Going for a walk through the Lady Eaton Drumlin in Peterborough, next to the university, was beautiful and very much uphill until it was time to come back down. Thank goodness for some rest spots. Although a bit wonky and worn they did the trick.
Last week after we walked through Grimsby Beach Village we got back in the car and drove for a short distance up the Niagara Escarpment to the Beamer Memorial Conservation Area.
The trail from the parking lot led us to a section of the Bruce Trail which brought us to the edge of the escarpment. From there we had a great view of the town of Grimsby, the highway and Lake Ontario.
We continued hiking west to find the Beamer Waterfall. This area was similar to other parts of the Bruce Trail that we’ve been on. After awhile we could hear the falls but we had to literally walk out onto a road and go around the barriers to see it properly. Luckily the area was dry and we didn’t have to worry about slipping.
Another beautiful day for a hike and when we find a waterfall it’s alway a bonus.
Grimsby Beach Village is well known for it’s Painted Ladies or Gingerbread Houses. The community was originally a Methodist Bible Camp in the 1800s and when the tents came down they were replaced with modest cottages. In 1909 the camp went bankrupt. It was purchased by a developer who converted the area into an amusement park.
In the 1920s 30 of the cottages burned down and tourists went elsewhere. It was taken over by a Cottagers’ Association but over the years the remaining cottages suffered from disrepair. Fast forward to 1986 when a handyman Ed Giernat, purchased one of the 150-year old homes and decided to add gingerbread and other decorative trim moulding and paint his house orange, green, blue and white. Now dozens of “painted ladies” houses adorn the streets of Grimsby Beach because of Ed’s vision and his willingness to help others fix-up their homes. ( data re history came from Everyday Tourist https://everydaytourist.ca/wandering-canada/southern-ontario-road-trip-grimsby-beachs-painted-ladies)
Yesterday my husband and I did a short road trip to the Grimsby Beach Village. This area next to Lake Ontario was originally a Methodist Camp in the 1800s and people came from all over Ontario and New York to spend part of their summers here.
In the early 1900s the tents were replaced with cabins and a couple of hotels were built to accommodate the growing number of tourists.
Today the homes are all privately owned but the community has decided to continue painting and decorating their houses in bright colours.
“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. During COVID so many of us have had more time on our hands because commuting was no longer necessary to get to and from work because we were able to work from home but how many of you made use of that extra hour or two to do something for yourself. I’m painfully aware of this after I spend too much of my day binge watching TV.
One of the best things that my husband and I have done since January is to put aside one day a week, in the middle of the week, get into the car and drive somewhere where we can be in nature and go for long hikes and not worry about crowds of people. We’ve had a wonderful time and each week we become a little more organized. This week we even packed a picnic lunch and some weeks we had dinner cooking in the slow cooker so that when we got home dinner was ready.
Here are some of the wonderful places we have visited since January. These are our ‘brightest gems’ in our lives this year.
Last week we took another day trip to take in some more waterfalls. We headed toward the Niagara region where the world’s most famous waterfalls reside, the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls wihich make up Niagara Falls.
The falls are fed by the Niagara River and the force of this powerful river and subsequent falls powers a huge section of Ontario and New York State.
Niagara Falls is not the tallest falls in North America but the width and volume of water that flows over the edge makes it the largest falls. Worldwide it is only the ninth largest falls but it is probably the most famous of all the falls and the city is considered the honeymoon capital of the world.
Today my husband and I did one of our nature hikes outside of the city but the conditions were less than ideal. Although it was a beautiful, sunny and mild day the melting snow had turned to ice and walking was somewhat treacherous. After visiting a couple of waterfalls near Hamilton we decided to drive into Dundas and walk down the main street and take in the shops. Here are just a few of the interesting doors we observed on our stroll through town.