The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread - Page 31

megadude · #**601** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 1:29 AM**

Port Hope:
Love this little town. Too bad main street was under construction. The main street is normally lined by dozens and dozens of Canadian flags. This is where they filmed the recent It movies.

As I was driving out of town I noticed Quantrill Chevrolet. Did not know that former Jays pitcher, and father of a current MLBer, Paul Quantrill settled in Port Hope.

The first pic is what it's supposed to look like.

https://www.geranium.com/blog/porthope/

https://www.northumberlandtourism.co...px?_mid_=15168

megadude · #**602** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 1:54 AM**

Cobourg:
While Port Hope has a little bit more of the scenic downtown and the river running through, Cobourg down the road has the much better waterfront and beach. I love both places equally.

I love the contrast between the front of the buildings and the back. While the front is pristine, the back is like chaos. Pot-holed parking lots, wires everywhere, overgrown weeds, rusty fire escapes, dumpsters, etc. What am I missing? Because of that fascination, I actually like parking in the rear as opposed to on main street itself. And it's much more convenient. Don't have to search for parking and don't have to parallel. Same with Oakville. The backs on the buildings in Oakville aren't too bad at all, but still a big contrast.

https://www.experiencecobourg.ca/cob...ground-marina/

megadude · #**603** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 1:59 AM**

Colborne:
Wasn't going to stop at the big apple. Was last there three years ago and let the kids check out the petting zoo. I just found out that you can walk up inside the apple. So I made a stop and made the walk up. It was like climbing the stairs of the CN Tower again, like I did for charity in 2011. Welll, maybe a little bit less. Then I went inside the store for the first time since I was a kid. Town is not much, but that's okay. I still find these places interesting for a variety of reasons.

ScreamingViking · #**604** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 4:00 AM**

Thanks for sharing those! It's been ages since I was in those towns... I'll be on vacation for a couple weeks soon so maybe I'll take a day trip through.

On the weekend I visited a couple of wineries in Niagara with a friend. On the way home, and I can't remember where exactly, we passed a house that had about a half-dozen of those flags attached to a kids' jungle gym in a side yard.

I can see it now... "Daddy, what does 'F*CK Trudeau' mean?"
"Don't question it son. Just believe. Someday, my truck will be yours!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by megadude

TownGuy · #**605** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 12:15 PM**

Great pics!

I always wonder how those workers in the Big Apple pie factory feel about being on display like a zoo exhibit. Side note, the last 3 photos of Colborne are actually of Brighton.

megadude · #**606** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 12:24 PM**

lol. Damn. I knew I was going to mix up some pics. I have hundreds of pics from four days. I am relying on the iPhone to identify which town I was in because after a couple dozen towns you lost track of which one is which. It shows when you scroll through on your phone. It actually got it right but I mixed it up. Anyway, as Brighton was the next stop, that will be the next post.

Though I have one pic from the shoreline as I entered Trenton that the phone lists as Belleville. Then the couple dozen pics after that all show Trenton, which were of the town and air museum. Not sure what happened there. I didn’t enter Belleville until an hour after Trenton since I spent time in the museum.

Also, I just added to my port hope post regarding Paul Quantrill. I always liked him on the Jays.

megadude · #**607** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 12:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Thanks for sharing those! It's been ages since I was in those towns... I'll be on vacation for a couple weeks soon so maybe I'll take a day trip through.

On the weekend I visited a couple of wineries in Niagara with a friend. On the way home, and I can't remember where exactly, we passed a house that had about a half-dozen of those flags attached to a kids' jungle gym in a side yard.

I can see it now... "Daddy, what does 'F*CK Trudeau' mean?"
"Don't question it son. Just believe. Someday, my truck will be yours!"

Psycho behaviour! I saw a half dozen examples with one being in Gloucester. The rest in small towns. Though there was that one guy outside parliament on the loud speaker with his own brand of lunacy.

harls · #**608** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 1:20 PM**

I've been to that apple.

I find that map of apple growing areas suspect. There's a few in the Ottawa area.

niwell · #**609** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 2:02 PM**

Great stuff! I also love Port Hope but the main street construction is a bit frustrating right now - should look good when finished though. Cobourg is equally nice but a different vibe, which is cool considering how close they are together.

Occasionally we'll drive back from Napanee along highway 2 through all of the small downtowns. Takes longer but it's a much more pleasant drive, especially when traffic on the 401 is bad.

This house is near ours: https://maps.app.goo.gl/e73UazSgeKofCQis9 My FIL chatted with the guy thinking it's a remembrance day thing and that he may be a Veteran. He absolutely is not, but thinks he fought in a very different "war" a few years ago...

megadude · #**610** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 2:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by harls

I've been to that apple.

I find that map of apple growing areas suspect. There's a few in the Ottawa area.

I very much doubted the accuracy of that map when I saw it. I find it hard to believe there aren’t orchards for the vast swathes of white on that map.

My neighbour has an apple tree. I wonder if he counts as one of the dots.

megadude · #**611** Posted **Jul 18, 2024, 2:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

Great stuff! I also love Port Hope but the main street construction is a bit frustrating right now - should look good when finished though. Cobourg is equally nice but a different vibe, which is cool considering how close they are together.

Occasionally we'll drive back from Napanee along highway 2 through all of the small downtowns. Takes longer but it's a much more pleasant drive, especially when traffic on the 401 is bad.

This house is near ours: https://maps.app.goo.gl/e73UazSgeKofCQis9 My FIL chatted with the guy thinking it's a remembrance day thing and that he may be a Veteran. He absolutely is not, but thinks he fought in a very different "war" a few years ago...

Damn, that is disrespectful to actual veterans. That’s practically stolen valour.

megadude · #**612** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 1:33 AM**

Brighton:

megadude · #**613** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 1:34 AM**

Trenton:
You know you’re close to Trenton when you see a Herc circling around. I remember seeing one from the train in 2011. This time there were two of them practicing approaches, touching down, landing, taking off, etc.

Love the museum. Last year was Borden with all that military equipment, this year Trenton with all the air equipment. Next year don’t know what base I’ll end up in. In 2015 I was in Tuscon and went to a museum there and down the road they have an aircraft graveyard. It was closed that day. This wasn’t a bad substitute.

megadude · #**614** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 2:36 AM**

Belleville:
Heard bad things about Belleville. Saw only good on my brief time there. Bigger downtown than I thought.

Spoke to an angler and his girlfriend who were fishing the Moira River. And us usual, you start reminiscing about previous catches in different places. I told him about how I fish the Credit River. Turns out he met his girl there in Port Credit, Mississauga. He fished many of the random places I have.

niwell · #**615** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 10:19 AM**

Belleville has nice bones but it can be a pretty rough place these days. Lots of addictions issues unfortunately. Still, it's big enough to at least sustain the downtown and some nicer neighbourhoods. There's a pretty stark East/West divide, with the latter being the nicer half of town.

Looking forward to the next batch! I'm actually driving to a cottage near Bancroft this afternoon. We left Toronto yesterday to Napanee so leaving from there and taking mostly back roads - driving through downtown Madoc which is a place I've never actually seen in person.

Proof Sheet · #**616** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 10:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

Belleville has nice bones but it can be a pretty rough place these days. Lots of addictions issues unfortunately. Still, it's big enough to at least sustain the downtown and some nicer neighbourhoods. There's a pretty stark East/West divide, with the latter being the nicer half of town.

Looking forward to the next batch! I'm actually driving to a cottage near Bancroft this afternoon. We left Toronto yesterday to Napanee so leaving from there and taking mostly back roads - driving through downtown Madoc which is a place I've never actually seen in person.

Hey Belleville can't be too bad. It has a Law and Orders hamburger location.

niwell · #**617** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 10:32 AM**

^That looks delicious - will have to check it out sometime!

megadude · #**618** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 2:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

Belleville has nice bones but it can be a pretty rough place these days. Lots of addictions issues unfortunately. Still, it's big enough to at least sustain the downtown and some nicer neighbourhoods. There's a pretty stark East/West divide, with the latter being the nicer half of town.

Looking forward to the next batch! I'm actually driving to a cottage near Bancroft this afternoon. We left Toronto yesterday to Napanee so leaving from there and taking mostly back roads - driving through downtown Madoc which is a place I've never actually seen in person.

Funny enough, the angler I was talking to in Belleville said he and his gf just moved from Madoc.

megadude · #**619** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 3:02 PM**

Shannonville, Deseronto and Tyendiga Mohawk Territory. The first place has a race track that I one day want to drive on their try the track days. Usually like only four times a year and on a Monday so don't know if I'll ever go. Second place is the that's a proper town.

I am curious as to why the speed limit signs in this area are yellow.

megadude · #**620** Posted **Jul 19, 2024, 3:07 PM**

Napanee:
Before I got into town proper, I stopped at some busted up cul de sac by the water and wanted to cut through a little bush to get to the shoreline. Saw a concrete barrier, then a shopping cart and I knew there was going to be an encampment. Sure enough, blue tent. This is like the two encampements I found along the river in Oakville.

Fished a little bit in the river, although I wasn't planning on it. A 10 year old tangled up his line and had no tools to fix it so I got my tackle box and sorted it out for him. So had to fish a little. Looks like a promising spot I'd love to take my boat down.