Getting There (Part Two)…

Fortunately, this time I followed Judi’s advice and turned right. We followed Hwy. #48, passing the “Sutton this way” sign and headed south towards Toronto. A few kilometers south of Sutton we saw a sign saying “this way to Keswick”. We turned right and followed the sign’s directions! We eventually came to Woodbine Avenue and another “Keswick” sign. We turned right again and this time drove straight in to downtown “Keswick”. From there it was easy to find the re-enactment! It was being held at the Georgina Pioneer Village which was part of the Georgina Community Centre complex. The way to this complex is very well marked, we couldn’t go wrong! The sad ending to this story for the “know-it-all Festival Nomad” is that if we had turned left in Jackson’s Point, as Judi had suggested, we would have driven directly to the complex and the re-enactment. We would have arrived a half hour earlier and would have saved a quarter tank of gas! The moral –

“The Nomad isn’t (sigh) always right, but his trusty side kick (Scoop Judi) is!”

UPDATE ~ I wrote this Blog article a number of years ago. Since then GPS devices have taken over the directional thought process. It’s a “sure” way of getting to you final destination… well, MAYBE not so “sure”! One Christmas, my daughter and her husband gave us a GPS device. We were so happy to have it that we named it LUCY, after Schultz’s “know-it-all” cartoon character. All was going well with “LUCY” until I programmed if to find a route to Creemore. LUCY seemed to start off right until we got deep into a forested road. All of a sudden, in the middle of the forest she told us to “turn right” We entered a road that was a “Dead-end”. As we stopped, LUCY announced that we had “Reached Our Destination”! Creemore, my friends, is NOT located in the middle of a “forest” on a “dead-end” road! We started out again, this time with Scoop Judi navigating the route and we successfully found our way to the “real” Creemore. To “punish” LUCY, I put her in the car’s “glove box” while Judi (me navigation hero) and went into the town’s great bakery for a coffee and goodie.

I think that this punishment might have taught LUCY a lesson, because she didn’t “mess up” again!

"Coffee & Goodies Galore!"

Getting There (Part One)…

As I have said before, getting there can be half the fun! I hadn’t been to Keswick in many years. This was where the “Rise to Rebellion” re-enactment was going to take place, and Judi and I wanted to be part of it. Rather than drive the boring highways, we (I) decided to take the back roads to Keswick. In the past, any time I had traveled to Keswick I had taken Hwy. #48 from Toronto straight to Keswick, no problems! Being the “Festival Nomad”, I, of course, know all the correct route to get to any Ontario festival or event!!?? With this confidence, Judi and I set out for Keswick and the re-enactment. All was going well, the sun was shining and the roads were clear of traffic, so what could go wrong? Nothing, until we turned from Hwy #12 onto Hwy #48. This is where I encountered my first “Brain Lapse”! I assumed (you know what that means!) that we were south of Keswick. Imagine my surprise and concern when signs started telling me that we were heading “SOUTH” to Toronto! It couldn’t be! I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and stopped the car! I took my road map out to see where we were! No help! I turned the car around and started to retrace our steps! Then I got “cold feet”, I turn around again and headed “SOUTH”! One of the signs that I had seen earlier had said “this way to Keswick”! I decided to trust the signs and not my brain! At each indecision, Judi just “sighed”! We continued traveling “SOUTH”! This is where my second “brain lapse” took place! I mistook “Sutton” for “Keswick”. Don’t ask me why, I just did! I turn down the road that said “this way to Sutton”. We traveled through Sutton towards Jackson’s Point. I was sure we were on the right track! When we reach Jackson’ Point there was a “T” in the road. Judi suggested that we should turn left. I confidentially said “no, we should go right”. We turned right, followed the road and eventually came back to Hwy #48. We had just traveled in a big (scenic!) circle! Now I was REALLY lost!

(To be continued - Part Two) 

"Which way to the Rebellion?"

Life in the Midway…

Every time I visit a festival that features a midway, I am transported back to my childhood! These memories are quite vivid as midways played a large part in my past. My first recollections of a Midway are of the long gone “Sunnyside” which was located in Toronto along the Lakeshore west of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds. I can remember, as a little boy, being taken there by my parents. I was allowed to ride the kid’s rides by myself, but I think the biggest thrill was climbing into the bumper car s with my mother. I’m not sure who had more fun. She loved crashing into other drivers and encouraged me to help her! Later on, when I was allowed to drive by myself, my mother would still climb into a bumper car herself. It was always a challenge to see who could out bump who! I think my mom likely won more times then she lost! Another wonderful Midway memory, was at the CNE. As a youth, my friends and I were allowed to visit the CNE on our own. The excitement of trying to win a big stuffed animal as the barkers yelled out “You ring one, you win one!”: the challenge of riding as many thrill rides as possible to the loud pulsating music and the determination to outsmart the age and weight guessers even though they could win any time they wanted to, all added to the mystic and charm of the Midway. And then there was the “FLYER”! It had been a feature of the CNE forever and it attracted kids, big and small! We all tried to see who could ride the longest with our hands held over our heads. We always fought to get the front car! It was the scariest position of all, and the most fun! When I see the excitement in the faces of today’s kids enjoying a Midway, I see myself. I hear my mother say “Have a great time, be careful and I’ll meet you at the Bingo Hall when you are through”.

Soap Box Derby Racing…

The wind in your hair! The sun beating down on your face! The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! This time we were at the Frankford Riverfest. We had walked past a stack of hay bales to the finish line.

The Frankford Riverfest Soap Box Derby was about to begin. You could see the excitement on the faces of the Moms and Dads as they waited for their sons or daughters to come charging down the hill! All the hours of hard work building and designing the definitive Soap Box were coming down to this! This is a scene that is typical of most of the Soap Box Derbies we have visited. The determination in the eyes of the racers, no matter how young or old is always there! I can remember one race that we visited where two racers were coming down the hill side by side. Suddenly the wheels of the racer on the left started to wobble! Others in the crowd saw it too! You could see the determination of the young girl as she fought to regain control! Try as she might, the Soap Box finally took over and veered off course and ran into the hay bales at the side of the road! There was panic in the eyes and voices of the on looking crowd. No one knew if the driver was okay. Two paramedic, who had been stationed part way down the hill, rushed to the accident site! After refusing the paramedics help, the girl stood up, shook the hay off her clothes, pulled the Soap Box back onto the road, climbed in and continued down the course to the finish line! The crowd cheered and applauded the girl’s efforts and where grateful that the racer had survived the crash!

Such is the world of Soap Box Derby racing where little heroes are made!

Where to Go… What to Do…

As I have mentioned previously, Judi and I plan, each year to visit 50 or so Ontario communities and their festivals, events and attractions! To put that into perspective, we have 52 weeks to visit 50+ communities and events. That means we have to average 1 visit per week over the 52 weeks! So much for the math!

Here’s our dilemma, most festivals and events take place during the summer and fall months. That means there are a lot to choose from during those months and we have had a great number of requests from festival and event organizers to visit their events. There are so many great and interesting festivals and events, it’s hard to decide which ones to visit! The problem is, we want to visit them all! But, of course, we can’t, so we have to make some choices. In doing this we have to take into consideration timing (month-day-times) and distance. Distance is important because, if we need to visit more than one event (community) per week, logistics can be a challenge.

Fortunately, Judi and I having been traveling and visiting Ontario communities and their events for over 10 years, so we now have METHOD to our MADNESS! Our planning process is now simple, especially since we started to present our “Oh Canada Eh! Game”. We just look for communities where we have not produced an “Oh Canada Eh! Game”. If they have an interesting attraction or event, so much the better! Judi’s and my ongoing philosophy is that our trips and visits must be enjoyable. Frankly, if we don’t enjoy where we go, how can we tell our website visitors… “Where to go and what to do”?

As the “OLDE NOMAD” says ~ BEEN THERE… DONE THAT!

Hope to see you down the road!

Tasty Festivals…

Judi and I love to visit festivals. I think some of our most favourites involve fruit and fruit themes! I am always interested in seeing how festival organizers incorporate “fruit themes” into their festival plans. Some are more imaginative then others. Take for example the Bala Cranberry Festival held each fall. Everywhere you looked the fruit was present. There were cranberry booths dotted amongst most of the festival’s attractions and activities. Each booth offered a variety of different cranberry products. The biggest attraction, however, at the festival was the Johnson’s Cranberry Farm. To get to it you had to drive a little out of down, but then again, who wants a cranberry marsh in the middle of town! Once we were at the farm there was a lot to see and do. To find out more, log onto our Bala Cranberry Festival article (click here to see article - http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/fesivals/2007/fall/bala_cranberry.htm).  We were amazed at what their farm store offered! Here is just a small sampling of the products we saw: wines (there were too many different types to count!), juices and jams (many different combinations); chocolates (too yummy for words!), candles (a variety of scents) and the list goes on!

Unfortunately for me, I am not that fond of cranberries, but Judi is! Peaches on the other hand, present a much different story! I am a peach fanatic, especially peach pie! Last summer we visited the Winona Peach Festival (click to read article - http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/fesivals/2007/summer/winona_peach.htm). In the centre of the festival grounds is a large “Food Court”. Almost every booth offered different kinds of peach foods, pies cobblers, ice cream and on. The beautiful thing about this festival and its “Food Court” is that all the food vendors are run and manned by local charities, church groups, service clubs and sports associations. This translates into fresh “homemade” food! Now I know that you all know that the “Festival Nomad” is very community oriented and that if I can help out the community we are visiting I will. So, it should come of no surprise when you hear that I decided to support one of the fine community groups! The “homemade” peach pie being sold by the ladies church group got my support! I purchased a big juicy piece of freshly baked peach pie from them! As I ate it, my community spirits rose to a new high!

Now, all I have to do is to find a “BANANA” Festival!

“A Funny Thing Happened…”

One of the perks of visiting festivals is people watching! It is always interesting to see how people react to different situations. In a way it’s like being a “fly on the wall”. Music concerts seem to bring out the best (or worst) in people. The Beaches Jazz Festival is a perfect example of this. There was one lady was really thrilled by the music. She decided that the music would be great to dance to… alone! She went down to the front of the stage and started to dance up a storm. She made moves that I didn’t know the human body could make! She was in a world of her own and it was fascinating to watch!

Then there was the little girl at another music festival. There was a lively band playing on the main band shell stage. In front of the main stage a lower stage had been set up for an earlier Celtic dance demonstration. The lower stage was empty when the band first started to play. Part way through their first song, a little girl ran from the audience and climbed onto the stage and then started to dance to the music. The audience and band loved it! The little girl beamed as the audience showed their appreciation! She was such a hit that other children emerged from the audience and ran to the stage. Each climbed onto it and started to dance. The original little girl was upset that others had joined her that she stopped dancing, stomped off the stage and ran to her parents crying. Apparently she didn’t like to share the spot light. The other children danced on undisturbed!

Animals also create good people watching material. One year when we were at the International Plowing Match, the first attraction we came to was the Canadian Raptor Conservancy Show. There were two handlers who brought out different birds to show the crowd. Some of the birds would fly off one handlers arm, fly over the crowd and then land on the other handlers arm. The sheer delight (terror) on the audience was great to see! Imagine MY surprise when one of the birds swooped down from its flight and landed on MY HEAD!! The tables were turned! I was the one who was being WATCHED!

"Fortunately the bird that landed on my head was a Kestrel ~ much smaller then the above bird, but still, a cousin!"