Ottawa 2022: Drive through North-East Ontario

We have planned several overnight driving trips within our province in order to take advantage of the Ontario Staycation Tax Credit that will let us claim up to $2000 of accommodation expenses when traveling within Ontario during 2022.  This would result in a tax credit of up to $400 for a family.  Our first trip was to Ottawa during the annual Tulip Festival in May, where in addition to checking out the beautiful flowers, we would cycle the extensive bike trails along the Rideau Canal and Rideau River.  We also planned a leisurely drive to get to Ottawa, with several interesting stops along the way.

Heading out in the late morning, our first planned stop was just over 3 hours east of Toronto at Seeley’s Bay, where we intended to look for some lunch.  But only 1.5 hours later, as we were passing Coburg, I realized that I was hungry and did not want to wait several more hours before eating. We were just coming up to The Big Apple, a roadside orchard and general store with touristy attractions including a petting zoo, mini putt, ping pong tables, and most notably, the eponymous “Big Apple” sculpture.

The last time we visited The Big Apple was in 2017 when we stopped for a muffin and a coffee before continuing on to our destination. Rich paid for the bill, then being the honest soul that he is, went back to the cashier to let her know what she had forgotten to charge him for the coffee.  “It’s OK sir, it’s Seniors Tuesday and the coffee is free” she replied with a smile.  Rich walked away perplexed as to what that had to do with him, when it suddenly dawned him.. the young cashier thought he was a senior, although he was only 53 at the time!  Instead of feeling lucky that he received a free coffee, Rich walked away feeling insulted and continued to complain about the indignity for years to come.

Now in 2022 and at age 58, Rich is accustomed to receiving and even outright requesting the seniors discount at places like Shoppers Drug Mart.  So when we returned this time to the Big Apple, Rich was miffed when he did not receive the free coffee or the 10% discount on Seniors Tuesday!  How times have changed!  We each ate an apple-based treat and shared a cup of apple cider, which sated my hunger.  We also bought a loaf of the famous “Apple Bread”, a bag of apple pie flavoured caramel popcorn and a bottle of non-alcoholic tart cherry-apple cider to consume while we stayed in Ottawa. 

Our next stop was indeed Seeley’s Bay but other than a general store, there turned out not to be much to see there, especially on a cool, grey day that was not conducive to exploring.  Just as well that we did not wait until arriving here before eating something.  The highlight of the stop came as we continued east on Hwy 15.  We passed by some fabulous folk art on the lawn of a roadside establishment advertising custom wooden signs and memorial plaques.  I requested that Rich make a U-Turn so that I could have a closer look. First there was what looked like a giant weather vane topped with an orange Vespa on which several memorial plaques were hung.  Next to the this were several humanoid figures riding various bicycle and motorcycle-like contraptions made from spare parts.

We had better luck in Lyndhurst, which is a pretty little town with various interesting features including one of the oldest bridges in Ontario dating back to 1856.  The curved, 3-span Lyndhurst Bridge was built with local field stones and has one lane, requiring traffic in both directions to take turns crossing.  Next to the bridge is Furnace Falls, named after the blast furnace from the first iron smelter in Canada that used to reside on this site.  From our vantage point, we did not see much evidence of any falls but there was rapidly swirling water flowing towards the first of many locks that we would see en route to Ottawa.  We also found a whimsical sculpture of a turkey made from rusted farm implements.

Continuing along Lyndhurst Road, we came across the “Plaid House”, a creative endeavour by the Lyndhurst Rejuvenation Committee completed in 2015.  We found out later that there is actually a Lyndhurst Art Trail which provides a self-guided tour that showcases works of local artisans.  We need to return another time to check this out. We also saw several funny signs including “An Old Goat lives here with his Chick”, and “Warning – Bad Ass Dog On Duty”.  The people of Lyndhurst seem to have a good sense of humour!

Our next town en route to Ottawa acted as a throwback to the theme of our 2021 Europe in Ontario road trip of south-west Ontario, where we incorporated stops at the road signs of little towns and communities named after major  European cities.  In most cases, the communities consisted of a single street with a general store or sometimes only the road sign and nothing else in sight!  On this trip, we made a point to pass through Athens, Ontario and were pleasantly surprised at the relative size and vibrancy of this town.

The main street stretched for multiple blocks with many shops/restaurants, as well as a bank, hardware store, pharmacy, auto repair shop, several churches and even a Chinese Restaurant and a Masonic Lodge.  The post office is housed in a beautiful 19th Century red brick building with ornate copper roofing.   In a small parkette in the middle of town, there was a war memorial as well as what looked like two grave markers with plaques honoring immigrants from Scotland and farmers that came from the British Isles.

But most notably, Athens Ontario proudly displays some impressive murals spanning the sides of its buildings that convey the history of the town.  One mural depicts some of the old shops that used to grace the main street, while another shows the townspeople boating, fishing and picnicking out in nature.  But look closely for a surprise!  Three of the picnicking group are drawn in the exact poses of the figures in Edouard Manet’s iconic painting “Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe”, except that the female figure is fully clothed and a fourth figure with a plate of sausages sits next to her.  Across from the Post Office, a large mural honours Joshua Bates, the founder of Farmsville, which became Athens.  Bates donated the land, built the first schools, churches, general store and mill, and become the first postmaster.

Recently many of the murals have been refreshed or repainted to repair damage due to aging and weathering. Shortly after leaving Athens and continuing north-east towards our next stop of Smith Falls, we passed a alpaca farm where multiple alpacas perked up their heads and looked curiously at us when we stopped for a photo.

The large water tower in Smiths Falls overlooks the quick-flowing current of the Rideau River as it flows away from small man-made rapids created as part of the Rideau Canal lock system.  Given the name of the town, one would expect something more substantial, but the falls are still picturesque to see at sunset.  A mural depicts some of the movies that used to be shown at the old Capitol Theatre including Casablanca, Robin Hood, The Thin Man and Zorro.  The historic Hotel Rideau dates back to 1901 and is currently being renovated and converted into a luxury rental apartment offering 25 suites for long term rental.  As it was getting late, we considered stopping for dinner at Smith Falls.  But it was mid-week and all the restaurants along the main drag were empty, making them seem less appealing.  So we decided to press on to our last stop of Merrickville, where Rich had scouted out a potential restaurant for us. 

Merrickville turned out to be a great little town with lots of interesting sites to explore and some cute shops.  We plan to return some other time when we have more time to spend here, but for this trip, we only had enough time to have dinner and wander around briefly.  We came across the Baldachin Inn, a quaint hotel whose building dates back to 1860 and was once the largest department store between Montreal and Chicago.  In addition to accommodations, the inn features an elegant dining room, the cozy Harry MacLean’s Pub named after the building’s developer, and a 6000 square-foot Baldachin Ballroom.  We peered into the window of the main dining room, which is decorated with stained glass windows and a stunning Art Nouveau styled lamp.  We agreed that it would be fun to stay here one day.

For dinner, Rich had researched and selected the Goose & Gridiron, a large restaurant/pub in an old 19th Century stone building that sounded fun to dine at.  More importantly, it was open late since many of the restaurants in small towns close early on weekdays.  The interior décor was architecturally interesting, including a patterned tin ceiling with pretty lamp fixtures whose motifs reminded me of Tiffany lamps.  There was a stone fireplace and various plaques depicting both the goose and the gridiron. I'm not sure why the plaques also indicate the year “1717 AD”, since the sign outside the restaurant specifies that the building dates back to circa 1856 (which makes more sense historically).  The food was good and the portions were large, which was great since we hadn’t eaten since the Big Apple earlier that morning and we were starving!

Following dinner, we took a quick walk around the town and came across more locks on the Rideau River, similar to the ones we saw in Smith Falls, but without the waterfalls.  Instead we found smooth, calm water on the river, which started to glisten as the sun set. A sign by the locks describes the 202km (126 miles) of waterway from Kingston to Ottawa, made navigable by 47 locks grouped in 22 stations with their associated dams, including the ones at Smiths Falls and Merrickville. The Rideau Canal was built between 1826-1832 and provided the British army a safe route to transport supplies to its garrisons.

Blockhouses were built as defensive structures along the waterway and the one in Merrickville still stands as a National Historic Site of Canada.  Merrickville was already an established village since 1794 with thriving industries in lumber and wool and therefore a logical target for invaders.  This blockhouse was built in 1833 with a basement and ground floor made of stone, the upper level made from wood covered with tin, and the entire structure surrounded by a ditch.  During the summer months, the blockhouse is open to the public for tour.  Across from the locks and blockhouse are the Merrickville Ruins, which are the abandoned foundations of the 1844 woolen mill that ran from 1844-1954 before 2 fires led to its closure.  Also found on the site is an old water turbine for generating electrical power from the river that was in use from 1915-1990s.

We finally arrived at our rental apartment in Ottawa around 9:00pm.  As we were planning a cycling vacation and brought our bicycles with us, we looked for accommodations that would address several factors.  First we needed on-site parking for our car.  Secondly, we wanted a place where we could bring our bikes inside the premises rather than leaving them locked to the bike rack on our car overnight.  Finally we wanted easy access to the bike trails that followed the Rideau Canal and Rideau River.  Luckily using Booking.com, we found the perfect 1 bedroom apartment just a few blocks east of the entrance to the Rideau River Eastern Pathway, a smooth, paved, and relatively flat trail that follows the Rideau River and connects to other trails leading to Dows Lake where the Tulip Festival is held.  The apartment had a parking spot right in front of its entrance and a large foyer that allowed us ample space to keep our bikes safe overnight.  It is catered towards short-term rentals since entry was via an electronic keypad whose code was sent to us by email a few weeks earlier.  This meant there was no need for exchange of keys or for the owner to await our arrival.  We would definitely rent this place again the next time we plan a cycling trip in Ottawa.