Category: Grand River Country

St. Jacobs a Shopper’s Paradise

St. Jacobs bills itself as “Ontario’s favourite rural destination”. This is no idle boast. A drive to St. Jacobs (about 14 km from Waterloo) to shop and tour the surrounding beautiful farm land is a great break from city life. For me a visit to the St. Jacobs market is a fabulous treat for the palate and the eye. It’s open Thursday and Saturday year round and on Tuesdays during the summer. This is not the usual small community farmers’ market. It is enormous and comes with surprises everywhere. There are literally hundreds of vendors of food and crafts and […]

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Hamilton: Don’t Miss It On Trip Through Southern Ontario

Hamilton is all too frequently missed on the drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls or vice versa. While it once was a city with serious air pollution, a virtually inaccessible waterfront and lots of heavy industry, it now has clean air, a beautiful park on Hamilton harbour in Burlington Bay and the steel mills are not the massive polluters that they once were. So leave the Queen Elizabeth Highway and have a visit. There is much to see. Here are a few recommendations. The Royal Botanical Gardens Hamilton’s great glory are the Royal Botanical Gardens. Hamilton should really be called […]

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Top Kitchener Attractions for the Whole Family

The Kitchener–Waterloo area offers an abundance of fantastic opportunities for fun and relaxation. While you might know that the region is a great place for skiing and snowboarding, you might not be aware of some of the lesser-known attractions the area has to offer. Here are just a few to whet your appetite for adventure. Woodside National Historic Site The boyhood home of Canada’s longest serving Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Woodside National Historic Site features a beautiful 1853 home which has been completely restored to its 1890’s Victorian state, as well as beautiful grounds that were saved […]

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Unforgettable Adventures at the Royal Botanical Garden

The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington cover more than 1,000 hectares along Lake Ontario’s western tip, and feature an incredible array of both indoor and outdoor plantings. The gardens also host an extensive public research library, and offers more than one hundred workshops and lectures each year, including children’s programs, cooking instruction, seasonal bloom festivals, hands-on gardening studies, arts and crafts festivals, and a number of lectures. Complete with a Carolinian forest, a garden containing curative secrets, a wilderness, a wetland, and the world’s largest collection of lilacs, the Royal Botanical Gardens are the perfect place for a quick getaway […]

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Explore Canada’s Rich History at the Dundurn National Historic Site

The Dundurn National Historic Site is one of Hamilton‘s most popular destinations and home to both the Hamilton Military Museum and Dundurn Castle. With extensive grounds and green spaces, it is a wonderful place for the entire family to spend a day steeped in history. The crown jewel of the site is Dundurn Castle, which was the home of Sir Allan Napier MacNab, who fought in the war of 1812 when he was just 14 years old, and who later led his own militia and received a knighthood in 1838 for his role in suppressing the Upper Canada Rebellion. He […]

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History and Excitement Come Together at the Canadian Football League’s Hall of Fame

In Hamilton at the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, which is a non-profit institution that is open to the public, you’ll find not only several displays about the Canadian Football League itself, you’ll discover an entire world devoted to all levels of Canadian football, from junior football to university level football. The main feature of the Hall of Fame is the central museum area, in which metal busts depicting all inducted members are on display, along with the highlights of each of the League’s teams’ histories. In addition, there is an interactive field goal kicking exhibit where football fans of […]

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Troy Cafe

Troy Ontario is a staggering hamlet with a population of about 60 located in Town of Flamborough in the Hamilton-Wentworth Region.  In other words, Troy is 33 km from Hamilton, 21 km from Brantford and 18 km from Cambridge Ontario. Four adults and two children enjoyed a Christmas Eve lunch at Troy Café. The value of the meal was pretty terrific. On the menu are interesting items like an Apple and Sausage Pasta, which despite the seemingly conflicting ingredients was a hit with our table. I personally had a steak sandwich — they called it something fancier — but it […]

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