…the RBG is located in Hamilton and Burlington

Last Friday I met my sister in Hamilton. Her husband was attending a conference so they decided to make it a weekend and arranged for friends and family to look after the farm in the Chatham area. I picked her up from the hotel and we drove into downtown Hamilton, parked the car and walked to the Burnt Tongue for lunch. The restaurant specializes in homemade soup and the menu changes daily. After enjoying a bowl of soup and half a sandwich we made plans to go to the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Luckily the gardens is only a 10 minute drive and very easy to find. The rock garden is located in Hamilton so we stopped there first. We weren’t sure if there would be a lot to see and it is all outdoors. It found the walk along the paths brisk but pleasant and the views were wonderful.

Down the road, in Burlington is the main building. We had heard that their Christmas display was open to the public and in the evening there was a special light display. Chris and her daughter had already made plans to go Saturday evening to take in the outdoor lights but she was happy to check out the indoor displays with me. We weren’t disappointed.

One of the attractions was a beautiful train track, all built out of wood with trains running throughout. It had a very Canadian theme featuring the Parliament building in Ottawa, the grain silos from the prairies and the CN tower in Toronto. The kids loved it because the trains were characters from the Thomas and Friends series.

We also went through the Mediterranean greenhouse, checked out the gift shop and then headed outside where there were numerous Christmas displays.

As the sun started to go down I took Chris back to the hotel and we said our farewells. All in all it was a lovely day and I am looking forward to seeing her again in a few weeks when she comes to Toronto to visit her kids.