Our plan, day two of our getaway, was to head for Blue Mountain and a particular historical site. We started early enough with breakfast with our B & B hosts, Gord and Maggie, with a good, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast. The table was set in a lovely fashion with not a thing lacking. We had omelette, croissants, bacon, home-made grape jelly and more, but we also had company at breakfast.
A couple from Holland were spending their vacation biking around Ontario. Industrious people they are, both in the psychology field back in their home, they are used to biking and only occasionally use the car they share with their family. They’d already seen much of Ontario and were heading to Blue Mountain later that day. Wednesday, they’d travelled 80 miles by bike to stay at Between the Maples for a night. We had wonderful conversations with them about their work and travel.
Maggie and Gord saw them off and we continued our conversation. There was no reason to rush as we had a full day before us. We learned that our hostess was also of Dutch origin and her husband was a geologist by profession. Now retired, they were running this B & B. Gord had been busy taking apart the front windows and painting outdoors before the weather got too cold for such work.
With much thanks for a tasty breakfast, we set off for the day. We’d head out the highway in the direction of Blue Mountain. It would be good to be in the area again. The only time I’d been there were two Toastmasters district conferences in late fall and there’d been no time to tour.
The leaves on the trees were beginning to turn colour, with just a hint of colour thus far. We saw farms and fruit stands for this is an apple growing region.
On our way, following the side of the lake, I noticed a beautiful waterfront in the community of Meaford, so we decided to stop there awhile. What caught our eyes next as we parked were the strange fellows up on the lamp posts. A man walking his dog asked if we were there for the scarecrow festival that weekend. We weren’t but it sure looked interesting. He told us about the Hoedown that would take place on Friday night. We’d be heading home before that, but we agreed that it sounded like fun. It does appear that they have a lot of fun here.

I thought, later, how they reminded me of a  field in Cape Breton on a trip where they had a field with scarecrows, but that lot was for sale and it’s unlikely the scarecrows are still there. These were fun and they seemed to climb every lamp pole in the park.

 

 



There was so much in that museum that we could have spent much longer. We’d soon need some lunch and so we headed outdoors to take a few more pictures and be on our way.
 


The people of Meaford take such pride in their area. The gardens were nicely kept and the waterfront was beautiful and the water so clear.

 

I spoke with a young woman named Nicki, who was pulling weeds in the flower beds, and remarked on the beauty of the park. She, too, asked if we were staying for the festival. I said we’d be heading home the next day. She said, “Maybe next year.”
By now it was well past lunch time. We’d head in the Thornbury direction and look for food and stopped one more time on the other end of the Meaford to  get a photo of more scarecrows.
 

In case you’re wondering, we did actually make it to Blue Mountain that day. I’ll save that for the next post. Watch for it.