Europe in Ontario 2021: Day 4 - Goderich, Bayfield

On the final day of our “Europe in Ontario” road trip, in addition to stopping for photos at several more “European road signs”, our main destinations were Goderich and Bayfield,  two towns along the shores of Lake Huron, with a quick stop in between to see the Laithworthe Apple Park statues, before heading back home to Toronto.

The town of Goderich has a unique layout consisting of an octagonal piazza on which the Superior Court of Justice, Courthouse Park, the Town Square and the Goderich Farmers Market reside.  Shops, art galleries, cafes and restaurants line Courthouse Square, the road that encircles the octagon, while eight smaller roads act as spokes that emanate outward from each of the eight sides.  Running diagonally between the four directional roads named North, East, South and West, are Hamilton, Kingston, Montreal, and Colborne Streets. To the west of the downtown core lies the shores of Lake Huron with beaches, parks, walking trails, marinas and a spit where Compass Minerals’ Goderich Salt Mine is located, 1800 feet under lake Ontario and the largest underground salt mine in the world.

Built in 1954 in the Art Deco style, the Supreme Court of Justice is the current courthouse for Huron County, replacing the previous Italianate-styled courthouse which was destroyed by fire.  Courthouse Park was rebuilt in 2011 after it was devastated by a tornado.  A performance stage sits in the park, with a roof designed to resemble the overturned, partially decayed hull of a shipwreck after being tossed to shore, acting as a tribute to the sea-faring life of people from Lake Huron.

Traversing around the circumference of the octagon, we found two impressive-looking historic buildings.  The stone structure with Flemish-like gable, which currently houses the Livery Theatre, was originally Polley’s Livery Stable, a blacksmith shop built circa 1840.  The century-old Victorian-styled Hotel Bedford offers 35 rooms, a restaurant and entertainment.  Further along the Courthouse Square, the shop Military Rose, which sells antiques, gifts and military nostalgia, looked interesting but was unfortunately closed so we could only look through the window.  We wanted to go to the hipster coffee shop Cait’s Café for a quick snack, but apparently so did everyone else in town since it was too busy to get into.

Following North Street extending out of the octagon, we found the Huron County Museum where a couple of tanks sit on the front lawn.  One was covered with poppies in recognition of the upcoming Remembrance Day, while another was a memorial for the troops who fought and died in Afghanistan between 2001-2014.   Further on, the Huron Historic Gaol dates back to 1842 and was a working prison until 1972.  The jail and adjoining 20th Century governor’s house is open to the public from May to October.  Sadly we were visiting in November and the building was closed for the season.  Wandering around the residential streets, we saw several beautiful homes with architectural features that I love, including turrets, circular porches, eyebrow windows and widow’s walks.

Heading west towards our lunch spot on the shores of Lake Huron, we stopped by Lions Harbour Park.  We only had time for a quick peek and missed the playground, band shell, the view of the harbour and the stairs leading down to Goderich Cove Beach.  But we did get to see the whimsical totems of Celtic characters that were carved out of trees destroyed by the tornado of 2011.  Created by  renowned chainsaw carver Bobbie Switzer and funded by the Lion’s Club of Goderich, the works include a giant carving of Irish King Brian Boru wielding an axe, and a Lion emerging from a tree.  Another tree serves as a memorial to Norman Leberge, a salt mine employee who was the only fatality of the 2011 tornado, which also injured 35 others, some severely.

The location for our lunch was a restaurant whose 1907 building once served as the Canadian Pacific Railway Train Station for the Guelph to Goderich rail line.  The CPR ceased passenger service in 1959 and freight service in 1988.  In 2013, the entire 400 ton, triple brick heritage building was raised, placed on a flat truck and moved 250 meters closer to the shores of Lake Huron. 

The rail station was restored and turned into the Beach Street Station Restaurant, but still retained many references to its original function.  This included the X-shaped railway crossing sign with the restaurant's name on it, the image of an old steam engine in the company logo, and the historic photos of the building’s past as a train station lining the walls inside the restaurant.  Inside there are several dining areas including an ornate rotunda on one end of the building and a large dining area with stunning views of the lake on the other.  In addition to the cool experience of dining in a former train station, the food was quite good.  For appetizers, we shared the breaded shrimp and a bowl of a delicious jalapeno, stout and cheddar soup that warmed us up on a chilly day by the lake.  For our mains, we each had breaded lake perch, continuing the tradition that we started since the first day of our four-day road trip, where every day we ate fresh Lake Huron fish.  We would like to dine here again in the summer months when the outdoor patio would be open with even better views of the lake.

After lunch, we took a walk along part of St. Christopher Beach before heading back towards town.  In the distance, we saw the machinery of the rock salt mine and processing plant which produces the Sifto table salt that we buy in the supermarkets.  We walked up steep flights of stairs to reach Lighthouse Park, where the 20-foot-tall lighthouse constructed in 1845 still stands.  Its light has a focal plane of 150 feet above Lake Huron.  In November 1913, two major storm fronts converged on the Great lakes, creating hurricane force winds and 35-foot waves.  Eight freighters and over 200 crew members were lost including the Wexford, which went down off the coast of Goderich.  A memorial sculpture marking this tragic event depicts a freighter being overcome by waves.  We saw signs for a Marine Heritage walk and a Maitland Walking Trail around the area that we will explore when we return to this area.

Leaving Goderich and before heading to Bayfield, we stopped at the George Laithworth Apple Park to look a large field full of whimsical, folksy carved concrete sculptures.  Created between 1920-1952, many of the statues were weathered and the paint had faded or worn away, but they were still fun, well defined figures based on biblical, historical, literary or comic characters.   Although we had read that the current owners of this private property allowed people to roam around get a closer view of the works, we still felt rather shy about it since there was no sign indicating this was OK.  Since we were in a rush to get to Bayfield and the lighting was not the best for photos, we quickly took a few snapshots from the road and continued on.  The next time we are in the area, we may return and spend some more time here.

Bayfield is a pretty little town just 30km north of Grand Bend, where we had stayed the previous night.  On the way into town, we passed by the Bayfield Town Hall, which was built for $660 in 1881, some interesting houses, the Clan Gregor Square Park, and a sign for a 2.5km Heritage walk that would have led us to 8 historical storyboards, as well as the beach and marina.  Being short on time, we settled for walking along the charming Main Street where there were many quaint shops.  Unfortunately since it was a Monday in November, many of them were closed.  Still we had fun peering through the windows and visiting the shops that were open.  We could see the potential of this town and made a note that we needed to return during the high season.

We looked into the Village Bookshop, a small, well-stocked book store with a good selection of local and regional authors.  We spotted the novel “The State of Terror”, a  #1 best selling thriller co-written by Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  This was the next book selection for our book club, so we decided to purchase a copy here and support a local business.  There were quaint and kitschy knickknack and décor shops such as “The Spotted Cow”, “Bayberry Shop”, “Nab It”, “Shared Times” and “The Village Guild”.  We saw some cool ceramic planters shaped as heads, lazy-susan end tables and hats matching cleverly embroidered words and images  such as the “Cash” with an image of a cow, or “Flirt” and an image of a parrot.

We really wished that the Martens Art Gallery was open, but at least we could peek through the windows, as well as inspect the outdoor art that was left in front of the gallery.  When we return to Bayfield, we will definitely pick a day when this gallery is open so that we look more closely at the art inside.

Standing tall in the middle of Main Street is a reproduction of “The Sailor”,  a replica of  wooden sculpture of Captain Harry, the “cherished watchman of Main Street”.  Originally created in the late 1980s, weather had worn away at the first sculpture, but the Bayfield Historical Society funded its re-creation.  There was a plaque honouring the town’s namesake, Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield (1795-1885), a hydrographer, geologist and surveyor who mapped Lakes Erie and Huron.  There were a few interesting accommodations that we could stay at next time we visit, including “The Little Inn of Bayfield” which has been in operation since 1862 (originally named “The Lakeview”).

Leaving Bayfield to head home to Toronto, we stopped by the road sign for Lisbon, Ontario. This was the final destination of our four day “Europe in Ontario” road trip that saw us stop in little towns, or in cases like this, just a road sign in the middle of nowhere, all named after famous cities and capitals in Europe.  This road trip also became our longest “vacation” and the furthest afield that we had ventured from home since the start of the pandemic over 1.5 years ago.  Hopefully things will continue to get back to normal and we can eventually start traveling abroad “for real” again.  In the meantime, we are enjoying exploring Ontario as we never had before and in 2022, we can even claim a “Ontario Staycation Tax Credit” while we do so.  We will definitely return to this area by the shores of Lake Huron during warmer months when we can cycle on the rail trails and do more hiking.