Tag Archives: Ontario

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Gatineau Getaway

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(Wakefield, Quebec, Canada)

We decided to take a road trip to the Gatineau region of Québec last weekend. There were multiple reasons, with more reasons appearing as the trip progressed!

The Nepean Lawn Bowls clubhouse on Woodroffe Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario.

Our first stop was the Nepean Lawn Bowls Club in suburban Ottawa, where I could do some early-season practicing on their artificial surface. And I could also finally try out my new bowls for the first time, as they had been patiently waiting since arriving from Australia three months ago. (I borrowed some bowls when I played in Switzerland in February). My club in Kingston has a natural grass surface and it won’t be available for at least another week.

King’s Day Celebrations outside the Dutch Groceries store on Clyde Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario.

I was excited to play outdoors again, so I stayed for a long time and worked up quite an appetite. Accordingly, our next stop was the nearby Dutch Groceries deli/shop. And what a coincidence: it was King’s Day (Koningsdag) in the Netherlands, so the shop was selling fresh treats such as bitterballen and poffertjes on the sidewalk outside the shop! Of course, we had to have some. With lots of Dutch-Canadians wearing orange, and some special promotions inside the shop, it was a very festive occasion. Among other things, I picked up some Cantenaar and Parrano cheeses, two specialized kinds of sambal (sambal manis and surinaamse sambal), and a whole lot of dropjes.

The Meule & Caquelon restaurant on Boul. Gréber in Gatineau, Québec,

By dinnertime, we had crossed the Ottawa River into Québec and decided to try something that you can’t find in Kingston: a Swiss restaurant (although we have Amadeus, which is an excellent Austrian/Bavarian restaurant). Meule & Caquelon has an unassuming location in a Gatineau strip mall but it is a cozy place specializing in fondue and raclette. We had a modified raclette; we grilled our own food and then melted raclette cheese over it.

The Auberge de Mon Petit Chum B&B in Wakefield, Québec. We stayed here for a night.

That night, we stayed in the rustic Québec village of Wakefield (see the covered bridge at the very top of this post). Wakefield is in the Gatineau River valley about 35 km north of Ottawa and, unlike other places near the nation’s capital, it has seen relatively little development. With almost no lighting on the side streets, it almost seemed like the village was in a previous century. While we chose this village because it was fairly close to Ottawa, Wakefield has some other special significance for me.

View of the lower part of the very first ski lift I ever took: the beginner area at Vorlage (Wakefield, Québec), with the base lodge on the right

The Vorlage ski area was just a block away from our B&B. While Vorlage is quite small, with a vertical drop of just 140 metres (about 460 feet), it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was here, in early 1983, that I went downhill skiing for the very first time. My Grade 10 friends convinced me to go on a school-organized ski trip. They also convinced me to just follow them rather than take lessons. While it wasn’t elegant (I was skiing like a hockey player), the trial by fire gave me the skiing bug. Regular readers of this blog know how much skiing has meant to me and my travel plans ever since.

View of the Gatineau River, taken from the middle of Wakefield’s covered bridge.

Anyway, Wakefield seems to be very quiet in the spring. This is probably because its outdoor activities attract more visitors in the summer and winter months. (In addition to Vorlage, the slightly larger Edelweiss ski area is also in Wakefield.) There was absolutely nobody else on the village’s picturesque covered bridge when I used it to cross the Gatineau River. On the way back, a couple of local children rode their bikes across but otherwise…silence.

The Northfolk Cafe in Perth, Ontario. The gelato was very good.

I spent a few more hours practicing bowls in Nepean the next day, and then continued home to Kingston via the “scenic route”. To break up the drive a bit, we stopped in the historic town of Perth for a beverage and some gelato. The skies were very gray by this point, with some intermittent rain, so the gray stone buildings in the downtown area made everything feel very gray indeed. But a tart lemon gelato can help overcome that.

A very gray day in Perth, Ontario.

This was the first, but certainly not the last, road trip of 2024. Watch this space for all the details!

Posts from the road

Various Ontario Adventures

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(Various Ontario Locations)

As with last summer, my summer travel (so far) has been following the competitive lawn bowling circuit in Ontario. This blog post brings things up to date, in advance of a bigger adventure later this month!

My dinner special at Baan Thai in Nepean
My dinner special at Baan Thai in Nepean, Ontario

My early season focus was on the Ottawa suburb of Nepean. Nepean’s lawn bowling club has an artificial surface, which means that it is in playing condition much earlier than clubs with a natural grass surface. We took the opportunity to revisit an old favourite: the Baan Thai restaurant. We first ate here about 10 years ago when we saw Johnny Clegg in concert at the nearby Centrepointe Theatre.

Delivering the jack at the Provincial Men’s Fours championship in Windsor, Ontario

Distances in Ontario are vast. From Ottawa, my next major destination was Windsor…750 km to the southwest. I was playing in the Provincial Men’s Fours playdowns there, and I posted about Windsor’s special Ukrainian restaurant (and an Ethiopian restaurant too) in my previous blog entry.

Delivering a bowl in the rain at the Provincial Men’s Fours championship in Windsor, Ontario

As my team managed to claim the silver medal in rainy Windsor, we will be attending the National championships later this month…in Victoria, British Columbia! There’s more to come in this blog on that prestigious event.

My delicious platter (foreground) at Lalibela Restaurant in East York, Ontario

I spent a couple of weekends in Kitchener too, but unfortunately I don’t have any photographs to share from those adventures. But I also played at a few tournaments in East York, at the Cosburn Park club. And one of the great things about this club is its proximity to “the Danforth”.

Another view of our food at Lalibela Restaurant – love the plates!

The Danforth, or more recently “the Danny”, is a portion of Danforth Avenue historically associated with Toronto’s large Greek community. Part of it is still known as Greektown, and Greek restaurants abound. However, much of more recent immigration to this part of Toronto has been from Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. In fact, a portion of it is now known as “Little Ethiopia”. There are about a dozen Ethiopian restaurants within walking distance of each other. So, of course, I had to try one…

Lalibela Restaurant on Danforth Avenue in East York, Ontario

We ended up at a restaurant called Lalibela, and I was very happy with my platter. The spicy chicken and the salad (or rather the salad dressing) were particular highlights. I don’t know why, but eating Ethiopian style just feels so right after a long day of physical activity in the sun.

The beach in downtown Cobourg, Ontario

A little closer to home, I often find myself in the lakeside town of Cobourg. Their lawn bowling club has a great location near the beach, and it is just close enough to Kingston to be feasible for one-day tournaments without a hotel stay. And it also makes a good stopover on the way back from events in Toronto and points west.

A narrow alley leads to the Oasis in Cobourg, Ontario

I’ve been travelling to Cobourg for sports since I was 10 years old. But somehow I had never noticed a place called the Oasis on Cobourg’s main street. You get to it by following an alley (the end of it is shown above) from the street. I was very impressed by the fact that they carry Blanche de Chambly – a very refreshing summer beverage from Quebec.

Another view of Cobourg’s beach

I don’t think I had ever fully appreciated Cobourg’s beach. It is right downtown, and seems to retain a small-Ontario-town feel despite the new development (condos, etc.) just a couple of blocks away. It isn’t as vast as the beach in ‘s-Gravenzande, for example, but there is nothing like it in the other nearby towns.

A more modern development in downtown Cobourg, Ontario

East York isn’t the only part of Toronto that I’ve gotten to know through sports. On a couple of occasions this summer, I’ve been in the suburban neighbourhood of Agincourt (itself part of Scarborough). This area is known for its East Asian restaurants, and we found a very interesting one on our last visit.

Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant – a surprising find in Scarborough, Ontario

I haven’t had dim sum very often, but it is something I am going to try again in the future. It lets you sample many different dishes without committing to a lot of something unfamiliar. And the “Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant” obviously takes the dim sum concept one step beyond: everything is vegetarian or vegan!

Like nowhere else I have eaten!

I don’t know if I would have tried “real” barbecued eel. But I certainly didn’t mind trying the vegetarian version, with the (presumably soy-based) mock eel being very similar in texture to what I think eel would be like. It ended up being my favourite part of the meal.

Stay tuned for my upcoming British Columbia adventure!

Posts from the road

Windsor and its “Ukrainian Restaurant”

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(Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

I was recently in Windsor, Ontario, for the Open Fours Provincial Lawn Bowling Championships. I’ve written about Windsor before (click here for details). But for today’s post, I’d like to talk about some unique dining experiences that we had on this trip.

Interior of “Ukrainian Restaurant” in Windsor, Ontario

Windsor’s oldest Ukrainian restaurant opened on a quiet residential street in 1929. It was called simply “Ukrainian Restaurant“. The first owner was Pearl Hawrylak. She ran it until 1967. In 1968, it was purchased by Anna Momcilovic…who continues to run it today!  

Our meals at the “Ukrainian Restaurant” in Windsor, Ontario

Anna is now 88 years old, and is still the chef, server, manager, dishwasher, and sole employee. And it is still called “Ukrainian Restaurant”. To save time, you need to place your order through the window to the kitchen and grab your own drink from the fridge.

“Ukrainian Restaurant” on Marion Avenue in Windsor

It is incredible to have 94 years of service under one name, in one off-the-beaten-path location, and under just two owners. It’s not fancy, but it is definitely authentic and a most welcome throwback to another time. We opted for combination plates of perogies, cabbage rolls and sauerkraut. And I had to have borscht as my soup selection. It came with cream, which Anna told me was the proper Ukrainian way to eat it.

Detroit, Michigan, as seen from Windsor, Ontario

“Ukrainian Restaurant” was unique. But my team and I had also a very enjoyable meal in an Ethiopian restaurant called “World Marathon Ethiopian Restaurant“. I’ve written about Ethiopian restaurants in the past: see here, here and here. Eating with one’s hands is something most people have gotten away from in “sit-down” restaurants, but I still find it a lot of fun. According to Ethiopian folklore, people who share meals in this way will never betray each other.

Caesar’s Casino in Windsor, Ontario

World Marathon offers alternatives for those who aren’t quite ready for the “hands-on” authentic experience, but I dove right in. Almost all of my teammates ate that way too. They watched me briefly demonstrate the proper technique (scooping assorted sauces and specialties with pieces of my injera “crepe”), and then followed suit.

Our lunches at Sushi Cove in Woodstock, Ontario

Sadly, I was so enthusiastic that I forgot to take pictures before digging in. But I did remember to take some pictures when we stopped in Woodstock, Ontario, on the way home after the tournament. We went to Sushi Cove, where I ate Korean food in 2021 and had a good experience. I went for the bulgogi this time, while my wife went for the bibimbap (in foreground).

Sushi Cove restaurant in Woodstock, Ontario

I also picked up a couple of special vinyl records in Woodstock, before making the long drive back to Kingston. I’ve lost track of the number of records in my collection, but I can remember where I picked up each one. For me, it’s another way to commemorate some of the special travel experiences I’ve had. Just like this blog.

You are now entering Dorking, Ontario

And then there are the random places you stumble upon. Dorking (pictured above) wasn’t much more than a crossroads. It is in a very traditional part of the province. It’s so traditional that several horses (with buggies) were “parked” outside the general store.

Stay tuned for more on my local summer travels…and an upcoming trip requiring a couple of flights each way!

Posts from the road

Road Trip to Trenton

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(Trenton, Ontario, Canada)

I recently had a day-long curling bonspiel in Belleville. I accidentally left some of my curling equipment behind, and made arrangements to pick it up the following weekend. It was on this skimpy premise that a spontaneous yet long-planned road trip took place.

Murray Canal at Carrying Place, Ontario

In the darkest days of the pandemic, the only real “travel” options were for essentials. This included food. We repeatedly made plans for a trip to Trenton, a town about 100km of Kingston. The purpose was to stock up on my favourite Dutch food products from the Trenton Delicatessen. But like many things during the pandemic, our trip was repeatedly postponed. And once travel started to happen again, I somehow was never in Trenton during their business hours. Or if I was nearby, I didn’t have the time to stop in.

Old-school tattoo parlour in Trenton

Finally, this weekend, I found myself in Belleville (18km from Trenton) with a full day ahead of me and no deadlines to meet!

Sam the Record Man, in Belleville’s Quinte Mall

We started off with a visit to the only remaining “Sam the Record Man” store in Canada. The flagship “Sam’s” location was on Yonge Street in Toronto, but the chain was everywhere…even Kingston had multiple locations. It now consists of just the one store in Belleville’s Quinte Mall. Nothing replaces my favourite record shop in Kingston, but it was still fun to check out this throwback from the past.

Thai Sushi in downtown Trenton

After picking up some (non-perishable) groceries, we made our way to Trenton for lunch. Sadly, our first choice (Korean) was closed for lunch on Saturdays. As were many of our other choices. We then saw a sign for the “Thai Sushi” restaurant, and figured we might as well give it a try. Ordinarily, I am wary of restaurants that “specialize” in completely different cuisines. And I am even more wary of restaurants that have an “all you can eat” focus. But it had been many hours since breakfast, and I ignored the yellow flags.

Part of our lunch at “Thai Sushi” in Trenton

I focused on trying some new dishes, and ended up enjoying the experience. It’s always good to try salads and soups on such occasions, as they sometimes get overlooked (especially with take-out). And it was clear that many of our selections from the more obscure parts of the menu were being made to order.

Trenton Deli (Trenton, Ontario)

Anyway, we *finally* made it to the Trenton Delicatessen with absolutely no residual hunger. We could focus on what we needed for the long haul. I had fun assembling my own mixed bag of Dutch licorice (“drop“), with a nice range of sweet and/or salty selections. I even picked up a few “Hopjes“: coffee candies from Den Haag (The Hague). I don’t drink coffee but I have a soft spot for these treats that were often in the kitchen cupboard at my parents’ house. I also bought a bag of honing drop (honey licorice).

Murray Canal (Carrying Place, Ontario)

Then it was time for the kaas (cheese)! They had some fun varieties of gouda (pronounced gow-da with a gutteral “g”…NOT goo-da!), such as black lemon. Yes, it’s jet black, and tastes like lemon! But in the end, I went for a couple of cheeses that I haven’t had in a very long time: maasdam and cantenaar. The maasdam is quite mild, but the cantenaar is like a very old gouda (albeit healthier) and wins the prize as my favourite for the day. Sadly, the cheese is now gone. I’ll have to make another return trip soon.

Lots of warnings at Northport, Ontario

We decided to drive home via the northern part of Prince Edward County. There aren’t too many communities here, but it was a nice change from the busy highway between Trenton and Belleville. After brief stops at Carrying Place and Northport (see photo at the very top of this post), we took the Bay of Quinte Skyway Bridge back to the mainland near Deseronto.

Harrowing construction work on the Bay of Quinte Skyway Bridge (as seen from Deseronto, Ontario)

What I had forgotten was that this very steep bridge was being “rehabilitated”. Maybe even worse: half of it was down to one lane. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t enjoy being parked near the top of a steep bridge waiting for the traffic from the other side to cross. And when the one open lane appears to be the only intact portion of the bridge…let’s just say that I was very glad to be done with the bridge part of our journey.

Market Simeon (Napanee, Ontario)

Our last stop of the day was in Napanee. I’ve featured pictures from Napanee on this blog before: here’s a post from 2015, and here’s one from 2020. As we had fresh cheese in the cooler, we couldn’t stay long this time. But we did stop in at “Market Simeon” on Napanee’s historic main street. And what did I find there? Snert!

Snert (also known as Erwtensoep) is another name for Dutch split pea soup. And I have to say that this version tasted just right. It had some very tasty sausage and correctly omitted garlic (which doesn’t belong in Dutch cooking). It was a nice finish to a mostly Dutch early spring day. All we were missing were the tulips!

Posts from the road

My lawn bowling journey

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(Burlington, Ontario, Canada)

In my last post, I promised that I would explain some of the posting delays on the blog lately. With the easing of the pandemic (or at least the associated restrictions), it would have been reasonable to expect some international travel this summer. After all, this is a travel blog, and international travel has only recently become somewhat accessible again. However, life sometimes takes some unexpected turns. While I still took some vacation days this summer, their purpose was altogether different. Here’s what happened…

Lining up for the bowl and shoe inspection at the National championships in Burlington

During the pandemic, I trained extensively in the sport of lawn bowling. I started lawn bowling in 2017 as a way to bridge the gap between curling seasons. As it turned out, lawn bowling seemed to suit me better than curling. And, as an outdoor and well-spaced activity, it wasn’t hampered by the pandemic as much as my other sports. In late 2019, I was lucky to find some people who were on the same wavelength, so I decided to get much more serious about the game and try to get to the next level.

Opening Ceremonies: the umpires are at the front, with the various provincial teams behind.

My wife devoted countless hours, with a clipboard and tape-measure, to tracking my progress. My coach Blaine provided long-distance advice and support. My pairs partner Bill was equally committed and was always available to discuss strategy, exchange ideas, and try to speed up the learning curve. I threw thousands upon thousands of bowls. I did the analytics and watched the tapes. I was active every single day, in some form, regardless of the weather. Finally, in 2022, I had a real opportunity to put all of the preparation to good use.


Discussing strategy in our game against British Columbia “A”

It happened fast…if you can call 10 matches over 3 days fast! Despite a massive Men’s Pairs Ontario Championship in Agincourt with 31 very strong teams, and with only two Ontario teams qualifying for the subsequent National Championship, Bill and I somehow managed to make it. Sure, we had put in the preparation time. But so did a lot of other teams. It was still a huge surprise that we qualified.

Delivering a bowl against Nova Scotia

Looking back to that event, I remember thinking that it was like being a kid again…when there was always the potential of something special happening. Except now I could fully appreciate the enormity of it.

Instructing Bill against Alberta “A”

If you know anything about my competitive nature, you can imagine that this really took up a lot of my spare time in 2022. And before I knew it, we were wearing our sparkly new Team Ontario shirts and delivering practice bowls at the Nationals in Burlington, Ontario.

Team Ontario (players, coaches, and support).

There were ups and downs at the Nationals. We beat some great teams, and really struggled against others. We didn’t make it to the medal round. But as soon as it was over, we were already talking about trying to qualify again.

Trial bowls against Alberta “A”

I have mostly kept lawn bowling out of this blog. It’s certainly a misunderstood sport. And despite over 100 clubs in Ontario alone, it is still seen as a niche or fringe sport. But now I see that it really is a journey…with a lot of the characteristics that I enjoy about travel. The planning (both strategic and logistical) is something I love to do for regular travel too. My desire for special experiences, rather than just passively observing things, is something I also endorse in regular travel. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone, against very strong competition, is in some ways just like travelling to a country very different from my own…and just as rewarding when it works out. (We did put thousands of kilometers on our car this summer, so there was quite a bit of “traditional” travel too.)

Panorama view of the Burlington Lawn Bowling Club

As in any great trip, there were bumps along the way. I just couldn’t figure out Rink 16 in Burlington. In another game, a badly-timed weather delay probably turned a win into a loss. But sometimes, the objectively disastrous parts of a trip are the most memorable and provide the most opportunities for growth. The learning curve continues, full speed ahead.

(Right:) Calling a shot against British Columbia “A”

So that’s where I’m at. Whatever happens next on this journey, I’m going to continue to push myself and seek out new experiences…whether it is in the context of travel or sports.

Posts from the road

More on Toronto, and looking ahead

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(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

It’s been 30 years since I lived in Toronto, so it is not surprising that much has changed. My old neighbourhood (Avenue Road, near Dupont Street) has become far more expensive and “intensified”, but those changes had been creeping north from Yorkville for many years.

View from my hotel room on Queen’s Quay in downtown Toronto (March 6, 2022)

I was more surprised by the extent of the redevelopment of the waterfront area. When I lived in Toronto, the lands south of Union Station did not really attract much attention (or many people). Now, however, it seems like entirely new neighbourhoods have sprung up and there is a sense of community that I never noticed before. I wouldn’t normally stay in that area but, thanks to an online deal, my hotel was cheaper than even the traditional “budget” hotels near the train station. And it had a meal credit tossed in as well.

The Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), home of the Toronto Blue Jays

Maybe it was the bright sunshine, but everything seemed to be shiny and new. i doubt that many of the skyscrapers shown in the “cover photo” at the top of this post existed in the early 1990s. With so many people enjoying the weather and being on the waterfront, the energy I found on Kensington Market (see my previous post here) was also apparent in what used to be a nondescript part of the city. And on the first weekend of March, to boot!

Toronto Harbour

All of this made me decide to take advantage of some accumulated loyalty program points and make plans for another big city getaway. Having had a proper glimpse of downtown Toronto for the first time in a couple of years, it was time to visit Montreal!

My Toronto hotel, as seen from the harbour

We went to Montreal at the end of April (8 weeks after Toronto, but just before this post was published – it’s complicated). I’ll have a full report soon!

Posts from the road

Inspiring Stopover in Toronto

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(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

My flight from Calgary to Toronto arrived on Saturday evening, just a bit too late to catch the last train back to Kingston. I decided to stay in Toronto for the night, and then head back to Kingston on Sunday afternoon. This gave me just enough time to visit some old (and new!) haunts in Toronto.

“My Roti” from “My Roti Place” – March 5, 2022 (Toronto, Ontario)

My hotel was downtown on Queen’s Quay, so I assumed that I’d have no problem finding dinner even though it was well past 9:00 p.m. (It took 1 hour and 39 minutes for my luggage to show up on the airport carousel, so not all of the pandemic kinks have been worked out yet!) I started to get worried though: ever since the pandemic, a lot of restaurants stop serving by 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. My first two choices fell into this category. I finally decided to take a chance on something called “My Roti Place”.

My Roti Place (Cameron Street at Queen Street West) – March 6, 2022

This ended up being one of those happy accidents that makes travel so enjoyable. The roti (almost like a rectangular soft tortilla) had an absolutely delicious filling. My filling was Paneer (an Indian cheese) in a curry called “Awesome Tangra Hakka Chilly”, but you could design your own with one of four levels of spiciness. I opted for “medium” (the others are “mild”, “serious” and “stupid”) and it was perfect for me. This wasn’t elegant cuisine by any means, but it “gave me a sense of enormous well-being” (to quote Blur, from their mid-1990s hit Parklife). And just like that, I have another “go-to” place in downtown Toronto.

I did have to check out this venerable record shop (Kops) on Queen Street West

The next day, the temperature eventually rose to an unseasonably warm 16’C. Far too hot for March 6 in Canada, perhaps, but perfect for a wander from Queen’s Quay to Kensington Market. I found some vinyl rarities at Kops on Queen Street West, a store that was around even when I lived in Toronto in the early 1990s. They have an outstanding selection (as in thousands and thousands) of high-quality 45s: you’ll have no trouble finding the song you’re looking for.

On such a warm day, a visit to Dolce Gelato in Kensington Market was almost mandatory

The vibe in Kensington Market was spectacular. I don’t think I’ve seen such a vital streetscape since the pandemic began. The Market can be pretty ramshackle in places, but it remains very low-rise and has largely avoided the creeping corporatization that has hit other parts of downtown Toronto (including parts of Queen Street West). While there’s been a bit of a shift from markets to restaurants, it’s still a great place to go when you are hungry (or plan to be soon).

And when I’m in the Kensington Market, a visit to Jumbo Empanadas is never a bad idea

I had a huge breakfast at the hotel, and wasn’t ready to face a delicious but weighty “pastel de choclo” at Jumbo Empanadas, a place (and delicious specialty) I’ve written about before. But the warm weather made some homemade gelato at Dolce a most satisfactory fall-back option. They have a lot of authentic Italian flavours, and it was wonderful to have some of their gelato again after a pause of several years. I really miss having gelato in Italy, and look forward to doing that again someday.

The “Hungary-Thai” Bar & Eatery in Kensington Market

I’ve written about eating Hungarian food in Toronto before but, oddly enough, it has always been at Hungarian restaurants. But as you can see, Kensington Market now has a “Hungary-Thai” restaurant that features cuisine from both Hungary and Thailand. I still wasn’t hungry enough to justify a visit this time, but I’m glad to see that Kensington Market continues to attract and support unique places like this.

This sunny and vibrant afternoon made me crave more of the energy that you can find in great city neighbourhoods. I’ve already made plans for another city visit…I’ll have some more Toronto photos (and some hints about where I’m going next) in this space soon!

Posts from the road

Western Ontario – Part Two

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

August was HOT in Windsor. It’s hard to tell from the Ambassador Bridge (linking Windsor and Detroit, Michigan) photo at the top of this post, but the afternoons were almost comically sizzling. Once the Windsor tournament had ended, we went on a little road trip in the southernmost part of Ontario.

On the riverfront in Amherstburg, Ontario

Our first stop was Amherstburg. The historic downtown core was very quaint, and the local merchants were having a sidewalk sale to jump-start the pandemic economy. I found a rare music book at a tiny record shop, before we rushed on to the shores of Lake Erie.

La Casa de Las Arepas, in Leamington

We decided to look for a place to eat in Leamington. This is farming country, with a particular emphasis on tomatoes. A lot of Canadian ketchup comes from here! Given that, we didn’t expect to see a very diverse collection of restaurants. But we were wrong. Canada has a shortage of farm workers, so a lot of temporary foreign workers from Central and South America live here during the warmer months. As a result, a very interesting collection of businesses has sprung up in towns like Leamington. We chose a no-frills Venezuelan restaurant that specialized in arepas, a pre-Hispanic food sometimes described as a “stuffed corn cake”. It was really messy, but also very good (especially with the mysterious unnamed hot sauce that appeared on the table).

“Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese” at the Joker’s Crown in Ingersoll.

The next day, we gave ourselves a lot of time to get from Windsor to Woodstock. We stayed in the nearby town of Ingersoll. Rather than authentic Venezuelan cuisine, my dinner that night consisted of “Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese”. Despite being a typical food of absolutely nowhere, I have to admit that I enjoyed it. The “buffalo” sauce had a nice burn and was suitably offset by the mild macaroni and cheese.

The Elm Hurst Inn, in Ingersoll, Ontario. We stayed here while competing in nearby Woodstock.

After a budget motel in Windsor, we splurged on a very nice hotel called the Elm Hurst Inn. Was it necessary? Maybe not. But it was a nice treat, especially as the temperatures remained ridiculously hot. And besides being a very appealing inn, it has a claim to fame: this property was where a 7,300-pound cheese was made in 1866! The mammoth cheese travelled the world, visiting Sarasota (Florida), London (U.K.), and Paris (France). The inn occupies a mansion built in 1872.

Somehow, we found ourselves at Otterville Park (Otterville, Ontario)

Our tournament schedule allowed us an afternoon off, so of course we went on a little road trip to explore the area. Our first stop was Otterville, which apparently was a stop on the “Underground Railroad” in the 19th century. It is a very quiet community today, but has a very scenic park/baseball diamond set in the middle of a forest. We saw no otters.

I wish I knew the story behind the “Johnny Guitar” house in Delhi, Ontario

We then stopped briefly in a small town called Delhi. The “Johnny Guitar” house (see above) continues to puzzle me. If you know the story, please post something in the “Comments” section. After Delhi, it was on to Tillsonburg. I only knew it as the subject of a Stompin’ Tom Connors song about the thankless job of picking tobacco. But Tillsonburg the tobacco town would continue the Latin American theme…stay tuned for the details in the next (and final) instalment of my Western Ontario trilogy!

Posts from Base Camp

A cautious return to travel: Western Ontario

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

It’s been quiet on the blog for the past couple of months. But, after 17 months of pandemic restrictions…we were finally able to travel! I had some tournaments in the Toronto area, followed by a couple more in Western Ontario, marking the first times that I had been more than one hour from Kingston since March 2020. So, what was it like?

Our first out-of-town restaurant meal in ages: Thai cuisine from the Thai Coconut in Burlington, Ontario

In a word, “normal”. Yes, I had to wear a mask every time I went inside. And yes, I had to complete health declarations to compete in the tournaments. And many restaurants were still restricted to take-out only. But those restrictions seem almost normal too now.

Picked up some 45s at this record shop in Acton, Ontario.

The first trip was to a tournament in Burlington, followed by one the next day in East York. Booking the hotel was just like old times. However, I must admit that it was strange walking into a hotel again. Even though we are now being encouraged to “travel local”, there was still a lingering feeling of not having enough of a justification to be there. But being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 helped deal with that, and I soon forgot about it. As this first trip only took us away from home for two nights, we weren’t away for long enough to be totally disoriented.

Old mill in St. Jacobs, Ontario

After being home for a few days, it was time for the main trip to tournaments in Windsor and Woodstock. These were multi-day tournaments and took us about as far as we could go in southern Ontario without crossing a border. In fact, Windsor is so far from Kingston that we decided to stay overnight in Waterloo before making the final push on to Windsor.

Main Street in St. Jacob’s, Ontario

Once in Waterloo, we visited a nearby village (St. Jacobs) that we had never seen before…yes, a completely discretionary trip! ! The next day, we took a break from our drive to have lunch in the town of Tilbury…again, no special reason to go, it just happened to be there. We picked up some food from the grocery store and ate it on the lawn of the local library.

The Public Library in Tilbury, Ontario: our lunch spot

We reached Windsor in the mid-afternoon. We wanted to get some practice in before the start of the tournament the next morning. It was brutally hot, but we rewarded ourselves with dinner at a Mexican restaurant called “Palenque”.

Palenque Mexican Restaurant in Windsor, Ontario

So far, so good. After dinner, we took a walk along the nearby Detroit River. The park was filled with unusual plant sculptures. But the “Wow” moment was across the river. Across the Detroit River from Windsor is the (larger) American city of Detroit…and seeing a city from another country (see photo at the very top of this post) seemed very surreal after the last 17 months. True, we couldn’t go across the border (the U.S. land border is still not open to non-essential travel, even though their COVID-19 infection rate is far higher than Canada’s), but it was a taste of what we hope to experience again before too long.

My “Gringas” at Palenque

After a very brief period of adjustment, it wasn’t hard to get used to new things again. Stay tuned for more about our Western Ontario odyssey!

Posts from the road

Back on the K&P Trail…AND A WINTER TRAVEL PLAN!

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(Cole Lake, Ontario, Canada)

As the leaves have suddenly become very colourful, we decided to resume our ongoing hike of the K&P Trail between Kingston and Sharbot Lake. Today’s segment started at the (former) village of Cole Lake, which is just north of Godfrey.

One of the roads that crosses the K&P Trail north of Cole Lake

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the trail (here’s one from 2016, and here’s one from 2014), which follows a rail line that used to run between Kingston and Renfrew. As we complete more of it, we have to drive farther and farther to hike a section that we haven’t done before. Even though the skies were overcast today, I brought my camera to capture the fall colours….if not the blue skies. While we encountered a handful of people on the trail, it was *very* quiet. Almost too quiet: more than once, we were startled by a sudden noise.

View from the K&P Trail, north of Cole Lake

After walking the trail, we took an indirect route home. We passed through Bellrock, where I found a couple of very imposing swans beside the historic Bellrock mill. We also passed through places such as Chippewa (which I had somehow never seen before), Enterprise, Moscow, and Yarker.

K&P Trail near Cole Lake

In these COVID-19 times, travel plans remain almost impossible to execute. However, I recently made arrangements to rent a winterized cottage near Haliburton, Ontario, for a few days this winter We’ve never done that kind of a holiday before: my winter travel usually consists of a ski trip or a big city cultural (usually food!) getaway.

Heading north on the K&P Trail

Renting a cottage within a resort is kind of the ultimate COVID-19 holiday. Help is never far away, if needed, but you also don’t have to worry about crowded indoor spaces. And we are not limited to the cottage: there is a host of outdoor activities both onsite and within a short drive of the resort.

View from the K&P Trail, north of Cole Lake

The big adventure is going to be a half-day of dogsledding! But we also hope to skate on the lake outside the cottage, cross-country ski at the trails across the road, and do some snowshoeing in the Haliburton Highlands…outdoor winter activities that pose a very low health risk even if no COVID-19 vaccine is yet available. There’s even a small downhill skiing area nearby, but I think I’ll focus on other activities for this particular trip.

One of the swans at the Bellrock Mill (Bellrock, Ontario)

In the meantime, we will continue to “train” for our upcoming holiday by regular extended walks in the local area. By the way, Tom the Wild Turkey is *still* living a couple of blocks away: I hope he made it past Thanksgiving without any close calls.

Another swan at the Bellrock Mill (Bellrock, Ontario)

Even when we walk locally, we can still talk about prior trips. I may eventually post some of those ruminations on this blog. Our walks are also a time to think about what will be important when we are able to travel again in the future. So much has changed since 2014, when I started this blog. Not just politically, but also in our motivations for travel. I also hope certain over-touristed places will emerge with a more sustainable model for future travel.

Entering Moscow from the north (Moscow, Ontario)

Hoping to read about Prague? I will return to my 1999 Bavaria and Bohemia trip in my next post!