Our 1st Trip

to Canada!

A Calling for New Adventure

An 8-day Excursion!

We headed out last Thursday Sept. 7th, and drove from Maryland to Ohio, then to Clare, a small town in Michigan, so Tom could ride a 61-mile bicycling event with a friend. Meanwhile, I checked out all the cool spots in the town including stumbling across an Art Alley and finding a fun shop called Cops & Donuts, which was bought by 9 policemen when the local bakery started to fail, essentially resurrecting the small town and drawing tourists. (See pix below)

From there, we headed up to stay with our friends Deb & Ron at their house on Lake Michigan and toured the lakeside resort town of Mackinaw with them. Since this was our 2nd time there, we wanted to visit our favorite places ~ the Fort Fudge shop, where a colorful character with a memorable mustache named Charlie makes all of his chocolates by hand months in advance as well as regularly, preparing for tourist season. There's also a Merrill shoe outlet, where outrageous prices can be found on quality shoes. Tom was more than enthused by new pairs of jungle mocs!

Then we headed to Sault Ste. Marie, where we saw the canal locks, which raise ships up to Lake Superior and also down to Lake Huron, before we headed into Canada!

See New Places
Cross Into Canada
Get Passport Stamped!

Clare & Mackinaw

A New World Awaits!

Our Trip through Canada

Venturing into places we've never been before...

This was my first time visiting Canada, as well as outside of the U.S. (though I have been to many states) and I was thrilled when a border guarded cheerfully stamped my passport!

From there, we wanted to bypass the major cities and take a more scenic route from the Midwest to the East, so we headed through First Nation territory and open farmland as we drove through long stretches of rolling hills and farmlands. We relished the autumn color at hand in the changing leaves.

We headed East and then South to Manitoulin Island, where we stayed in South Baymouth Ontario, at the Wigwam Gift Shop & Hotel, which ended up being a welcome and unexpected surprise, with a cottage or Air B&B vibe.

"You can never cross the ocean (or lakes!) unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

~ Christopher Columbus

Canada! & Ferry

The next day, we took a 2-hour ferry ride on a remarkably large ferry, with multiple decks to accommodate 140 vehicles and 638 passengers, and that rather resembled an art-inspired cruise ship, the Chi Cheemuan. We crossed Lake Huron while gratefully enjoying the Adirondack chairs on the upper deck, and checking out the restaurant onboard for snacks, while watching as a lighthouse and nearby islands seemed to pass us by as we landed in Tobermory. It was a partly cloudy & windy day, so we couldn't do the glass bottom boat ride to the shipwreck, but did get to explore the town which had an island vibe and little gift shops & campy themed restaurants like Shipwreck Lee's. (See pix below)

We headed South through the Bruce Peninsula, passing through many bayside towns, and drove through the quaint town of Fergus that looked like it might warrant further exploration at some point, and ate dinner in Guelph and stayed in Hamilton ~ two towns that had been recommended to us by friends.

We discovered that all Canadian towns of any merit have a Tim Horton's (donut shop), Subway, Beer Store, and sometimes even a Dollarama.

Unexpected Vastness

Finally the Falls!

We headed to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in Ontario, which was immensely vast and stunning, and while upscale by the Falls, it was rather antiquated with a 1950's Atlantic City or Coney Island vibe when you got off of the main stretch.

We got to "Journey Behind The Falls" where we took an elevator down through the rock wall behind the falls and walked through tunnels that were converted from what had previously been a mine. We stood under Niagara Falls, at a lower observation deck, as well as in 2 places that were cut out from the rock behind the falls. The falls were incredibly loud and we got our picture taken before the moving sheet of water by fellow travelers, in the rain ponchos that were provided.

Then we took the Incline Railway up an impressively steep hill, which Tom guestimated was about a 60-degree incline and got some lunch and picked up a few souvenirs.

We crossed over into Canada via the International Bridge, and began to make our way back to the U.S. via the Rainbow Bridge. We discovered was aptly named when we saw a rainbow above the falls on our way out of town! A few days after we returned home, our friends sent a photo of the Aurora Borealis over Lake Michigan, we had just missed it but I love the photo!

Do Epic Stuff
Learn Fun Facts
Explore New Things

The Falls ~ Ontario

While heading home, we stopped in Lake Erie and dipped our toes in it, achieving my little heart's desire of dipping our toes into all 5 Great Lakes! Then we came home through upstate New York, stopping for dinner at a little restaurant with unique chef-inspired dishes like Blueberry-bourbon steak, The Silver Fox, in the beautifully charming small town of Ellicottville, NY, below Buffalo. We stayed overnight in Olean across from St. Bonaventure University, and then headed back down to Maryland watching out for bears and elk on the back roads of NY and PA.

We did alternate the driving some, but since Tom prefers to drive, I spent a good bit of time making serious progress on my goal of learning more Italian thanks to the free app Duolingo, and we jammed out to tunes together, grateful that we like the same music!

As we drove home today, we were savoring the jovial memory of this grand adventure and our good fortune for our unplanned trip working out so well and I just wanted to share it with you.

Throughout our trip, we would remind each other of our shared goal to, "Carpe diem!" or seize the day (a favorite line from a favorite film, Dead Poet's Society). Later, when we arrived home and relaxed in the recliners, Tom concluded, "my dear, it seems that we truly have followed Thoreau's great advice when he suggested, 'I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life;' I don't think that we could have gotten more out of that trip!

Gratefully your friend,

Dianne

ENDING ON A SWEET NOTE WITH A LOVELY POEM...

Oh me! Oh life!

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,

Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,

Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)

Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,

Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,

The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

~ Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1892)

A little postscript ~ Since so much of our world exists online now, if you'd like for me to create a webpage of your trips, I would be happy to! I have been designing and creating websites for more than 20 years, for each business that I've been involved with. I would love to support you, please reach out if I can be of any assistance!

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