The beauty of camping with a bunch of friends is that you can choose your own adventures. Yesterday, some wanted to do a short hike and drive and others chose to go to Brockville to the Farmers' Market. We planned on finding breakfast there and if there was none to be had, we'd go to a restaurant as backup. No need for a backup. What a market! It was difficult to choose what to have for breakfast, there were so many options.
We did a cursory trip around the market to get our bearings, making mental notes to come back here and there. This vendor intrigued me with her Elixirs. A rhubarb one came home with me.
My From Scratch Farm market friends will probably like to steal this idea. Everything you need for a salad, sauté or stir-fry in an egg carton. What an adventure!
Some markets have just the basics. Not this one. There were even two vendors selling semi-precious stones! My grandson would love to see that!
Breakfast became brunch to justify what we chose to eat. Date squares helped make that decision.
A few of us couldn't pass by the Ukrainian lady's stall. Ted got her combination meal of cabbage roll, pierogis and beet salad. Doesn't that look yummy?
Nothing like some hearty homemade stew.
I could have taken half a dozen pictures of various vendor's flowers. Love that sunflowers are already blooming here.
Everyone in our group had different interests. Ted is enthralled with sea going vessels. We all sat on a bench as this one. Do you see the four piers to the right of the ship? Back in the day, when they were building a bridge to the US, they started here. There was so much backlash from locals that they abandoned the project and moved it further east.
One of our goals in going to Brockville was to visit the railway tunnel. It is a free attraction and so interesting.
There are little lights running all along the channels next to the walkway. They are programmed to put on a light show. At times, they imitate a train coming through the tunnel. Looks like everyone was happy to be there.
This was my favourite colour combination.
The south side of the tunnel was built with limestone bricks and the northern half was hewn out of the rock. This was before dynamite.
Brockville has more than its fair share of majestic old homes. And, then there is this one.
When we were thinking of camping in the Parks of the St. Lawrence, I did some research, looking for interesting diversions. Leaving Brockville, I remembered that there was a private dairy north east of Brockville. Upper Canada Cheese was on our way back to the campground. That is, if "on our way" means taking a leisurely ride through a beautiful farming area north of the 401.
Above the farm store is a viewing room of the processing area where yoghurt, ice cream and cheeses are produced. This is a family owned operation and very unique in Ontario. The dairy farm is one entity and the factory is another. They have found a way of using their own organically produced milk rather than buying in pooled milk from the marketing board.
The owner offered to take us on a tour of the barn. Lucky day!
I know less than nothing about dairy farming. Whatever this setup is called, it is the smallest one in Ontario.
The cows always come home on their own. The problem is that they come home ½ hour earlier than milking time. By the time milking needs to be done, they are back in the field and need to be herded back to the barn.
We'd never traveled through this part of Ontario. I am guessing we could travel high and low and never come across a truck like this one. One of our travel buddies is a lover of all things old and especially old vehicles. When he spotted this truck tucked in behind some other old cars, we just had to stop and check it out. It looks like it belongs in an old-time movie.
With each additional person in the group our interests expand. We even spent time at a car show in Morrisburg on the way home. Doesn't this truck look grumpy?
Maybe it has had a long day, just like us!
Comments