Collingwood 2022: Meaford and Thornbury

 

As part of our weekend vacation to the south shores of Georgian Bay with our friends Yim and Murray where we would stay two nights at a vacation property in Blue Mountain, we spent the first day touring Collingwood.  The next day we explored the areas around Meaford and Thornbury.  By pure luck, we happened to be in the vicinity on the day of the Meaford Summer Fest, which featured a sidewalk sale, an art exhibition, a dog parade and a vintage car show.  We arrived in Meaford just as the dog parade was getting started.  I was impressed by how well behaved the dogs were, given their proximity to so many other dogs of different sizes and breeds.  They all trotted calmly and dutifully beside their owners as the parade made a big circle around the main street.  Some of the dogs were decked out in bow ties and handkerchiefs.  The most impressive participant was a majestic Great Dane who looked like he was wearing a tuxedo.  At the end of the dog parade, a few exotic cats were trotted out on a wagon for a mini cat parade.

We wandered into the Meaford shops on and around North Sykes St. which is Meaford’s main street.  We saw some interesting items in the store “Crystal Dragon Collectibles” such as a plaque that says “Alexa, make dinner”, themed monopoly sets including one featuring the characters from Schitt’s Creek, and some vintage kiddie electronics including a Cabbage Patch Kids radio with headphones, and quirky radio with a cartoonish pirate draped over it.  The most fun thing in the store is right at the front.  It is a giant Wonder Woman figure with the face of Gal Gadot who portrays the character in the movies.  I became worried when I caught Rich checking the price tag!  From the sidewalk sale, I bought a shellacked rock with a whimsical cartoonish cow painted on it. It was sold by a woman with an image of a cow tattooed to her arm.  She was from the Love of Brian Farm Sanctuary, which provides a safe space for farm animals to live out their days.  Further along, I found a pretty pumpkin-coloured top that I liked on a sale rack where everything was just $1.  There's no better feeling that stumbling upon a good deal!

The ”Painted Doors” Project hired local artists to create painted murals on wooden doors next to storefronts on North Skyes.  It was fun watching the paintings come to life, starting with a sketch or a base coat of background paint.  We saw the doors in their initial stages when we first walked down one side of the street and then up the other to check out the shops and sidewalk sales.  Before we were ready to leave the main street, we returned one more time to see how far the artists had gotten.  It was too bad we didn’t get to see the final works, but we had a good idea of what was intended for each door based on the progress made by our second visit.

We wandered over to the waterfront to find the Vintage Car Show.  I have always liked the look of older cars as they have more interesting shapes and colours than the currently produced boxy vehicles that are mostly white, black or silver.  I especially admire vintage cars that have round curves, exotic hood ornaments, or the flattened, wider shapes of the old muscle cars.  I don’t know anything about cars, so left to my own devices, I would be telling you about the green one or the red one or the blue one.  Luckily, we were in Meaford with our friend Murray who is a car savant and can name most cars at a glance (sometimes even when covered by a tarp!)  He informed me of the make/model/year of some of the cars that I liked. I was particularly drawn the beautiful Turquoise-hued 1960s Ford pickup truck with matching interior panels and bucket seats and a bulldog hood ornament. There was also an orange 1960s Pontiac Firebird Convertible, a long, sleek black 1960s Ford convertible, an olive green 1960s Chevy Camaro SS convertible with cool air scoops on its hood, and a bright blue 1960s/70s Volkswagon dune buggy.

Being partial to the colour red, I loved the 1960s Chevrolet lowrider with long tail fins that had many interesting features both inside and outside of the vehicle.  On the exterior, the words “Great Balls of Fire” with an image of a fire ball were embossed on one side (a shoutout to Jerry Lee Lewis who recently passed away). Chrome mid-century modern style airplane motifs decorated both sides, a decorative dial was mounted at the top of the passenger door, and a long antenna stretched across the back of the car.  The interior was equally cool with a red leather steering wheel and dashboard, two-toned beige and red leather seats, a die as the knob of the gear shift as well as a decal depicting a pair of dice on the windshield, a radio made to look like an old Wurlitzer jukebox and a gas pedal in the shape of a bare foot. The rear-view mirror is draped with a silk scarf, a piece of fur, a black bra, and a set of fuzzy dice.  A single stiletto shoe lies sideways by the rear window along with what looks like a mini replica of this vehicle.  This car was ready to rock and roll!  I think Jerry would have approved.

My favourite car of this show was the ruby red 1933/34 Ford Hot Rod with the curvy shape, large grille with round headlights mounted on either side, and a hood that opened by lifting it up to the side in a folding manner.  The custom license plate number was the word “Nasty” attached with a chrome figure of a devil or demon thumbing his nose.  Inside the red dashboard nicely contrasts the beige seats. There is a smooth, circular orb at the top of the gear shift, and a skeleton dangling from the rear-view mirror.  The spokes of the steering wheel look like wire whisks and there is a cannister attached underneath the dashboard that might be nitro used for drag-racing?  For a car from the 1930s, this one sure has been pimped up!

Whenever we head towards Thornbury, we always make a point of stopping in at Goldsmith Orchards, which has great frozen fruit pies.  We bought our usual frozen wild blueberry and Thornberry (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and apple) pies to take home with us. This time, we also got a smoked trout quiche.  We cooked it a few days after we got back from the trip and it was delicious, with large chunks of flavourful trout and a light flakey crust.  We will definitely look out for this again on our next visit to the area.

Just past Thornbury on our way back towards Collingwood, we stopped by Penny’s Motel, a recently opened “hipster” boutique motel that marketed itself as a luxury motel (with prices to match).   The beautifully decorated rooms with hardwood floors, commissioned art on the walls, heated bathroom floors, and designer soaps go for $300 per night in the off season.  One can only imagine how much they would cost in the summer, or during ski season.  The motel also features 3 firepits, picnic tables, heated patios, a bocce ball court, hot tub and lounge area, restaurant, bar, room service and possibly complimentary bicycles for use during your stay.  While the concept is interesting, I’m not sure I would want to spend that much money to stay in a motel, albeit a very nice motel.

Before heading out to our dinner reservation later that evening, we visited the Grey and Gold Cidery in order to do some cider tasting.  The ciders are made from heritage apples grown in the Grey County area with only natural and local additives such as sumac, chamomile or wildflowers and have won gold medals in international cider competitions.  We thought it would be a quick stop and therefore only allocated less than an hour before dinner.  We soon regretted this decision when we saw the lovely setup at the cidery.  On a warm summer late afternoon, we were seated outdoors surrounded by apple orchards as Rich, Yim and Murray took part in tasting 8 different alcoholic ciders which they really enjoyed because the ciders were dry and not too sweet.  Given that this is exactly the opposite of what I like to drink, I chose the sparkling non-alcoholic sweet cider instead.  The ciders that the others tasted were very interesting combinations including the “Jin and Juice” which added juniper, wild grapes and sumac to the cider, giving it gin-like accents, citrus taste and an astringent finish.  It was such a pleasant experience sitting out in the sunshine while the owner came repeatedly to pour a new cider to be tasted and the bag of potato chips that we bought as a pre-dinner snack made it all the better.  It would have been nice if we could have stayed longer, but since we had to go, each couple purchased 3 bottles of cider to take home with us.

Whenever we are in the Meaford area, I always want to go to Ted’s Road Range since it is such a unique place with a very eclectic menu.  Accordingly, I had made a reservation for us to go for dinner there.  But then Yim discovered that the high-end butcher shop and French bistro Cote de Boeuf in Toronto had a sister restaurant in the Grey County called Hearts Tavern which served similar menu items.  The four of us had wanted to go to Cote de Boeuf together to eat their signature “cote de boeuf” dish, a 48-oz dry-aged rib steak cooked medium rare and cut into slices, which is meant to be shared by 3-4 people.  It is served with duck-fat potatoes and seasonal vegetables.  So far it had been difficult for us to get a seating since the Toronto restaurant did not take reservations, but the Hearts restaurant did!  We were not able to pre-book an outdoor table but were told that if we waited at the barrel-topped tables inside, they would call us once a patio table came available.  In the meantime, we were able to check out the meats hanging from the butcher shop which are local, grass-fed cuts that are aged for up to long periods of time.

When we saw the outdoor patio surrounded by woodlands, we were glad we waited.  Our waiter recommended that for 4 hungry people, the cote de boeuf meal should be supplemented with some appetizers.  We ordered the smoked fish, the rillette, and the terrine of pork.  When the main course came, it was everything that we hoped for.  The slices of meat were perfectly cooked and seasoned and came with grilled zucchini and fries with mayo.  Not realizing that the cote de boeuf came with vegetables, we also ordered a dish of broccoli, leeks and lentils which ended up being too much food!  And yet, there is always an extra stomach for a good sounding dessert.  Rich and I shared a Chocolate Nemesis truffle cake topped with nuts and a cherry coulis.  It was wonderful to finally have our cote de boeuf dining experience, made all the better by the beautiful setting.

Collingwood 2022: Winter and Summer Visits

Rich and I have visited the towns of Meaford and Thornbury on the shores of Georgian Bay several times in the past.  Yet, until 2022, we never really explored the town of Collingwood, even though it is a mere 33 minutes away from Meaford and only 23 minutes from Thornbury.  Not being skiers, there was never any reason to be around the Blue Mountain area.  While we have ridden our bikes the 26km round trip between Meaford and Thornbury, the 70km to get to Collingwood and back was farther than we wanted to cycle.

In February of 2022, we were invited by our friends Larry and Anita to join them for an extended weekend at their beautiful custom-built log cabin ski chalet on the Osler properties in Blue Mountain.  It was the perfect rustic winter wonderland getaway location.  We spent evenings here enjoying good food and good conversation with our friends, as well as playing ping pong, air hockey, cards and board games.  One evening, Larry serenaded us with his fine fiddling skills.  During the day, our friends could go skiing at their Osler ski club while we explored Collingwood one morning, and watched Larry take part in a ski race the second morning.  In the afternoons, we would get together to go snowshoeing or hiking.

Rich and I first bought snowshoes in the summer of 2021, in preparation for some outdoor fun that coming winter.  We originally tried to purchase them for the winter of 2020/2021, to help us get outdoors during the COVID lockdowns.  But like most other outdoor sports equipment, there was no stock.  After the first big snowfall of 2022, we set out with great ambitions about how far we would trek along the Kay Gardiner Trail, just north of our Toronto condo.  Very quickly, we tamped down our expectations when after the trudge through deep, heavy snow from Yonge Street to Mount Pleasant Road (a mere 1km!) exhausted us and introduced us to muscles on our legs that we were quite unfamiliar with!  I actually asked others on the trail whether this was hard work, or we were just out of shape.  I felt a bit vindicated when every one of them confirmed that this was indeed hard work!

After a few more trips out, we started building up our stamina, so by the time we went on a snowshoe hike with Anita and Larry, we were ready!  There were cross-country skiing and snowshoe trails that were a short distance from our friends’ chalet, so we were able to strap on our snowshoes and walk from there.  Based on our past attempts at snowshoeing, Rich and I found that if we each used one of my adjustable walking poles, it would not only help propel us forward as we walked in the snow, but we could also use it to judge the depth of snowbanks ahead of us. For the most part, we didn’t really need this as long as we stayed on the trodden parts of the paths.  Just prior to the end of our excursion, Rich decided that he wanted to walk on deeper snow.  I guess he did not test the depth with his pole, since next thing we knew, we heard a yell and turned around to see him sunken waist-deep into the snow with his arms flailing about.  We were laughing too hard to get a photo as he struggled to get out again.  The idea that snowshoes will allow you to walk on top of deep snow is obviously a fallacy!

The next afternoon, we were driven to the Castle Glen Trail, a part public/part private trail that led to the ruins of a castle!  Luckily the private part belonged to the Osler ski club of which our friends were members, so we were not trespassing.  There was some debate as to whether we should try to snowshoe again or merely hike.  It was decided that the trail was a bit too steep and difficult to navigate with snowshoes, so hiking was the wiser choice.  In fact, to help the newbies, Larry lent us their clamp-on cleats for better traction.  We were grateful for the “Cramp-ons” as we started to climb up some slopes and were even happier that we did not snowshoe when we arrived at a small stream that we needed to leap across.

The Castle Glen Trail is named after Osler Castle, a 15-room “summer house”, made of stone that featured large windows, tall chimneys and an arched entry way.  It was built in 1894 by lawyer Britton Osler as a place where his wheelchair-bound wife Caroline could come and convalesce in the warmer months.  Unfortunately, she died shortly after the castle was completed and never got to spend her summers here.  Following Britton’s death a few years later, the castle fell into disrepair.  I seem to recall that Sir Henry Pellatt's wife also died shortly after he built Casa Loma, so I never want Rich to build me a castle!  Continuing on from the ruins, we saw some gorgeous winter scenes including snow-capped tree stumps that looked like mushrooms, striped patterns formed by shadows stretched across pristine snow, and the amazing vistas of the Georgian Bay area that we saw at the apex of our climb.

Before entering the forested part of the trail, we walked across a huge, flat, open field covered with snow.  On the way back to the car, while crossing this open field again the wind picked up and swirled around us.  Looking out over the white terrain with the blistering wind, dressed in my hooded parka while propelling myself forward with my hiking pole, I felt like I was Peter Finch in the final scene of the 1973 musical Lost Horizon, trying to get back to Shangri-La.  I actually hummed the Lost Horizon theme song to encourage myself forward, as we trudged across this vast open field.

On the morning that Rich and I visited Collingwood, there was a snow blizzard with bone-chilling temperatures, blistering winds and swirling snow.  We began our visit by driving up Heritage Drive on a long spit to reach Millennium Overlook Park.  Once there, we walked gingerly across the icy parking lot and the shoreline of the park to take a look at the broken ice sheets bobbing in the rough waves of Georgian Bay.  Despite our fears of slipping on the ice or being blown into the waters, we were still appreciative of the rugged beauty of this area in winter.

From where we stood, we could see the towering concrete structure of the Collingwood Terminals grain elevator, built in the 1920s for shipping operations in the harbour and in use until 1993.  It now stands empty, looking stark and barren but with a bold, majestic, Brutalist-styled architecture that appealed to me.  The site is now owned by the town and there have been talks and studies conducted about turning this into some sort of usable space.

Returning to the main drag of Hurontario St., we found the area to be quite deserted.  I guess all the locals had the good sense to stay home.  But even in these adverse conditions, we could see the potential of the shops, eateries, mural and street art, and the historic buildings that housed the town hall and other government services.  We agreed that this was a town that we needed to return to in nicer weather.  I found it interesting that like Toronto and many other cities and towns, Collingwood had a sign with its name on it.  But rather than the entire name, they settled for “CWOOD” which is either a hip nickname for the town, or a cost-saving measure.  In desperate search for shelter, we wandered into a clothing store specializing in hand-knit garments and Rich (of all people!) chatted up the shop owner, pretending to show interest in some bulky sweaters selling for over $400 while we warmed up.

Moving on from the sweater store, we looked for somewhere to have a hot drink and a snack.  We first tried the Mad Dogs Coffee & Vinyl Café which is a very cool, retro shop that sells old LPs, t-shirts, bags and other souvenirs.  Unfortunately, because of COVID restrictions, the main café was closed and there really wasn’t anywhere comfortable to sit. Continuing on, we found the perfect location in the Espresso Post where we chose from a wide selection of pastries, scones and specialty coffees.

We got the chance to return to Collingwood a few months later at the end of July.  My niece had just purchased a vacation property in Blue Mountain and kindly allowed us to stay there for a few days.  The timing worked out such that we completed a 2-day cycling/theatre vacation in Stratford, Ontario and then drove directly to Collingwood early the next morning.  We planned on a half day bike ride to explore the areas a bit further afield from the main drag, as well as scout out some of the longer bicycle trails that started or passed through the town.  We would not have time to ride the trails since we would be meeting our friends Yim and Murray in the afternoon and would spend the rest of the weekend with them exploring Collingwood, Thornbury and Meaford.  It was about a 10-minute car ride from our accommodations to downtown Collingwood.  After dropping off our bags, we drove with our bikes and parked at the Collingwood Arboretum.

The Collingwood Arboretum is a lovely green space with trees, shrubs and flowers and paths for walking and cycling that connect to the Georgian Trail, a 34km bike trail connecting Collingwood to Meaford.  At the entrance of the arboretum is a huge steam boiler belonging to the Smart Brothers Ltd., a farming operation formed in the late 1800s which included orchards, greenhouses, vegetable crops and a cannery.  An interpretive plaque sits in front of the boiler, describing the contributions of the Smart Brothers to the area.  I am always disappointed when arboretums don’t have more varied and interesting trees and this one was of no exception.  But what it does have is a large circular “labyrinth” made of bricks that comes with a description.  The labyrinth should “calm and restore a sense of balance to the body, mind and spirit.”  This apparently should be a personal experience and there is no “correct” way to traverse the labyrinth.  I chose to ride my bicycle slowing around the rings until I became dizzy, but it was fun.

Following the Georgian Trail east along the shoreline, we passed by several signs indicating the presence of snapping turtles in the area.  We did not encounter any live turtles (snapping or otherwise) but did spot a turtle sculpture just off the path, as well as a big congregation of ducks, Canada geese and a swan all milling around a sandy area.  Across the bay, we caught sight of the grain elevator that we saw in the winter and would visit again later during this ride.  In a townhouse-condominium community known as “The Shipyards”, we admired the series of beautiful 3-storey red brick waterfront properties on Wheelhouse Crescent, each with great views of the water.  Just for fun, I googled to see how much one of these homes went for.  I found a listing for a “Seasonal furnished executive rental” that was asking $25,000 per month!!

We road our bicycles up the long pier to get to Millennium Overlook Park and saw many more points of interest than we did when we drove this stretch in the winter.  At the Collingwood Paddling Club, there was a long, ornate planter in the shape of a dragon boat, filled with a variety of colourful flowers.  Further along, we saw a memorial plaque depicting the 1949 launching of the Hochelaga, a bulk carrier built in the Collingwood Shipyards.  There were also multiple examples ship parts that were built in the Shipyards including a steam engine and a steam winch.  We saw a buoy laying on its side and I marveled at how large they actually were, compared to what they look like out in the distance in the water.

This entire area looked so much more scenic and vibrant than when we visited in the winter.  There were boats tied up along the pier and food trucks situated on the grass area next to the Collingwood Terminals with people sitting at picnic tables enjoying the sunshine.  Next to the food trucks, which sold Indian food, fries, poutine and burgers was a cute little “food cart” labeled “Lisa Marie’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice”.  Unfortunately, this little cart was not open since a flavoured shaved ice sno-cone would have really hit the spot on a hot day.  The shaved ice treats come in fruit flavours such as blue raspberry, wild cherry, watermelon and mango, as well as pina colada, cotton candy and root beer. Across the pier, we could see the luxury townhouse condos on the other side of the water.

Continuing east along the shoreline, we arrived at Sunset Point Park and Beach, a beautiful waterfront location with vast green space that includes a playground, volleyball courts, access to walking and biking trails, and a rocky beachfront with a few accessible swimming areas and a rocky pier with a large Inukshuk at the end of it.  We would return to this beach later in the evening with our friends to see if the sunset lived up to the location's name.

As we started to head back west towards our car, we spotted a sign for the “Collingwood Station Museum”, situated in a beautiful old railway depot built in 1873 by the Grand Trunk Railway, which was later bought by Canadian National Railway.  The station was in use until 1955 and in 1965, the town purchased the building to house a museum whose collection includes artifacts depicting Collingwood’s history and early industry including shipbuilding.  We did not have time to go into the museum, so we just admired its pretty architectural design of the building. Surrounding the museum is Veteran’s Circle with many plaques and other memorials to war veterans from various wars.  A bronze sculpture titled “The Last Post”, depicting a soldier blowing a bugle, was erected in 1923 to honour fallen soldiers from WWI.  Plaques were added later to include WWII and the Korean War.  Next to the cenotaph are two lovely metal benches whose backs consist of cut-outs of soldiers on patrol as well as red poppies.  I found a website for a company who makes such benches, and it says that they are “made for Veterans by Veterans”.

When we arrived back to our starting point at the Arboretum, we were notified by our friends via text that they were still over 30 minutes away.  Since we had some more time, we decided to check out a bit of the Georgian Trail heading towards Thornbury.  We had ridden the Georgian Trail from Meaford to Thornbury in the past, but never road the section between Thornbury and Collingwood.  With only about 20 minutes to spare, we got as far as the Georgian Trail Observation Deck, just over half a kilometer away.  The last stretch consisted of a long wooden-planked boardwalk with some interesting wooden benches that looked like puckered lips when you looked at them head-on.  The circular observation deck stretched out into Georgian Bay and from there, we spotted several herons in the marshy sections near the shore.

Returning to our accommodations to pick up our friends, we dropped off our bikes and headed out again to downtown Collingwood.  Having scouted out the locations of interest on our bike ride, we drove around and showed them the Arboretum, Millennium Park and the Station Museum.  Then we walked up and down the main drag and once again, I took note of how much livelier and fun the streets were in the summer, compared to our blizzard trek in February.  There were colourfully painted Muskoka chairs scattered around, and pianos for pedestrians to show off their skills.  We spotted beautiful architecture on top of buildings that we totally missed on our first visit and wandered into more stores.  We had fun in one shop, playing with the giant, fluffy hand puppets and reading the pithy sayings on the tea towels, such as “There’s no crying in Pickleball”.  We found the metal sculpture called “The Last Shift” which is dedicated to the “men and women of Collingwood who contributed their skills during a lifetime of work building ships at The Yard (1883-1986)”.

That evening, we had dinner at the Peruvian restaurant Al Carbón, featuring bespoke cocktails and dishes cooked over a traditional Argentine “gaucho-styled” wood fire grill.  I don’t usually have a cocktail but there were choices that sounded sweet and fruity, which is just up my alley.  I ordered a Strawberry Basil Caipirinha (rum, syrup, lime juice, strawberries, basil, passionfruit and soda) while Rich had a Paloma (tequila, syrup, lime juice, grapefruit, and soda) and Yim picked the Chilcana (Pisco brandy, lime juice, ginger ale, bitters and mint).  For our meal, we ordered and ate “family style” so that we could try a whole bunch of dishes.  We ordered yuca cassava root fries with black truffle cheese and a sauce, various empanadas with different meat fillings, red snapper ceviche, dry rub baby back ribs with house salad, and chicken pieces marinated in exotic sauces.  For dessert, Rich and I shared a dessert empanada with chocolate/hazelnut filling, dolce de leche topped with fresh berries and icing sugar, while Murray went for the Espresso dessert martini.  We dine out so often both in Toronto and during our travels, so we are always looking for unique dining experiences. This one definitely fit the bill.

After dinner, we drove out to Sunset Beach to watch the sun go down, and the bright red glow in the horizon was everything that we had hoped for.  The aptly named beach lived up to the expectations instilled by its moniker.  The only people with a better view than us may have been the party boat that sailed by.  But with the winds picking up, it was too cold for us to stand there for too long, so we called it a night with this perfect ending to our day.

Having now experienced Collingwood in both the winter and the summer, we definitely recommend this town as somewhere to spend some time at--and we don't even ski!  With the proximity to Blue Mountain, those who do would love it even more.  But hopefully the skiers would take some time to visit Collingwood itself, rather than just stay on the ski hills.

Stratford 2022: Day 2 - Cycling and St. Marys

Our first day in Stratford was spent walking around the town, visiting the major art gallery, and watching a musical that evening.

On our second day, Rich and I headed out for an early morning bicycle ride which would allow us to explore the part of the city on the north side of the Avon River.  Indulging one of our favourite pastimes, we traversed up and down residential streets by the water, looking for homes with interesting architectural features or garden art. Once again, William Shakespeare’s influence over the city is apparent as we saw a large sculpture of the Bard in front of one of the houses.

The scenery was beautiful as we rode along the Avon River, passing by parks with benches, bridges, and homes with great views of the water.  Along one path, we could see the backyards of the houses.  One quirky home in particular had all sorts of neat sculptures on the lawn and a (dyslexic?) sign tacked onto a tree trunk warning “BEWARE OF GOD”.

Continuing west along the north shore of the river and wiggling up and down the side streets, we rode by St James Anglican Church and stopped at the adjoining memorial gardens dubbed “God’s Holy Acre”. This serene space acts as cremation grounds where loved ones’ ashes can be sprinkled around the rose bushes.  Memorial walls surround the little garden and benches are affixed with commemoratory plaques.  One bench boasts the name of Eric Donkin, a beloved actor at the Stratford Festival best known for roles in the Mikado and HMS Pinafore, who passed away in 1998.

Before long, we had reached Shakespeare Gardens, which was developed by Stratford businessman R.Thomas Orr in 1936.  Previously we had only passed by the entrance of the garden at Huron Street, just after crossing the bridge.  We were happy to finally explore the entire area. The garden was built on the site of the old 19th Century Dufton Wollen Mill that burned down in 1919, with its 65-foot chimney as the only landmark still remaining from those times.  Created to honour the works of William Shakespeare, the garden originally contained only those plants and herbs that were mentioned in the Bard’s plays, such as fennel, tarragon and rosemary.  Now over 60 varieties of flora fill the space, including flowers, grasses, shrubbery and trees, as well as nicely maintained lawns, a path along the river and a bridge to a small island.  A pretty pavilion is a popular setting for weddings.

At the corner of Douglas St. and Huron St. is a pretty house with an ornate gingerbread-styled porch that has a huge portrait of Queen Anne Boleyn hanging underneath.  We had driven by this house before and always admired it.  This time, being on our bikes, we thought we could stop quickly in front of the house for a closer look and maybe a photo.  Just as we approached the house, the owner came out and I thought she had come out to shoo away the gawkers.  Instead, we ended up having a lovely extended chat with her.  She told us about how she acquired the portrait of Anne Boleyn from a friend in Toronto who owned a restaurant that had closed.  I wondered whether this was the Anne Boleyn Pub on Richmond Street that was open for less than a year in 2017, and that Rich and I actually ate at one day while attending the Toronto International Film Festival.

Crossing the bridge at Huron St., we checked out several interesting shops on York St. which were a bit off the main drag that we explored the day before.  Being a vintage watch enthusiast and collector, there was no way that Rich would bypass a shop named “Antiques in Time”.  Sadly, there were no watches that were of interest to him, as the shop seemed more catered towards clocks.  There was an Art Deco-styled clock mounted on a marble base that included figures of a woman and her dog, an entire display case stuffed full of old alarm clocks, and a religious-themed clock shaped like a cross with images of Jesus on each arm.  Gregory Connor Antiques was a more typical antique shop with an eclectic mixture of items for sale.  Rich liked the 19th Century Japanese print depicting a sea battle between Japan and China, while I took a serious look at some pewter napkin rings with 3-D animals attached to them such as a lion and a bird. I like collecting napkin rings, but these were a bit out of my price range for impulse buying. We both liked the multi-purpose gaming table made of wood with marquetry inlays to form chess/checkers and backgammon boards.  To end off our morning, we had a milkshake at Jenn & Larry’s Ice Cream Shoppe (which rhymes suspiciously with Ben & Jerry's ... coincidence??).

In the afternoon, we drove to the nearby town of St. Marys (no apostrophe!) which was about 20 minutes south-west of Stratford. St Marys is nicknamed “Stone Town” due to the numerous limestone buildings and homes in the area.  Even the historic Water Tower built in 1899 has a limestone base with a steel tank.  This water tower is no longer in active use but is still considered one of the town’s major tourist attractions. The gorgeous 5-storey Romanesque Town Hall was built in 1891 using local limestone with contrasting red sandstone to form checkerboard patterns on its facade.  It features a tower with lantern and flagpole perched on top on one side and a round turret on the other.  The four-storied Gothic Revival building on Water Street was built as an Opera House around 1879, acting as a social focal point with performances of Shakespearean plays, musical comedies and vaudeville shows.  Another limestone gem, it has elements of a Medieval castle with battlements across the top and mini turrets on each end.  By 1907, it had been converted into a Flour Mill and in 1987, the Lions Club bought the building, turning it into a commercial space on the ground floor with residential units above. The St. Marys Public Library is considered a “rough-cut” limestone building surrounded by a wall of the same material.  Constructed around 1904, it is a Carnegie Library with the conventional Greek temple that is common to many libraries funded by philanthropist/robber-baron Andrew Carnegie.  Just outside the library is a stone and bronze sculpture depicting a stack of books.

Even the downtown strip has some stunning architecture.  The building that used to house Andrews Jeweller was constructed in 1884 in the “Second Empire” style and was designated a heritage site in 2008.  Built with red brick in the front and limestone on the side and rear, the building features a large clock that is 4.5 feet in diameter, flanked by ornate wrought iron fencing.  The historic plaque affixed to the building indicates that the building retains its original exterior and interior features.  But when we passed by, the interior looked like it was being renovated (or hopefully restored).  It will be interesting to see what it looks like once the restoration is done.  Other buildings on the main drag still retain decorative elements from their heydays including the building that currently houses Dunny’s Source for Sports.  For a small town, St.Marys has many fun shops to wander into including clothing, knickknack and craft stores, bakeries and coffee shops.  After a hot day of walking around, we stopped by the Snapping Turtle Coffee Roasters for cold fruity herbal ice teas.  This was a really cool space and it was too bad that they were closing soon, so we only had a few minutes to rest before we had to take our drinks and go.

Another historic highlight of St. Marys is the Mill Race, running from Trout Creek, under the Victoria Bridge to flow into the Thames River.  A mill race is a channel that carries a swift current of water used to drive a mill wheel.  This particular one was a limestone canal built in the 1846 to support the saw and grist mills of the Ingersoll family.  While the mill buildings are gone, the mill race survives, along with a Mill Wheel that dates back to circa 1910.

Our final stop in St. Mary’s was the Train Station Gallery, which is exactly as it sounds—a historic train station which still is used as a VIA Rail stop, while the building housing the station has been repurposed as an art gallery.  St.Marys Station originally supported the Grand Trunk Railway which ran from 1852-1923.  To save the building from being demolished, the town stepped in to save and restore it.  St. Marys entered into an agreement with VIA Rail to operate a functioning VIA station with a ticket sales office and waiting area, while using the rest of the space to host rotating art exhibitions as well as a gallery boutique.  Past shows have featured paintings, ceramics, posters, photographs and more.  According to the website, the gallery was supposed to be open until 4:30pm on the day that we were there.  We rushed over hoping to make a quick tour of the exhibits only to find the doors already locked at 4:15.  Disappointed, we peeked through the gallery windows to get a sample of the art, and then walked around to look at the old railway station and train tracks.

As we only had half a day to explore St Marys, we did not get to see and do everything that we wanted to.  In addition to just missing the open hours of the art gallery/train station, we also never got to the museum (another limestone gem), the quarry turned into a swimming pool or any of the hiking and biking trails in the area.  This quaint little town definitely warrants a return trip.

Returning to Stratford for dinner, we had reservations for a South African restaurant called Braai House. We chose this restaurant because its menu was so different and exciting.  It was actually difficult to choose from all the interesting sounding options, so we will need to come back to try some more.  We started off with some flat bread that was freshly baked, possibly in the large wood-burning pizza oven that we saw in the open kitchen.  Then for appetizers, Rich and I shared the Bobotie, which were curried beef and pork samosas with duck egg custard and seasonal chutney, and the Stone Fruit, consisting of a seasonal salad with summer squash, peaches, rooibos, and almond dukkah (combination of herbs, nuts and spices) which was refreshing and delicious.

For main course, I chose the sliced duck breast (served medium rare as I like it) in a peri-peri sauce with vetkeok (South African fried bread) and brassica (vegetable in the cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower family – I think I got broccolini.  Could you tell that I had to Goggle to figure out what was in my meal?  Rich selected the Elgin Pizza which had a herb cream sauce, biltong (lean meat that is salted and cut into strips – similar to beef jerky ), smoked apple and caramelized onion as toppings.  Rich and our friends Glen and Christiane who we were dining with, shared a bottle of Bruce Jack, a wine “hand-crafted” in the South African Western Cape area and described as a Pinotage Malbec.

There were three options for dessert and between us and our friends, we got to sample all of them.  I ordered the Koeksister which were like profiteroles filled with chocolate and macadamia, with a raspberry sauce.  Rich had the Malva Pudding made with almond, apricot and amarula (fruity liquor) while Glen and Christiane shared a Summer Fruit mousse cake made from charred strawberry, mango honey and cashews.

It was interesting to note that on the menu, the appetizer list was titled “Sparks”, the mains “Combustion” and the desserts “Embers”.  This is because Braai House focuses on “open-fire cooking” and “Braai” is South African for grilling. All in all, this was a very fun and unique experience and a nice way to wrap up our two-day getaway.

Stratford 2022: Day 1 - Walk Around Town & Theatre

My husband Rich and I have been to Stratford, Ontario many times over the years in order to watch plays at the Stratford Festival, but until this 2-day trip, we had never explored the area east of the Festival Theatre!  We were delighted to find that there is a beautiful park and an excellent art gallery if you continue to walk past the theatre. This trip came together quite quickly when our friends Glen and Christiane asked us if we would like to go to Stratford with them to watch a show, do some cycling and explore around the town.  We agreed to watch the classic  Kander and Ebb musical Chicago, so I was tasked to purchase tickets while Christiane would find us an appropriate location to stay, which ideally would be close to the theatre and have the space to store our four bicycles inside overnight.  I obviously had the easier job and quickly secured us fairly good seats for a Wednesday evening show.  Christiane found us the perfect 2-bedroom/2-bathroom house rental that was just a few blocks from the Festival Theatre.  We agreed to meet for breakfast on Wednesday morning at Madelyn’s Diner which is just on the outskirts of downtown Stratford.

Just east of Stratford, we stopped at the old abandoned Fryfogel Tavern and Inn on Line 34.  We had passed by on our previous trips and always wondered about its history. This time there was a new totem-like wooden carving in front of the building that I wanted to take a closer look at.  Having finally taken the time to stop, we were now able to read about the history of the inn. Since 1828, this site has been the location of a popular stopping point for travelers.  The original log cabin was run by Sebastian Fryfogel, thought to be the first settler in the Perth region.  This particular brick and stone building was erected in 1844 and is one of the few examples of Upper Canadian Neo-Classical architecture left in the area.  Next to the wooden carving are the gravestones of some of the Fryfogel family including one for Sebastian who died in 1873 at age 82.  Back behind the inn is the Fryfogel Native Plant Restoration Arboretum, a 5 acre property being restored to reflect the trees, shrubs and plants that existed during the Fryfogel family’s time here.

While I was leisurely inspecting all the plants and flowers around the Arboretum, Rich had wandered behind the inn to look at the river stones on the back wall.  As I went to join him, a construction worker popped her head out of the back door and asked if we wanted to come in for a quick tour.  It turns out that the interior rooms are being renovated by the heritage society of the area, with the intent of turning the building into an event space and museum with artifacts from the area dating back to the era of the inn’s heyday.  Although the walls were stripped of paint and wallpaper and cracks and patches could be seen, you could see the potential of the space when looking at the hardwood floors, solid wood door frames and bannisters and the built-in shelves and fireplace mantels.  There were already some historic pieces that would fill the museum including some clothing, pottery, chairs and paintings.

One of the most fascinating rooms was on the second floor where an incredible discovery was found by one of the restorers while peeling off the old wallpaper.  Underneath was a beautiful fresco of Niagara Falls painted right into the wet plaster, including a painted “wooden frame” surrounding the image in trompe d’oeil style.  Next to the painting is a photograph depicting the man who discovered the painting.  As it turns out, the Fryfogel Tavern and Inn has been open for public tours all summer long, but we just did not know about it (and there was no sign outside indicating this).  It was serendipitous that we were able to have this wonderful experience.  When we asked whether there would be indoor plumbing in the completed space, we were told that the $150K needed to put in a septic tank was not in the budget, so for now, they would settle for high-end porta-potties.  We contributed to the donation box on the way out to support the restoration efforts.  Looking at their Facebook page at the end of August, we saw images of the impressive progress that they have made in just over a month.

As we were approaching Madelyn’s and just before reaching Fryfogel, our friends texted us to say they were caught in traffic and running late.  This gave us the opportunity to explore the Inn and grounds.  Just as we were leaving to resume our drive to Madelyn’s, we got another text asking why we were frequenting a tavern at 9 in the morning?!?  I was bewildered for a few seconds as I wondered how they knew?  As it turns out, they had just driven by and spotted our car. 

Madelyn’s Diner is a quaint old-styled diner that offers hearty breakfast options.  I had an omelet with Swiss cheese and asparagus with tomato instead of fries and a side of sausage.  But the real reason that Rich and I go to Madelyn’s every time we are in Stratford is because of their butter tarts, which in my opinion are some of the best available anywhere.  How people prefer their butter tarts vary greatly with some liking them sweeter or more liquidy than how I like mine.  The crust is also really important as I prefer a flakey crust as opposed to a more shortbread-like crust which I find to be dry.  Rich’s major contention (which has become a running joke) is to never have raisins in his butter tarts (or cookies), although he accepts them in other breads or desserts.  We always order the pecan butter tarts from Madelyns and often put in takeout orders with any of our friends who happen to be headed to Stratford.

After breakfast, we drove our two cars to the rental apartment where we could park and unload our bicycles before heading out for the day.  I had planned out a rough itinerary for our first day where we would explore the town by foot before having dinner and watching the show.  The following day, each couple would set out on a cycling excursion (since our riding styles and capabilities differed so vastly) and then meet up again to visit the neighbouring town of St. Mary’s before dinner.  I split the exploration of the town into two walks with a rest break back at the apartment in between.   The morning walk would allow us to check out the houses around our apartment before we visited Art in the Park, which runs every Wednesday and Saturday in the summer.  Following this, we would finally head east along the Avon River to explore Confederation Park and the Gallery Stratford.

We saw some interesting houses on our morning walk including several with circular gazebos of varying sizes.  The gorgeous mansion at 210 Water St. dates back to 1907 and is in the Colonial Revival style.  It has massive Ionic columns supporting a triangular pediment with a balcony surrounded by ornate wrought-iron railing underneath that would be perfect for the arms raised “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” scene in the musical Evita (I relate everything to musicals!).  There is also a large fountain centred in front of the building.  Continuing to walk along the Avon River, we saw some pretty views including the bridge leading to Tom Patterson Island.  At one point, a large flock of geese slowly marched across Lakeside Drive while the oncoming cars helplessly waited for the procession to complete its crossing.

Stratford Art in the Park is an outdoor art exhibition and sale of arts and crafts by Canadian artists that runs every Wednesday and Saturday from May through September.  It is held on the green space in North Shore Park, abutting Lakeside Drive between North Street and Front Street.  Presumably the number of artists would be larger on a Saturday, but even on Wednesday, we found a nice variety of works.  In addition to multiple artists displaying paintings, there were several woodworkers selling bowls and carving boards with intricate marquetry, a jewelry maker, stained glass artist and photographer.  Rich and I were particularly intrigued by the works by Susan Lapp who mixes painting with collage to create vibrant, whimsical depictions girls in motion in her “Happy Girls” series.  I especially liked the ones where the collage extended beyond the inner “canvas” and onto the outer mat.

Continuing east along the south shore of the Avon River, we reached Confederation Park, which very appropriately is nestled in the intersection between Romeo Street South and Christopher Plummer Drive.  This is a beautiful green space with floral gardens and a decorative bridge with the phrase “Love and Hope Grow Here” painted on the side.  The bridge doesn’t really go anywhere but provides a nice overhead view of the park.  Further on, there is a small man-made waterfall and a plaque indicating the spot that a time capsule was buried in 2017, to be opened in 2067.  The plaque is surrounded by bricks with the words “Metropolitan Canton Block” engraved on them.  These blocks seem to date back to the early 1920s and are often found for sale on eBay.

It is ironic that the description on its website describes Gallery Stratford as “one of the longest running public galleries in the region dating back to 1967” and yet we had not known about its existence until this trip.  The gallery is located immediately north of Confederation Park and is surrounded by the green space of the Upper Queen’s Park and North Shore Park.  Even before reaching the actual building, we encountered the first exhibit nestled within the trees leading up to the gallery.  Talia Shipman’s “Turquoise Period” consisted of beautiful photographs blown up to poster size, each with a turquoise-hued element within the image.  The photographs were taken through Shipman’s travels over 12 countries and 50 cities.

Gallery Stratford is housed in the old Water Works pump house, built in 1883 in the Queen Anne style.  In the exhibit titled “No Humans in Sight”, Nathan Carson applies brightly-coloured dollar-store paints and collaged scrap material on salvaged paper, then rubs, scratches and erases portions to create whimsical, almost childlike depictions of domestic and wild animals.

The other major exhibition inside the gallery is titled “Dad Space”, a joint venture by Jason McLean and Ross Bell, where Bell creates sculptural objects which McLean then decorates with pop-art drawings and graffiti scribbles.  The “dad-centric” objects include sports equipment including baseball bats and gloves, boxing gloves and helmets and a totem-like structure with protruding limbs that have hockey gloves hanging on them.  Other objects include a snowshoe, bicycle, guitar and case, a radio, lawn chairs, and a rotating strobe light.

There is more outdoor art on the huge grounds surrounding Gallery Stratford, including graffiti-like paintings on the sides of metal storage bins.  Several trees are adorned with bright red knitted works and various large sculptures are scattered around.

Downtown Stratford is shaped like a kite with Downie Street traversing down its centre axis and tail, while the beautiful, 19th Century Queen Anne Revival styled City Hall building is located at the top point. The city’s ties to William Shakespeare are prevalent not just in the names of the city, river and surrounding streets.  Even an electrical box electrical box is decorated with images of the Bard and his plays.  There are some interesting establishments along the main drag including the Alley Cat Café, which allows stray rescue cats to roam around while you drink your coffee (for those who find this concept appealing – not for me!!).  We spotted the “featured” cat of the month lounging on its bed by the front window.  I enjoyed sitting in the plush shoe chair at White-Balmer Shoes and chuckled at the cute pun of the cheese shop named “The Milky Whey”. 

One of the most unique businesses in downtown Stratford is the tiny “Little Prince Micro-Cinema”, which has only 13 seats. It holds the record as the world’s smallest “purpose-built” movie theatre.  The lobby features an old-styled ticket booth, lounge area and a concession stand that offers popcorn, cotton candy, pop and as of recently, liquor.  The Little Prince is used mostly as an event space that can be booked for private parties or corporate events in the concession lounge area or for private film screenings in the Art Deco-styled theatre area that is covered with old movie posters.  The private screenings allow you to select from a growing catalogue of over 1000 movies and include unlimited popcorn and soft drinks.  Public screenings of recent and older movies run throughout the week, costing $12 for just the movie or $20 for the movie plus unlimited popcorn and soft drinks.  Gourmet versions of popcorn and cotton candy are also available for sale online.

Prior to our show at the Stratford Festival Theatre, we had dinner at Bijou, a contemporary French bistro featuring “farm-to-table” local cuisine.  The menu was separated into small, medium and large dishes. Rich selected an appetizer of English peas, mint, chili, lemon, egg and parmesan, followed by a Lake Erie walleye (pickerel) with marinated black beans, peas, cured tomato, olives and a romesco (red pepper) sauce.  I would have loved the fish but really dislike hard beans.  I asked if the beans could be substituted for another vegetable but was refused by the chef who claimed the beans were totally integral to the dish.  This turned out not to be the case, but not taking the chance, I ordered two medium dishes instead.  First was marinated trout with avocado, tomato, cucumber, summer corn and salsa.  My second dish was a mushroom risotto with maitake mushrooms, blueberry glaze, pistachio and gruyere cheese.  The risotto was tasty, but I wish there were larger chunks of mushroom in it, rather than just mushroom flavouring in the rice.

We ended our busy first day in Stratford at the Festival Theatre to watch a revival of the 1975 musical Chicago, written by John Kander and Fred Ebb.  Chicago is a satire on corruption in the justice system, and how celebrity, infamy (“razzle/dazzle”) and interest from the media impact the pursuit of justice.  Despite trying to get her sad-sack, loser husband Amos to take the fall, femme fatale Roxie Hart lands in prison where she crosses path with the reigning “celebrity criminal”, Velma Kelly.  Using her wiles and hutzpah, Roxie quickly becomes the new favourite before eventually being usurped by the next “flavour of the month”. 

Rich and I have seen this old standard several times over the years and know it quite well.  I was therefore not as excited about watching it as I usually am when experiencing a musical that I had not seen before.  However, I was intrigued by an innovative new opening for show, which depicts Roxie killing her lover in a fit of passion, and the subsequent police investigation that sends her to prison.  In contrast to the sensual Bob Fosse choreography of previous renditions of the show, this sequence had a more frantic energy that reminded me of the Runyonland opening of Guys and Dolls.

The musical is structured like a vaudeville show with each character being introduced like a performer in the next act of the revue.  This revival plays up the vaudeville metaphor even more than previous versions that we have seen.  Amos is dressed in a long floppy coat that channels the trope of the sad clown. When one of the “Six Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail” is executed, despite ironically being the only one to claim to be innocent, this is choreographed by having her perform an aerial silk rope routine, culminating in her falling upside down from up high.  In previous versions of the musical, this same scene is often depicted simply with the character slowly climbing up a ladder and falling out of sight off stage. 

So, we did get enjoyment out of the fresh take on an old classic, and I still loved the performance of my favourite song from the show—Cell Block Tango.  Watching it must make every husband or boyfriend uneasy, each time the women growl “He had it coming!”.