Day 95-96...Westport, Ontario

MONDAY & TUESDAY, JULY 2 & 3, 2012

     Westport is a pretty little tourist town.  It is a very popular tourist stop with not one but two bakeries and not one but two ice cream shops.  A lot of the businesses seem to open late and close early.  We walked into town just before dark and most of the streets were already deserted.

     To get to town from the marina, you have to cross a pedestrian bridge that ends in a pretty little park with a gazebo.

     At the top of the hill is the post office. Right behind the Post office is the Visitor’s Center with Internet.  Sometimes it got pretty crowded at the Visitor’s Center so we sat over at the post office to do what we needed to do on the computer.

     There are two panels of children’s artwork on the front of the Visitor's center.  There were other examples of kids’ artwork on banners all over town and even on the trash cans.

     There was a stone town hall, a big grocery store (Of course, we couldn’t pass it up.), a store like you would see at the beach, and many other restaurants and gift shops.

     Flowers were everywhere. They were on the telephone poles, in planters on the sidewalks and in window boxes.  Quite a few of the house had beautiful flower gardens.

     The next morning we walked and walked to a family-owned restaurant we had heard about from a menu we got at the Visitor’s Center.  It was a cheery, bright place called the Country Kitchen.  Paul (from Chaffeys Lock) had told us we needed to try poutine.  We try to say it but it doesn’t come out right.  It is French fries covered with gravy and in this case mozzarella cheese.  We also both got a pork schnitzel sandwich.  Both were very good.  They take pride in their cooking.

     On our way back to the boat, the Rideau District Museum had books outside for sale.  Look who’s shopping for books.  He’s really enjoying reading on this trip.  You can’t beat the 3 for a dollar price.  The museum is housed in an authentic blacksmith and carriage shop constructed in the 1850’s.  The forges, bellows and handmade iron tools are still there.  I went in to explore for a few minutes.  This is a picture of their most treasured artifact, “Sally Grant”.  It is the 11-foot tall Statue of Justice carved in 1844 from a single white cedar tree.  She was removed from the roof of the County Court House in Brockton due to deterioration.  After she was restored, she was placed on exhibit in the museum.