersection in downtown Flesherton, Ontario
Once again, the randomness of it all was very appealing. Stay tuned for more Ontario adventures, including a culinary tour of the nation’s capital!
As much as we enjoyed Goderich, real life beckoned and we still had to find our way back to Kingston. Fortunately, the route was very open to negotiation: the only condition was that we had to stop in Barrie for a couple of nights. I was playing in a hockey tournament there; somehow, my travels had never taken me to this rapidly growing city on Lake Simcoe.
There is no obvious route for travel between Goderich and Barrie. We ultimately decided to focus on Highway 9: this would take us through a lot of unfamiliar towns, would avoid suburban sprawl, would enable a reasonable pace of travel on well-paved roads, and appeared to involve virtually no backtracking.
One of the many interesting stores in Hanover, Ontario
After quickly passing through the village of Lucknow in the pouring rain, the first town we looked at in any detail was Walkerton. It seemed like a nice-enough place; unfortunately, the first thing we thought about was the tainted water scandal that took place there more than 15 years ago. It was a real tragedy: 7 people died and thousands were sickened in this town of just under 5,000 people.
The weather was starting to lighten up but we decided to press on to the somewhat larger town (7,500 residents) of Hanover. Something about the place invited us to get out of the car and walk around. Given the German origins of the town name, I wasn’t too surprised to see a bakery named Schultz. I was more surprised to also see an extremely well-stocked Dutch deli and grocery store!
The Dutch Deli in Hanover, Ontario
This store had it all: Dutch clothing, books, magazines, deli products, and those very specific Dutch groceries that are commonplace in the Netherlands but haven’t quite made it into the Canadian mainstream. I stocked up on proper atjar tjampoer, sambal manis and licorice dropjes, which are all becoming harder to find in the Kingston area. I also picked up a very orange Dutch soccer hat and a self-explanatory book called “Stuff Dutch People Like”. The customers in front of us even spoke Dutch with the cashier.
While walking down the main street, a man in one of the shop windows waved at us. He was wearing headphones…it turns out he was broadcasting at Hanover’s radio station! For all we know, he was about to tell his listeners about some new strangers in town. We still have a soft spot in our hearts for local radio; we just didn’t expect to see it in Hanover.
Perhaps Hanover wasn’t all that different from the other similarly-sized towns we saw on this trip…but chance happenings like the Dutch store and the DJ made it a little more special for us. While we were in no danger of starving, we also stocked up at the Schultz bakery – you never know when you might need a chocolate cream horn.
Overlooking Lake Simcoe’s Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie, Ontario
We continued eastward, passing through places like Durham, Flesherton and Stayner until we finally hit Barrie in the mid-afternoon. After some quick vinyl-record shopping, we switched gears and went into hockey tournament mode for the couple of days. I enjoyed the intense hockey experience (playing 5 games in 44 hours!) but can’t say that I really got a feel for life in Barrie.
Colonel McGrady’s Pub & Grill in Uxbridge, Ontario
After my last game, we reluctantly piled into the car for the home stretch. More small towns I’ve never visited before: Bradford, Sharon, Mount Albert…and, finally, lunch in Uxbridge. We ate at Colonel McGrady’s Pub; I don’t know how “authentic” the sandwich was, but it was the best Philly Steak sandwich that I have ever had. Lots of grilled peppers but also a barbecue-influenced sauce…it was almost like a upgraded pulled pork sandwich…with steak.
Eating out for a week can start to become tiresome but it’s always great to end a trip on such a high note. It also compensated for the searing mid-afternoon heat that we felt in villages such as Bethany (see photo at the top of this post). If we ever find ourselves in those parts of Ontario again, we’ll be sure to stop in Uxbridge and Hanover to revisit the highlights of the long road home.
