Elora-Fergus Road Trip 2022: Elora

Elora is less than a 10 minute drive from Fergus where we spent the previous day.  The two towns are associated to such a degree they share the same sculpture tour, amongst other things.  Elora is larger, glitzier and more touristy than Fergus and this showed in the volume and complexity of its contributions to the annual outdoors Elora Sculpture Project, relative to those in Fergus.  Several of the works are found in the green space where Mill St. and Metcalf St. meet. Titled “Big Daisy”, multiple mirrors are splayed in all directions that might represent the petals of a flower.  It was fun trying to capture our images in the reflections.  The high-fired clay bust of a woman’s head is called “Struggle” although the expression on her face seems to reflect joy or relaxation more than struggle.  Two other sculptures are more aptly and cleverly titled.  The punny “Hanging With the Buoys” features of series of colourful vintage buoys while “Heart of a Champion” depicts two stylized horse heads and manes fit together to form a heart.  Further along Metcalf and Geddes Streets are found the clay figure called  “Oracle” and the hilarious bronze of a dried-up decaying banana peel titled “Empty Banana”.  Finally, we found the pretty cherry wood carving of a female figure called “We Are the Calm”. 

There were more sculptures on the tour but we did not get to them all.  Instead we spotted a few permanent works.  The most impressive is the 15-foot bronze sculpture of a figure bent over and pointing down in a scolding pose at whoever happens to be standing underneath.  The sculpture is called “A Question of Who’s In Charge”, created by Scott McNichol in 2002. The accompanying plaque indicates that the work was sponsored by a group of artist activists who call themselves “Village Idiot Productions”.  The second permanent sculpture is found high atop one end of the bridge on Metcalf Street that spans the Grand River.  Unveiled in May 2021, the work is created using salvaged materials from the original 1952 steel truss Badley Bridge that was demolished in 2019 when an environment assessment deemed it no longer structurally sound.  Once of historical significance as the only crossing of the Grand River, this sculpture is a fitting way to commemorate the old bridge.

One of the highlights of this trip was the high tea at Wild Tart in Elora that we had scheduled for what turned out to be our first day.  Given its popularity, I had to reserve our spot weeks in advance, which added to constraints of which days we would pick for the vacation, in our attempts to avoid rain.  Hoping for nice weather, I had booked a table out in the gorgeous garden patio and luckily, it was a beautiful, albeit hot summer day. We had a choice of different high tea menus, each coming with a refillable choice of hot or iced tea. Rich, Yim and I all chose the “Savoury Afternoon Tea” which came in the classic 3-tiered high tea stand.  There was a selection of crust-less finger sandwiches consisting of smoked salmon and lemon cream cheese, egg salad with celery, truffle and pickled onion, cucumber and cream cheese, and peameal bacon with aioli.  On the bottom tier were two savoury scones that came with a trio of toppings including herb butter, raspberry jam and Chantilly cream.  The highlight came on the top tier which offered a beautiful selection of savoury bites.  There was the sausage roll with pickled mustard and maple glaze, goat cheese and tomato ragout on a basil chip, smoked trout rillette with sourdough toasts, cranberries and pickled onion, and my favourite – the curried chicken terrine with spiced apricot, cilantro and pistachio.  

Murray opted for the “Classic Afternoon Tea” so instead of the savoury choices, he had a set of pastries including baked lemon cheesecake with strawberry jelly, mango lime mousse with passionfruit glaze, coconut and matcha macaron, and a grapefruit tartlet with ginger cream.  For choice of tea, given how hot it was, three of us chose a fruity iced tea while Murray preferred hot tea.  Rich and I both selected the “Southbrook Berry Blend” made from dried grape skins, hibiscus and berries.  It was so refreshing that we had two large glasses each.  The entire experience was wonderful and reminded Rich and I of our high tea in London, England.  But this was even better since we sat outside in nature and enjoyed it with friends.

On the second morning, after having the complementary breakfast at the Fergus Best Western, we headed back to Elora to further explore the town and the Elora Gorge.  Our plan was to take a quick tour around Victoria Park before driving to the Elora Gorge Conservation Area for a 5km hike in the Elora Gorge.  Based on Rich’s (in hindsight, limited) research, Victoria Park would be a short, gentle stroll through some parkland and wooded area with a quick view of the gorge that we would explore in more detail when we arrived at the Conservation area.  Accordingly, we did not feel the need to carry the water, bug spray or hiking poles that we packed in preparation for our big hike later in the day.  The forested area was beautiful with the tight rows of tall majestic trees. We came across a plaque marking the spot for “Lover’s Leap”, a cliff ledge where based on aboriginal legends, two lovers from different tribes who were denied the right to marry chose to leap together to their deaths.  In a different rendition, a broken-hearted Indigenous maiden leapt from the spot in despair after the death of her lover.  From here, we had a great view of the gorge with the Grand River running through it.  Then we came across a long flight of steep stairs that turned out to be the Irving River Gorge Staircase leading down to the gorge.

Totally unprepared, we found ourselves down at the base of the Elora Upper Grand Gorge Trailway, scrambling over uneven slopes and navigating gravelly, slippery paths.  More than once, I thought regretfully about our big thermos of cold water and my walking poles lying in the trunk of our car while Rich continued to protest that this was not what he expected. Regardless, we were awed by the amazing views of massive cliffs, tree trunks growing over soil and out of the stone face, and intriguing little “caves” found in the cliffs.  We soon realized that this was the gorge experience that we were after and that there was no need to drive later to the conservation area where we would need to pay a fee to hike further for similar views.

After some more hiking, we arrived at the water’s edge and looked back up to see the David Street West Bridge that spans the Irvine Gorge.  This is the 7^th bridge (constructed in 2004) on this site, with the first one constructed in 1847.  On the other shore, we could see a large cave which, based on another legend, could be Chief Kee-Chim-a-Tik’s cave where the Ojibwa chief rescued and married an Indian maiden who was being held as sacrifice to the Manitou Falls.  When he subsequently cheated on her, she shot him dead with her bow and arrow.  In an 1880 retelling of the legend by Rose-Belford's Canadian Monthly and National Review, the Chief was carried to the cave to die and lays there to this day.

We retraced our steps and made the arduous climb back up the long staircase.  Back in the forested area, we saw a tourist group being led on what looked like a  rappelling expedition based on how they were dressed and the gear they had with them.  Returning to our car, we spotted a sign declaring Elora the “Most Road-Trippable Town in Canada”.  Although this was merely an advertisement by Chevrolet, based on the beauty that we just saw, I would tend to agree.  In researching for this blog, I have found a better map and description of Victoria Park and Upper Grand Gorge Trailway.  Based on this, it is clear that we missed a large part of the trail and some key points of interest including the “Tooth of Time” islet.  I have made note of this for our next visit.

Emerging from Victoria Park, we continued on Smith Street and Henderson Street to look at some of the architecture and history of some of the residential houses in the area.  The Mansfield Cottage at 200 Smith St. is a 2-storey brick building featuring a turret with a large stained glass oculus window was built in 1895 in the Queen Ann Style.  It was originally the home of Reverend Dr. James Middlemiss, founder and first pastor of the Chalmers Church.  The McLean House at 17 Henderson St. was built in 1858 for Reverend John MacGregor, headmaster of the Elora Grammar School.  Just down the road at 37 Henderson is the Hollis House (1865), which was used to operate as “Misses Gilbert School for Young Ladies” from 1865-1870.  We spotted some pretty landscaped yards decorated with a harp and some avian lawn ornaments.

Our next stop was Bissell Park on Mill St., a beautiful green space along the Grand River with a boardwalk leading to a small waterfall, the Bissell Dam and a pedestrian bridge spanning the river.  The park is a popular public space used for the Riverfest Elora music festival and a local farmers market.  Occasionally the market features the Kitchen in the Park Project (KIPP), where a pottery kiln turned into a wood-fired oven in 2011, cooks and sells freshly baked goods.  In the past, items cooked included bagels, pizzas and naans.  The house next to Bissell Park is one of several sites promoting the cause of water preservation with signs indicating “Say NO to Bottled Water” and “Water is not for sale”.  A giant elegantly dressed blue papier-mâché mannequin piques your interest and draws you close enough to read the signs.                  

We wandered around the downtown core to check out the shops and eateries.  We walked around the grounds of the Elora Mills Hotel and Spa, trying to see what they offered to warrant the $700+ room rate.  We didn’t see anything too special from the outside.  The Rieker Shoe Centre was having a 50% off sale and both Yim and Murray found good deals.  Around the corner, I was drawn to the “Tree of Life” art piece by Paul Morin on the wall beside an ice cream parlor.  The accompanying plaque indicates that this is a peace tree, symbolizing “interconnectedness, growth and renewal”.   The Karger Gallery and Suites is a beautiful terraced building that has an Air B&B rental unit on the top level and is an art gallery/clothing and gift shop on the bottom.  In the shop, I found a pretty pink dress that I wore for our anniversary dinner in August.  I also liked some of the cute art in the gallery.

The Church Street Clock Tower is a joint art installation by several artists in Elora.  The tower that the clock sits in is created by Rio Bravo Works using both new materials and antique farm parts.  The face of the clock is made by Hanscomb Glass with handcrafted and hand-cut glass pieces for the hands and the time indices on the dial, while the base is constructed by two other artists using poured concrete with imbedded antique farm parts and metal plaques with quotes about time.  The clock stands next to the Hanscomb Glass Studio where the owners design and fabricate beautiful stained glass, fused glass and leaded glass pieces.  The works range from large hanging stained glass to small cutesy necklaces shaped like gummy bears and worms, and little glass ants playing musical instruments.  I loved everything in this store and wish that there was a way to hang stained glass pieces in our condo windows.

The Elora Distilling Company is situated in an enormous two-stored red brick building with massive windows and a clever olive-filled martini-glass shaped railing in front with the saying “Once during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days with nothing but food and water … W.C.Fields”.  The establishment sells and provides tastings of specialty gins, rums, vodkas and liquors all made on site.   For example, you could buy Citrus Pink, Juiperus Maximus or  Ritz Strawberry Gins, Spicy Caesar Vodka, liquor flavours such as Elderflower, Spiced Sugar Maple, Chocolate Hazelnut and much more.  Rich tasted and bought a small bottle of Spiced Black Rum while Murray tasted and bought some whiskey. While waiting for them, I caught sight of the sign pointing to the “Royal Room Cocktail Lounge” was upstairs and asked if I could go take peek. 

Yim followed me and we were gob-smacked by what we discovered.  Harking back to the golden age of Art Deco in the 1920s, the royal room is a sight to behold!  There were gorgeous bay windows, plush royal blue velvet bench seats, elaborate chandeliers and light fixtures, end tables decorated like old steamship suitcases, throne chairs and a bar with a marble counter top and high back deco-styled chairs with leather seats.

 

Continuing with the retro theme, old movie posters adorn the walls.  I laughed at the washroom doors that state “We don’t care” to indicate gender neutral usage.  From noon to 9pm Friday and Saturday (6pm other days), you can order classic cocktails from other famous hotel bar such as a Cosmopolitan from the Claremont (California) or the Grand Martini from the St. Regis Grand Hotel in Rome and drink it in the lap of luxury.  You can also get the daily cocktail special or mini cocktail flights.  There is also a large window where you can look down on the stills that make the liquor.   We did not have time on this visit, but what a wonderful space to have a drink.

Our last stop before leaving Elora was to have a late lunch at the Evelyn Restaurant.  Rich was drawn to this restaurant because of the promise of specialty hotdogs.  There was even a sign outside advertising “Le Chien Chaud”.  The extra attraction for Murray was that he could tell his sister that he ate at her namesake.  Rich of course ordered the Dogue de Bordeaux – an all beef dog with caramelized onion, truffle aioli, guyere cheese and chives.  I had the crispy cod sandwich with breaded Fogo Island cod, roasted red pepper and fennel slaw, saffron aioli and lettuce.  Murray followed suit with the Chien-Chaud and Yim went for the special of the day, which was a grilled cheese sandwich that contained everything but the kitchen sink.  This was a very satisfying last meal enjoyed once again outside on the patio on another beautiful day.

After lunch, it was off to Guelph (described in the next blog) before heading home.