One-Tank Trip for June 30/12
(c) By Jim Fox
Time for another look into the e-mail bag
for some tips on trips from readers and publicists across “one-tank trip” land.
Bacon
and beer, eh
First there was the Chocolate Trail and now
there’s the Bacon and Ale Trail for a tasty treat in Stratford.
“Stratford Tourism Alliance has combined two
of life's greatest pleasures – bacon and ale – on a trail to 11 Stratford and
area unique restaurants and retail locations,” said marketing manager Cathy Rehberg.
 |
| Enjoying a cool one on the Bacon and Ale Trail in Stratford. (Photo - Stratford Tourism Alliance) |
Each stop on this self-guided tour of food shops and pubs offers a delicious bacon and beer taste or product, she added.
From beer barbecue sauce to pork terrine wrapped in smoked bacon and paired
with a craft brewed ale, to bacon-flavoured frosting or toothpaste, the trail
is a taste sensation.
The area has a long history
of brewing and raising pork, so “Stratford is the perfect location for a trail dedicated
to these two flavours,” said Danielle Brodhagen, culinary program coordinator.
Choose five stops along the
trail from among 11 offerings for $25 in this year-round program.
Participating places
are the Best Little Pork Shoppe, Bradshaws, Foster’s Inn, Kitchen Connaisseur,
Mercer Hall, Molly Bloom's Irish Pub, Puddicombe House, Revel Caffe, Small-Mart
General Mercantile, Treasures and Your Local Market Coop. Details: www.visitstratford.ca/bacontrail;
1-800-561-7926
Along
the barn quilt trail
 |
| The "homeview" barn has the classic log cabin pattern and is in Elgin County near St. Thomas. |
The Southwest Barn Quilt Trail has been
established by the Elgin, Oxford, Norfolk Association of Museums with some 100
locations along historic roads.
Mike Baker, project coordinator with the
Elgin County Museum, said the trail includes Elgin, Oxford, Norfolk, Middlesex
and Brant.
“A barn quilt is a single block of a
traditional pieced quilt painted on two 4x8 sheets and hung on the side of a
barn or farm building or set on free standing posts next to an historic site or
structure,” he said.
The pattern used in the block often reflects
traditional quilt blocks or is inspired by the history of the host farm and the
surrounding community.
 |
| This quilt is on the side of an historic store in Sparta Ont. and is known as the drunkards path. |
“Over the past year, hundreds of volunteers
including quilters, historians and community groups have laboured to produce
the stories and blocks that now stretch along the trail,” Baker said. www.barnquilttrails.ca; (519) 631-1460,
Ext. 159
Teaching
on the rails
An anniversary celebration is planned July
21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Clinton, southeast of Goderich, for the Sloman
School on Wheels Museum.
 |
| A 30th anniversary party happens July 21 in Clinton at the Sloman School on Wheels Museum. |
Carolyn Parks Mintz writes that this “unique
(nearly) 100-year-old artifact” arrived there 30 years ago this summer and is now
“resting on its specially built rail bed in south Clinton’s Sloman Park.”
The late town native and teacher Fred Sloman
and his family spent 10 months of the year in the school car that included
their living quarters in order to bring education via the rails to children of
the bush in Northern Ontario.
The dedicated Sloman and his wife, Cela,
travelled along the rail line for more than 250 kilometres between Foleyet and
Capreol from 1926 to 1965 while raising five children.
The burned-out shell of the car was found near
Toronto in 1982 and the journey began to its final destination in Clinton where
it was restored to create a “living history” for thousands of visitors. www.schoolcar.ca; (519) 482-3997
Hike
the Hullett
Reader Dale Ann McKichan wants to let
everyone know about “Huron County’s hidden treasure.”
It’s the Hullett Provincial Wildlife Area along
the South Maitland River that’s strategically located on the paths of two major
waterfowl flyways near Clinton (off Highway 8 and County Road 4).
The 20 kilometres of dyke tops and 12 kilometres
of established trails are great for hiking, cycling and horseback riding,
she said.
Trails meander through interior forests,
native grasslands, meadows and flood plains, while the dykes and
viewing stands allow for an elevated view of the ponds and wetlands.
“On our walks, we have seen sand hill cranes
and white pelicans and there have been over 140 different species of birds sighted,”
McKichan said. www.hikehuron.ca/site;
(519) 482-7011
Camping
by bus
Want to explore Algonquin, Killarney and
Grundy Lake provincial parks as well as Bruce Peninsula National Park and leave
the car behind?
Boris Issaev reports the non-profit Ontario
Parkbus Initiative is back this summer running buses between Toronto and key
national and provincial parks in Ontario.
The buses drop off passengers at popular
campgrounds, canoe access points and backpacking trailheads in the parks, he
said.
It was started as a grassroots initiative by
two York University graduates and outdoor enthusiasts, with the program running
in cooperation with Ontario Parks and Parks Canada with Ontario government
funding support.
Buses are operated by Muskoka’s Hammond
Transportation, with one-way adult tickets ranging between $35 and $40.
Complete schedule and pricing information can be found at www.parkbus.ca; 1-800-928-7101
-30-
Keep those cards and
letters coming to onetanktrips@hotmail.com
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