Storyline: Advantures in our back yard
About 2 years ago I started a storyline Advantures in our back yard. (This reminds me that Doranya is now 2 years old, since we bought it, that is). We define our back yard as anything in the geographical region of Southern Ontario (Southwestern, Central and Eastern Ontario) or about 4-to-5-hour drive away. Not to be mistaken for Ontario Tourist Regions.
Silly me, I didn’t know how many different ways a region in Ontario is defined until I searched for a map of the Ontario Regions and counties! And so, I found that there are geographical regions, tourist regions, health regions and even construction regions. And then there are counties! And metropolitan areas! And municipalities… And townships…. And districts… And census divisions and many more. In my posts I’ll be staying with the geographical regions and their smaller administrative units (counties, districts, metropolitan areas and municipal regions), as defined in the site: Ontario By Region, Cities & Towns (wordpress.com).
Following the above discussion, for any road-trip within Southern Ontario I’ll use the same storyline. Unless it is part of bigger road-trips.
And what are the Ontario staycation tax credits? During last 2 years of Covid, tourism in Ontario was dead, as it was everywhere. To support our local tourist industry the Ontario government launched a temporary tax credit, which will give a small sales tax relief to every resident who vacations in Ontario in 2022. Entering the fall and winter we plan to do shorter trips spaced around other chores and local activities.
Many campgrounds close after Thanksgiving (October 10 in 2022), but there are a few open year-round, and we hope to do some dry camping in November and even December and maximize our staycation credits. Dry, because Doranya will be winterized as soon as zero Celsius approaches (fortunately, alcohol freezes at lower temperatures than water, so we don’t have to travel ‘dry’ in that sense – A).
After spending August at home with post-Covid fatigue we finally put Doranya together again. Back from our East Coast trip and disappointed that for a second year in a row we could not finish our itinerary we had decided to sell it. Perhaps our time for road trips has passed, we thought. I, being in the fog of post-Covid (or long Covid) fatigue didn’t even notice when Alex had emptied it. It took an entire bedroom with all the travel bedding and clothes, the furnace room was filled with the kitchen stuff and the garage with tools, accessories and amenities. He cleaned it meticulously and then we put it up for sale. Not long after we got a really good offer had we wanted to really sell it. By that time, I was feeling OK, and Alex had the energy to cut the grass and perform other house chores. We began second guessing ourselves, so we turned down the offer and took the van off the market. Perhaps we can head West next year. We’ll know better at the end of September. If Alex’s condition is stable, we may be able to use it for another year. If not, then we can put it up for sale in October. We definitely hope on the former.
September in Ontario is usually mild and good for camping. And this September is unseasonably hot and dry. At least where we are.
It is really a good time for retirees like us to head out and explore after Labour Day weekend when kids go back to school and parents to work. Summer camping in overpopulated Ontario requires booking often a year ahead. This is not our idea of RVing. And so, we headed out for a short and slow trip in Southwestern Ontario.
Our first stop was in Elora, not far from home. If you are from Ontario, you probably have been there at least once. If you are traveling and visiting between Toronto and Niagara Falls, we highly recommend a detour to this picturesque heritage village.
There is a lot going on for it. A combination of outdoor adventures and a small-town charm in the downtown (town centre) core, reminiscent of an English country village. Perhaps you can stay overnight and experience the green spaces, the stunning gorge, do some tubing or kayaking down the Grand River, hike or ride a bike on its many trails. And the next day soak in its history, art and local culture.
The village is a little gem with many historic sites, 19th century limestone architecture (it is considered very old in this relatively new country), little cafés and restaurants, a new distilling company on Church Street and a brewery on the main street. As with most of the small hamlets, villages and towns in Southern Ontario, nowadays it has lost its administrative independence. Amalgamated in the Township of Centre Wellington, Elora was founded in 1832 by Scotsman Captain William Gilkison. The five storey Elora Mill was built in 1832.
Currently it functions as the upscale Elora Mill Hotel and Spa. Situated on the edge of a spectacular gorge, nestled between the banks of Grand and Irvine Rivers Elora lies on the Attawandaron Lands of the indigenous people Neutral Nation. The area was first visited by Roman Catholic missionaries in 1600s. The first European settlers are known to have arrived in 1817. Gilkison bought around 14,000 acres of land on the Grand River and settled on the east side of the river. He named the settlement Elora, after his brother’s ship Ellora inspired on its turn by the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India (Elora, Ontario – Wikipedia)
Elora was called “Ontario’s most beautiful village” by the A. J. Casson, Group of Seven artist and even today, after all the transformation I tend to agree with him.
We’ve been in the area may times. Our idea for the first day was to just head out of the big sprawling city and its busy highways, stop for dinner in Guelph, where we have a favourite restaurant and then overnight at Elora’s racetrack and casino, some 22 km away. Guelph is a nice university city and in 2015 just a month after its debut we discovered Miijidaa bistro and café, which became the place to go when in the area. It is a vibrant bistro with eclectic cuisine, nowadays combined with comfort food that caters to the student population. Since the food is locally sourced, they change their menu regularly, to fit with the seasonal availability. Miijidaa means “Let’s eat” in the Ojibway language. During our first visit in October 2015, we were taken care of by our extremely attentive and helpful waitress Christina. She told the story of the place and the intention of their chef. They try to define Canadian cuisine by artfully mixing variety of cuisines using locally sourced organic ingredients. We had hard time selecting our meals, because every item on the menu appealed to us. We’ve been there many times since, and it continued to surprise us with great service, creative menu and reasonable prices. Despite the fact that we often take photos of our food at a restaurant we have never done this in Miijidaa. Or in Guelph for that matter. Apparently, we’ve been busy with the food itself and the artwork that decorates the place. This time Alex selected the elk and pork tourtière and I went for something more standard: seared trout with lentil and bean ragout, chorizo, spinach, spiced yogurt and sunchoke chips. I also loved the lemongrass kombucha, while Alex enjoyed a local brew.
After dinner we drove to the Elora Racetrack and Casino and parked close to one end of the lot as advised by its manager. Although there were many cars in front of the Casino, the parking lot is huge and there was no one near us. Nicely hidden behind the pine trees we had a very quiet and restful night. In the morning I made my coffee using our induction stove top and the inverter, while Alex walked to the nearby Tim Hortons (a Canadian brand fast food chain) for his steeped tea and breakfast sandwiches.
The morning was also very quiet. There were only a few cars in front of the casino, but we could not see them from our location. Around 10 am, after calling the Auburn Riverside Retreat to check if there was available site for Doranya, we moved to a small municipal parking lot by the Grand River in Elora, just across the Badley Bridge at Metcalfe Street, about a kilometer away. Parking in Elora is free, with some having a 3h limit.
We wandered through the village and the gorge park, walked on the famous David Street to Geddes Street, which becomes Metcalfe Street.
The Elora Brewing Company is right at the corner. On Metcalfe Street we are in downtown Elora with many heritage stores, pubs and gift shops. St. John’s Anglican church dates from 1843. At the bottom of Metcalfe, just before the bridge is Mill Street, lined with heritage buildings containing cafés, restaurants and craft shops leading to the famous mill.
Chatted with the bored security guard in front of the Elora Mill gate, or sooner he chatted with us and offered to take a photo of the two of us, peeked at the grounds of the luxurious recently restored Inn,
strolled by some of the many historic sites,
walked by the Lost and Found Café, took a few more photos, and then headed to our next stop – Palmerston, known for its Railway Heritage Museum.
See you there in our next post.
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