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‘Super Neighbours In Ontario’ visits all the great destinations available to Torontonians in the surrounding province of Ontario, many of which are just a stone throw away. We visit with the areas and the locals to find out where to stay and what to see when getting away from the city. |
Last week I took a trip down to South-Western Ontario for our latest issue of Super Neighbours in Ontario. I had been invited by Parks Canada to attend the annual Festival of Birds that takes place at Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario. Point Pelee is part of the park and it, along with Pelee Island, are the most southern points in Canada.
Photo: Google Map of Area
The National Park, and the town of Leamington, are on the coast of Lake Erie which is known for its Perch fish. Many of the restaurants in the area sell the local fish, all with their own spin.
The area is also the capital of tomato production. Miles and miles of tomato greenhouses line this area.
The region thrives off of the month of May, when all the birds return to the park and Birders (bird watchers) from around the world flock to this location to view the large range of birds and their mating rituals.
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‘Super Neighbours In Ontario’ visits all the great destinations available to Torontonians in the surrounding province of Ontario, many of which are just a stone throw away. We visit with the areas and the locals to find out where to stay and what to see when getting away from the city. |
The third part of the hockey pilgrimage began upon my arrival in Halifax from Montreal. To see the first post CLICK HERE. - To see the second post CLICK HERE.
Halifax and Nova Scotia had a ton of sites to see and was the place that, to me, based on what I saw and read, seemed like the real start of the game of hockey. Some of the earliest sticks and pucks were made here, as well as the earliest written mention of the game being played. One of the earliest and biggest manufacturing company of ice skates was also in the area, just across the bridge in Dartmouth.
People adapt to their environments and one of the things I noticed most about Halifax, and Nova Scotia, is that it has a ton of really cool small ponds and rivers making it a breeding ground for the sport.
Photo: Long Pond
One of my first stops was Long Pond in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Thomas Haliburton was a prominent business man, judge and author of the immensely popular Sam Slick stories. He attended King’s College in the early 1800′s as a boy. His remembrance of “hurly on the long pond on the ice” is the oldest reference to the game being played in Canada, and is Nova Scotia’s biggest claim to the birthplace of hockey.
Today the pond is used for many big annual events as well as being available for shinny almost any time. As you can see, snowblowers, shovels, and a net are available for use.
Photo: Halifax from Dartmouth
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‘Super Neighbours In Ontario’ visits all the great destinations available to Torontonians in the surrounding province of Ontario, many of which are just a stone throw away. We visit with the areas and the locals to find out where to stay and what to see when getting away from the city. |
The second part of the hockey pilgrimage began upon my arrival in Montreal from Kingston. To see the first post CLICK HERE. Like Kingston, Montreal has strong roots in the development of the game we know today. It is known as the birthplace of modern hockey which has been backed by both the Society for International Hockey Research and the International Ice Hockey Federation. One of the biggest reasons it was called this is that it was the home of the first game of modern ice hockey, played indoors at the Victoria Skating Rink between members of the Skating Rink’s club.
Photo: Victoria Skating Rink - William Notman (1826-1891); composite photo of 1893 hockey game at Victoria Skating Rink;photo in collection of McCord Museum
The game was played with 2 teams that had 9 players on each side including the goalie. Referees watched over a set of rules that were put in place. The players used pucks to play rather than balls which was common at the time. This game took place on March 3rd, 1875.
The building was of much more importance than just the one game. It was the first public building in Canada to be electrified, hosted the first ever Stanley Cup championship in 1892/1893 season and the dimensions of the rink were the model size for our rinks today.
In 1896 telegraph wires were connected to broadcast the Stanley Cup game between Montreal and Winnipeg teams. Boards displaying play by play were set up in 4 cities and birthed the first time sports were broadcast in the world.
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‘Super Neighbours In Ontario’ visits all the great destinations available to Torontonians in the surrounding province of Ontario, many of which are just a stone throw away. We visit with the areas and the locals to find out where to stay and what to see when getting away from the city. |
Hockey is back today and in anticipation of the event I decided to visit some of hockey’s historical locations starting in Toronto and passing through Kingston and Montreal, before ending the trip in Halifax. These 4 cities all played a big part in the development and beginnings of the game and over the next few posts I will visit the points of interest in each location.
Photo: Toronto Maple Leafs Logo
In a previous post we visited the Hockey Hall of Fame here in Toronto where our journey begins (full story).
Toronto is one of the original six teams as well as having the highest valued team at $1 billion.(all team evaluations)
Toronto is the first team to reach the $1 billion evaluation.
Toronto plays a big roll in hockey as it is among only a handful of teams considered to be making “real money” therefore funding much of the league. The 3 most profitable teams, the Leafs, the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens, accounted for 83% of the NHL’s income.
Toronto has 13 Stanley Cup championships which is 2nd to Montreal. These factors make Toronto a great place to start a hockey pilgrimage.
The first journey was over 250 km drive to Kingston, Ontario. The second to Montreal was another 290 km. The final trip will be from Montreal to Halifax which would be another 1200+ km.
…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>
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‘Super Neighbours In Ontario’ visits all the great destinations available to Torontonians in the surrounding province of Ontario, many of which are just a stone throw away. We visit with the areas and the locals to find out where to stay and what to see when getting away from the city. |
In my research of Ontario destinations, I heard that Hamilton was the Waterfall Capital of the World. At first I thought this was crazy. Surely somewhere in the Amazon would be a more likely location for this designation. After visiting the region where Hamilton lies, I discovered that this could very well be true. Hamilton and its surrounding towns sit on a portion of the Niagara escarpment which was formed over millions of years through a process of erosion of rocks of different composition. Over time, the rivers and streams cause the soft rocks to weather away or erode. This created the drop-off for the many rivers that run through the area.
Photo: Tews Falls – 41 metres or 134 feet and the highest in Hamilton
The drive to Hamilton is easy from Toronto being just West along the QEW. Surrounding areas such as Ancaster, Dundas, and Stoney Creek provide many of the waterfalls that you are going to want to check out. For this trip I used the Acura TSX which provided me with a GPS, which helped a ton with finding the falls, and a very comfortable ride with amenities like heated seats, DVD player, and satellite radio. Perfect for a November road trip. I was also lucky to have a laptop and a cell phone that I was able to tether internet data through so that jumping from falls to falls was easier. I would suggest planning out the routes before you go to make the best use of the time. Some of the directions online can be tricky and I found it best to use Google Maps to scout the locations.
…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>
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‘Super Neighbours In Ontario’ visits all the great destinations available to Torontonians in the surrounding province of Ontario, many of which are just a stone throw away. We visit with the areas and the locals to find out where to stay and what to see when getting away from the city. |
This week I got a chance to visit with friends in Brighton, Ontario and to discover what is called the ”Gateway to Presqu’ile Provincial Park”. Situated on the north shores of Lake Ontario about 2 hours east on the 401 Brighton has the benefit of having its shorelines connected with the Provincial Park which protects a lot of the land.
Brighton also has a rich history in growing produce with some of the best fruits and vegetables being found at people’s private shops. These shops, like Coates Orchard, are set up on the growers’ front lawns and sell the products that they grow in their own gardens. We grabbed some of her amazingly sweet, and cottage necessity, corn on the cob for the BBQ and some berries for dessert.
Photo: Coates Orchards by Joel Levy
The drive was very easy from Toronto and I got to drive up in the Honda Insight which was my first Hybrid experience. Driving around in the city before I left I thought my fuel gauge was broken because it seemed like there was no gas being used. Once I got on the highway I started to notice it over the long distance but overall I only used about a half a tank for the 4 day weekend which cost around $25. The car allows you to see how you are performing on a power usage scale so you can get the best out of you tank. Brighton was about 150 km away along the 401 East from Toronto.
Photo: Water and sunset off of Presqu’ile Park
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