Road Trip Enroute to Port Stanley

Along the Northern shores of Lake Erie are a series of port towns, each with its own unique charm and attractions.  We spent a weekend in Port Dover a few years back and enjoyed good biking and theatre there.  On this trip, we traveled further west along the scenic Waterfront trail, following the shoreline of Lake Erie, en route to Port Stanley for an overnight stay.

Our first stop was in Port Burwell, where the Canadian submarine HMCS Ojibwa has found a permanent home.  The submarine is open for tours and will become the main attraction for a museum of naval history that is being built in the community.  We were on a tight schedule and did not have time to take the tour, but plan to return once the museum is completed.  But it was really cool to turn the corner in this small little village and come face to face with a submarine!

At Port Bruce, we noticed people fishing off the pier, both with fishing rods and big nets.  The area is known for walleye, perch, steelhead trout and pike.  The beach has soft, fine-grained sand and warm shallow water by the shoreline, that turns into multiple shades of beautiful glimmering blue as you look into the horizon.  We marveled at how quiet the beaches are in this region, in compared to Wasaga Beach or other beaches further north.  Or maybe it was just because we were there on a weekday.

In Sparta, the novelty shop called Winter Wheat sold home accessories and nick-knacks.  The greater attraction though was the beautiful woodlands on which the building sat, and the fabulous full-sized garden sculptures that were nestled throughout.  It was like a wonderland, wandering down each path and encountering the next whimsical surprise.

Sparta House Tearoom offers high tea which is served with pastries and finger sandwiches, and cream tea, served with scones, cream and jam, although the cream offered is whipping cream as opposed to the traditional clotted cream.  The tea room boasts an impressive collection of novelty tea pots of all types of shapes, sizes and themes.  There are hundreds of teapots shaped like animals such as cats, dogs, cows, characters like Mother Goose, Miss Piggy, Sherlock Holmes, Henry VIII, Christmas themes, English cottages and much more.

From Sparta, it was a mere 15 minute drive to our final destination of Port Stanley, where we planned an overnight visit.