Staycation Exploration

We didn’t go far for our two days of getaway fun.

We stayed overnight in Kitchener and spent Saturday exploring St. Jacobs, Elora and Fergus before making a stop in Guelph and then meeting friends for a delicious steak dinner in Kitchener.

I suppose St Jacobs market is a better event if you’re living close by and can pick up produce, bakery items and flowers.  None of those interested us.  It was insanely busy while the outlet stores across the street were dead quiet.  I did purchase a pair of sandals and a new set of motorcycle riding gloves.  Sadly, it was only when I opened the package in the truck after we left that I discovered the gloves were both for the left hand. Someone, somewhere is just as disappointed as I am with his or her two right-handed gloves!  But there was no way I was going back into that melee to return them. I sucked it up. Lesson learned.

Elora is a beautiful little town that has preserved its architectural heritage. We stayed there for a few hours partly because the main walkway to the falls and the mouth of the gorge was blocked off due to renovations at The Elora Mill.  The other reason is, we arrived around 9 am and most shops didn’t open until 11.  I really wanted to see inside the Paris, France-themed boutique and I’m glad we had coffee and strolled around until it opened.  But first, our hike took us up through a forest and along the fenced cliff overlooking the water to the Tooth of Time and Lover’s Leap. This is the tooth.  Why a tooth? Your guess is as good as mine.

The trees were beautiful, too, but every once in a while I would almost run into a huge spiderweb with its owner sitting hungrily in the middle. Yikes!

There were several places to stop to get a good view of the waterfall and the gorge below.

However, for some of us, the other side of the fence beckons.

On our way out we noticed this formation on a tree we now call, Fun Guy.

And the people were friendly, except for this guy, who looked down on us.

It was a nice little trek.  We stopped outside of town to look at the Elora quarry but they wanted us to pay to get in and it seemed silly to fork over $10 for a five minute peek.  So we passed on it and continued to Fergus where the midtown market I remembered with fondness has been replaced by a variety of retailers.  Guelph was next, to finally see Royal Distributing for myself.  It’s a gigantic motorcycle accessory warehouse. 

We met our friends at the Charcoal Steakhouse about a 3 minute walk from our hotel.  The steak was excellent but what is with steakhouses putting whatever weird thing they want on the plate as a side?  Last night it was shredded beets with a slice of boiled white beet and two of the teeniest carrots on the planet.  The Keg recently gave us white beets too. Beets are not a side dish, people!  Beets are enjoyed by a fraction of the population and shouldn’t be forced on the rest of us. 

Anyway, it was a nice little break from the usual.  And I’ve got the two left-handed gloves to remember it by.