Biking at Meaford-Thornbury, Ontario 2018

My husband Rich and I are always looking for new places to cycle that are relatively flat, smooth, traffic-free and preferably passing some nice scenery. He suggested an overnight trip to Meaford Ontario, where we could catch the start of the 34km Georgian Trail which runs along the southern shore of Georgian Bay all the way to Collingwood.  The trail consists of a relatively flat, hard-packed granular surface that runs along an old railway route formerly used by the Northern Railway Line.  A 68km round-trip to Collingwood and back was farther than we wanted to ride in one day, but the 14km to the next town of Thornbury sounded perfect.  We would spend the first day riding to and exploring Thornbury as well as around Meaford, and the next day we would drive to Thornbury and check out the path from there towards Collingwood.

Our trip was almost derailed right from the start as I discovered the night before that my bicycle had a flat tire.  Our plan was to head off early in the , so that we could reach Meaford and still have most of the day for our bike ride.  However none of the bike repair shops in Toronto opened until 10 or 11am which would have wasted most of our day. Regardless, we set out that morning with the hopes of finding a bike repair shop in either Meaford or Thornbury, or at worst case, I could perhaps rent a bike.  Luck was with us since we did find a bike shop in Thornbury, and although the proprietor was taking the day off to spend with his daughter on her birthday, he happened to be in the shop when we arrived.  Taking pity on our predicament, he agreed to fix my tire and a mere 20 minutes later, we were on our way.

I had booked a one night stay at the reasonably priced Meaford Motel, which was conveniently situated right in the middle of the main street of Meaford, surrounded by quaint shops and restaurants and not far from the City Hall and local theatre at the Meaford Hall Arts and Cultural Centre.  It was too bad that we missed the start of the summer theatre season by a mere week since that would have been a fun activity to add to our trip and there were several comedies that we would have enjoyed watching.  If we visit the Meaford area again, we will do some research and plan our timing better in order to catch a play.

The start of the Georgian Trail was a couple of blocks from the motel.  The shaded tree-lined trail was quite scenic between Meaford and Thornbury, and the path was more or less flat as advertised with just a few gentle slopes here and there.  But for some initially inexplicable reason, we felt more tired than usual considering the distance that we rode, and I even had the optical illusion at times that I was riding uphill both ways.  We realized afterwards that it was because we had to concentrate so hard on staying balanced while riding through the little pebbles that packed the road and this effort contributed to our fatigue.  En route to Thornbury, we road past the pretty community of Lora Bay where we checked out some model homes and the  Raven Golf club that was the highlight of the area.  A plaque informed us that this was the location of the 2007 Telus World Skins Game featuring golfer Stephen Ames from Canada as well as golfers from USA, Scotland, Australia and South Africa.

By the time we reached Thornbury and locked up our bikes, we were hungry and ready for lunch.  We decided to eat at the Cheese Gallery where we ordered the cheese tasting board for two and added the option for charcuterie.  I always need vegetables with any meal so I requested that they make me a side salad, even though it was not on the menu. Afterwards we checked out the shops on the main drag and picked up some gourmet cherry lime popsicles.

Like Meaford, Thornbury's main streets are full of eateries and boutiques selling clothing, crafts, arts and books.  The Dam is a family owned Scottish gastropub set in a 1870s house where the mayor lived at the turn of the 20th century.  One of the most interesting features in Thornbury is the "Fishway" or "Fish Ladder" that is situated by the Beaver River.  It allows different types of fish to pass around the Thornbury Dam in a natural manner, by swimming as opposed to jumping from each rung of the ladder.  This permits a greater variety of fish species to spawn in the Beaver River.  Unfortunately we were not there at the right season and did not see any fish on the ladder. 

The Thornbury Antique Market houses over 15 antique dealers that sell knickknacks, decorative arts, furniture, clothing, jewelry, pottery, cookware and more.  It was fun poking around the various kiosks, looking for hidden treasures.  We were intrigued by the lamp that was made to look like a set of old classic novels.  I didn't find anything that I wanted to buy and take home, but I did take a nice restful catnap on a couch while Rich was browsing in another area.

We rode back to Meaford with plenty of daylight left to cycle around this town and check out the shops, buildings, parks and beachfront.  Rich was amused by the Polynesian dancers made from planter pots that he spotted in one storefront.  I liked the several houses that had round turrets built into them, as well as the elaborate tree carving in front of one homes. The FIFA world cup soccer semi-final game between Croatia and England was playing at this time and we went around to various restaurants and pubs looking for a TV to watch some of it on, to no avail.  So when we found a peaceful bench by the waterfront, I sat there and watched the game on my phone while Rich admired the water.  It was a nice afternoon respite and allowed us to rest after our bike ride.

One of the main impetuses that led Rich to think about a trip to Meaford, Ontario was the review about Ted's Range Road Diner that he read in the Globe and Mail Newspaper.  A family restaurant about 8km outside of downtown Meaford, the establishment is run out of a very unique-looking press-board and plywood-walled Quonset hut, which is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semicircular cross-section.  Run by Ted Lye and his wife, the local hotspot is known for its Wednesday night musical jam sections and contains one of the most vastly eclectic menus that we've ever seen, with multiple choices of wild game, traditional meats and seafood.

It was such a tough decision regarding what to pick since so many of the choices sounded good.  For appetizers, we could have had kangaroo medallions, strips of bison or venison, mushroom caps, escargots, scallops, baked brie and more.  There were even more choices for mains including prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, chicken stir fry, rack of lamb, elk or bison sirloin, venison chop or steak,  wild boar chop, pork tenderloin, beef filet minion, snow crab legs, lobster, pan-fried trout, sea bass, salmon or white fish, surf and turf and .. the choices just went on and on.  We ended up ordering breaded crocodile nuggets and sauteed strips of elk with stir-fried vegetables as appetizers.  For the main course, we both went for lemon-pepper pickerel which Rich got with mashed potato and gravy while I opted for the crispy fried potato rosti.  We finished off the meal with a piece of wild blueberry pie, which we shared.  Everything was delicious and we have already decided that we need to come back another time to try more items!

Following dinner, we drove to the Irish Mountain Lookout to get a picturesque view of the rolling countryside of Nottawasaga Bay, which is part of Georgian Bay, and  the Niagara Escarpment that can be spotted behind the top of Irish Mountain.  At this lookout, we found the first big red wooden Muskoka chair that was one of ten such chairs scattered around tourist spots in Meaford as part of the "Big Red Chair Tour".  We would spot more the next day. In the parking lot was a very cool-looking 1950s car that could have been a Studebaker.

The next morning, we had a hearty breakfast at Tilly's by the Bay before checking out of our motel.  I had Tilly's Triple Decker Clubhouse sandwich with ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato, served on homemade cheese bread, which was a real treat!  It came with home fries and I asked for a side order of grilled mushrooms.  Rich had the Tilly's Breakfast of eggs with bacon and sausage, also served on cheese bread.  This was a nice way to start the day.

Before leaving town, we drove to Beautiful Joe Park, which is dedicated to a black Airedale-type dog from Meaford who was rescued and adopted by William Moore in 1890 after being abused almost to death by his original owner.  Joe's story inspired author Margaret Marshall Saunders to write the book Beautiful Joe, which became a huge success that sold over 7 million copies and was printed in ten different languages.  A bronze sculpture of the abused dog, with its ears and tail cut off, greets you with the word "Welcome".  There is also a plaque depicting the author, who wrote under the pseudonym Marshall Saunders, since women writers were not taken seriously at that time.  Margaret wrote the book as an "autobiography", telling the story from Joe's perspective.   Beautiful Joe was laid to rest in this serene 8.5 acre wooded park on the banks of the Bighead River.

We found another Red Chair in the park (this one with a painting of Joe on it), as well as a map indicating where the other eight could be found.  A small rock garden was filled with small smooth stones painted by school children, many of them depicting images of dogs.  The park also featured memorials to other canine units including the Police Canine Unit, one dedicated to service guide dogs and a 9/11 monument honouring a brave police dog named Sirius who lost his life that day.

 

The Park is also home to Paradise Islands, a pet memorial area where people can purchase plaques with words engraved to honour and memorialize their beloved pets.  Most of the plaques were from areas within Ontario, but there were a few plaques from across Canada and even the United States.

After our visit to Beautiful Joe Park, we drove to Thornbury and picked up the Georgian Trail from there, biking towards Collingwood.  We did not find this part of the path to be as scenic and again we were encumbered by the tiny pebbles on the trail, so we quit after a few kilometres and called it a day.  On the way back home, we stopped by several orchards and farmers markets located on the highway between Meaford and Thornbury including Goldsmith Orchards.  Our favourite was Grandma Lambe's markets where we found some frozen uncooked pies of various flavours.  We ended up buying a wild blueberry, a sour cherry, and a "Thornberry" pie to take home.  The Thornberry pie consisted of apple, blueberry, cherry and raspberry with a crumble topping.  It was a good thing that the pies were frozen as hard as rocks and acted as their own ice blocks, since we did not have a cooler to transport them in during our return trip.  Imagine our surprise when we got home and found out that the pies were originally from Goldsmith Orchards after all! Next time, we will see if we can get them from the source.

This short two-day visit to Meaford and Thornberry turned out to be quite fun and eventful and well worth the trip.  We actually might return next year for another dinner at Ted's Range Road Diner, hopefully a play and then more pies!