We drove from Pinery Provincial Park to Stratford, Ontario which took about an hour. We parked on Erie Street which was fitting considering that we both grew up in Erie County, Pa. We backed into a spot and Jackie’s attention was immediately called by a sign that said “Oysters,” so we went to Lovage and ordered oysters with hot sauce, mignonette, horseradish, and lemon. We also ordered something called “gildas,” which featured guuindilla peppers, manzanilla olive, and anchovies. All with homemade bread and butter. The food was fresh and the people were kind.
We crossed Wellington Street and walked out into Stratford Market Square where we popped in and out of the various shops. The typical thing for us: crystal shops, book stores, artsy stuff. One of the highlights was Gallery Indigena which is an indigenous art store. According to its website, the gallery was established in the early 1970s by Erla Boyer, and is now a “family-run gallery dedicated to promoting indigenous art.”
The store specializes in showcasing the cultural heritage of First Nation peoples. The gallery features art Nuna Parr, Susan Poin, Jim Charlie, Maxine Noel, Michael Robinson, and Irene Klar.
We wandered a bit more and found the Shakespearean Gardens which were beautiful. We also found a tea shop, and various other cool places. The city hall also beautiful. Definitely a touristy type of city, but if you’re ever near Stratford, Ontario, I highly recommend.
We ended up eating at Fellini’s which offers excellent Italian food.
We made the hour drive back to the campground and a big thunderstorm was threatening over Lake Huron, headed our way. Some of the lightning flashes were pretty intense and a few claps of thunder shook the van.
Then the rain came and we welcomed it. It cooled the hot, July air and made things nice for sleeping. We awoke and prepped the van for travel. We had spent three nights in Pinery so it was time to move on. We made our way to an Airbnb that Jackie had found in Goderich.
The cabin extremely rustic. It was a rough hewn and well built but we were in the middle of nowhere. We were scheduled to be there two nights but it ended up only being one because it was just too dang hot and there was no AC. So the next morning, we moved on.
But before we leave Goderich, let me tell you about Kevin. Kevin owns the farm where we stayed and operates the AirBnB on behalf of his daughter. He greeted us when we arrived and said, “If you need anything, just come over to the house.”
So we bring our stuff inside and I was on the top bunk trying to relax when I kept hearing these knocking sounds. I went outside to see if there were any tree limbs or branches knocking against the roof of the cabin because there was definitely a breeze blowing but I didn’t see anything. The knocking continued, but I didn’t know what to think of it.
A little while later when it cooled off, I went out to the van to locate a few things and I noticed that Kevin was across the road and he was operating one of those enormous tree planting devices that allow you to uproot trees and then dig a hole and plant them again. There he is an unbuttoned work shirt, bare-chested, blasting French Canadian rock and roll. He is sitting up on the device, and as he operates it, it makes a knocking sound as it digs into the earth. Now I understand where the knocking sound is coming from. He is creating a boundary along the road, planting pine trees.
What a trip. Absolutely made me wonder as to where I might be able to listen to French Canadian rock and roll, something we did while heading from Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula to Owen Sound.
We got up the next day and discussed our options and when I said we could be at Owen Sound in an hour and a half into a Best Western with air conditioning, no campfire smoke, and wi-fi, I read the look on Jackie’s face and we were out of Goderich.
My Writing Wanderland 