Fish Fest!

It was once again time for Wheatley Fish Fest, with a long weekend of fun in store. In typical Wheatley fashion, things got interesting early - on the Thursday eve of Fish Fest, there was another gas leak and another evacuation of the downtown. About 60 homes and numerous businesses shut down - again - and people were literally staying at the local arena. Turns out they were just "testing the system" and had shut off the venting system. Without telling anyone.

Friday night kicked off with a Tragically Hip cover band named Grace 2 playing at Two Creeks Conservation Area to an excited yet PTSD-influenced crowd. Early in the show, a fire truck and ambulance flew past with lights and sirens blaring - as the entire crown turned in anguish. They quickly announced that it had nothing to do with the gas situation - it was "only" a fatal car accident down by the harbour as someone has lost control and crashed into a greenhouse retention pond. Otherwise, great show by a great cover band and local brews from Top Dog!

On Saturday we set up the booth down at the harbour - with many more vendors this year, there were "aisles" of booths and about 40 tents. It got really hot and uncomfortable, and Jane dunked herself in the lake numerous times just to cool off. Behind us, they had fish tote races across the harbour, and then the Firefighters water barrel challenge on the other side of the slip. One of our vendor friends kindly gave Jane a "hairy coo" stuffy, which made a number of appearances over the rest of the weekend!

Later in the evening, we went to the arena for the annual fish fry and broasted chicken dinner, with Jody Raffoul and his band rocking the rink afterwards. We ran into several of my co-workers, past and present. We also enjoyed a great dinner with Heather, including a few beverages. 

On Sunday we set the booth up again, this time uptown at the main village intersection, right on the very ground where the explosion occurred in August 2021. Around us were vendors and food, a ring toss tournament and a very well attended car show. The main event was the big parade that came down the main drag, right past the booth.

At different times I managed to sneak off to Joe's Bar AND the Renny's patio for beer, given that I could see the booth at all times and know when or if to return. After the show ended, we packed up and left the van to walk across the street and get takeout dinner from Renny's.

Later in the evening, there was a boat parade along the shoreline, followed by a great fireworks show. We LOVE being able to be a part of our little village and our BIG celebration!

Set up Two Creeks and waiting for the band

Grace 2 rocks Two Creeks

Set up down at Wheatley Harbour

Jane disappears into Lake Erie to cool off!

Firefighter Water Barrel Challenge across the harbour!

OV and a Hairy Coo!

Dinner at the Arena with our Hairy Coo!

Open Door booth "uptown" on Sunday

Village ring toss game in the street

The new patio and outdoor bar at Renny's

Car show!

Fish Fest finale!

Michael and the Argonauts

In mid-June, I took the VIA Rail train from Chatham to meet some friends in Toronto for a guys weekend. Though the train was an hour late due to speed reductions and delays, it was still a far more pleasant experience than driving into the city and finding parking.

Keith and Kevin were waiting at Union Station when I arrived, and we promptly Uber'ed out Lake Shore Boulevard to BMO Field, home of the CFL defending Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts. Due to some renovations, some entry gates were closed, making for long lineups and some delay getting into the stadium. We did luck out in that the first 10,000 fans were given a heavy souvenir Grey Cup ring, which was surprisingly heavy!

Once inside, I sated my immediate needs with a hot dog and a beer. We found our seats and were very impressed with the view. Being the home opener, we also got to see the Grey Cup take the field and were treated to some fireworks and extravaganza. Kickoff followed and the Argos squared off against the visiting Calgary Stampeders on a beautiful day for football.

The Argos didn't play particularly well, and the offence struggled to find rhythm with backup QB Nick Arbuckle at the helm. The defence struggled to contain the Stamps QB on scramble plays that resulted in critical first downs after backing them up to long yardage. 

The dog show at halftime was arguably more entertaining than the game - mainly small dogs doing frisbee tricks with trainers but also racing an obstacle course at midfield.

In the end, the 29-19 score wasn't as close at it seemed, with Toronto mounting some late game offence when it was too late, including a few Hail Mary attempts into the endzone right in front of us. Calgary was the better team on this day and we filed out of the stadium.

After securing an Uber along Lake Shore, we hit the hotel for the night (Don Valley Hotel and Suites) and settled in to watch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals - Edmonton lost to Florida to go down 3-2 in the series - and some UFC.

The next morning, we headed back downtown and had lunch at the Loose Moose before touring the nearby Hockey Hall of Fame. Ironically, we saw The Cup the day before it headed down to Florida for Game 6, from which it did not return as Florida won the game handily to repeat as Champions.

I bid adieu to my companions as they headed back north. I returned to the Loose Moose to kill some time with beer and a Jays game while awaiting my late afternoon train. We made a little better time on the return trip but were still about 20 minutes behind schedule, pulling into Chatham about 9:15pm. Clearly I am spoiled by European trains and their efficiency!

Jane was waiting to pick me up and the whirlwind weekend was over as I arrived home in time to round up the garbage, set up the coffee, and head to bed for another work week.

Boarding the train in Chatham

Union Station in Toronto

Downtown T.O.!

Hectic entrance to BMO Field

Great seats!

The Stampeders take the field

The Grey Cup is in the house!

Celebrating the Grey Cup at the home opener

CFL action!

Guys weekend at the Argos game

The Argos celebrate!

Hail Mary!

The Loose Moose

Hockey Hall of Fame

My second Cup in less than 24 hours!

Arriving back in Chatham

Merch and Bling!

June Swoon

June was a blur as the season's first art shows came and went, along with numerous trips to London to visit with Dave in the hospital. We also had to move him out of his retirement residence as we wait to find out where a bed will eventually emerge in long-term care.

The lawn and yard got some overdue attention, and the garden was worked and planted - all tomatoes again. The process of frantically making more art to replace the art we sold recently is a daily effort, ahead of the upcoming shows.

We made time to go check out the Market on Mill with some friends, enjoying some drinks at Cured followed by a nice dinner at Crave. 

We seem to have more birds than ever this year, including swallows nesting out front and sparrows nesting out back. We even have hummingbirds outside the living room window!

The sun and summer heat are definitely here - and so is the season's first sun-oven meal!

Art in the Park

The Market on Mill

Cured's own Stout

The bloom is on the rose(s)!

Yellowstone on the back deck!

Moving Dave out of Oak Crossing

Sun oven chicken!

Wales - Holyhead (and Dublin and Home)

The train ride from Conwy to Holyhead was scenic, as we continued to follow the Welsh coast westward. With the water to our right, the hills to our left, and the train tunnels, the roughly one-hour rail ride did not disappoint. We arrived in Holyhead and left the station with luggage in tow, heading across the Celtic Gateway Bridge and into the town.

We had secured a night at the Hut Seafront Inn - nothing fancy, but certainly in a good location very near to the Stena ferry for tomorrow's crossing to Dublin. Holyhead was rather more "industrial" than Conwy, and had the run-down feel of a port town. Once we dropped our luggage, we wandered the downtown to witness the many closed or vacant shops, while stopping for a pint at the very authentic George Hotel.

Returning to our room, we opted for pizza and several beers for dinner downstairs at The Old Shipping Office pub, where we were pretty much their only customers. Once again, the common refrain from many bartenders on the trip was "Are you OK?", meaning "do you need anything?". After a pleasant stay, we turned in early without unpacking anything, in preparation for the morning's ferry crossing.

We left early the next morning to walk to the nearby ferry, only to discover that you can't actually walk to the boat due to port security, but rather have to walk all the way back to the train station to catch a shuttle bus back past the Hut Seafront Inn to the boat. Luckily we left ourselves extra time, as in the end we needed it. We grabbed our first coffee at the train station and Jane regaled the staff with details of her knee replacements as we passed through the security checkpoint - given that we were transiting from post-Brexit UK back to the EU.

Once on board the ferry Stena Adventurer, we found the cafeteria and shared a nice breakfast as the vessel glided away from Wales. We moved to the forward lounge to enjoy the sunny crossing as we traversed the becalmed Irish Sea. I even had a Guinness to celebrate our triumphant return to the Emerald Isle.

We passed through a long breakwall that corralled us into the River Liffey, and the very busy port of Dublin. Disembarking the ship, we quickly found a taxi and were whisked by a very friendly driver (distant cousin to Mark Carney no less) to the Metro Hotel Dublin Airport in Ballymun, our last stop of the trip.

We checked in and unpacked EVERYTHING, to re-jig, organize and repack one last time for the flight home. Jane used the vacuum bags to minimize as much bulk as possible. We also crossed the street to grab a few travel snacks at a convenience store/pharmacy (Dealz), including stumbling across Walnut Whips for our cat-care lady! With the bags sorted, we went downstairs and had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant....and returned later in the evening for chicken wings and one last Guinness in Ireland.

The next morning saw light drizzle, literally the first real rain of the entire trip. The free airport shuttle hit a mechanical snag, but the hotel called us a taxi at their expense, and we shared a nice ride with a Galway girl and a German tourist who occasionally pet-sits on Vancouver Island. Arriving at Terminal 1, it was "suggested" that we check at least one of our carry-on bags, given that the flight was full. 

Airport security was very hectic, with little room to collect oneself afterwards with no belt and no shoes. Both of our personal items (very small backpacks) triggered a closer inspection - Jane's because she forgot she had a bottle of pop in hers, mine because in th words of the older Supervisor, the young staff working the screening machine did not recognize two odd devices - my point and shoot digital cameras.

Once through security , Jane hit Duty Free for some souvenir Irish liqueurs for John (Coole Swan and Five Farms) and an Irish whisky sampler plus the obligatory Fruit & Nut bars for Heather. We ended up checking our other carry-on at the gate, since we already had to collect a checked bag.

We loaded from the tarmac into the rear of the Westjet plane (seats 29 A,B) for a pleasant 7-hour flight home, landing in Toronto in early afternoon local time. Once on the ground, roughly half the plane unloaded before someone apparently fell in the gangway, causing a 75-minute delay for a medical emergency. Customs was smooth thanks to the ArriveCan app. Due to the delay, our bags were waiting for us and we quickly boarded the airport tram back to Bucky Dent waiting in the Viscount lot. 

Other than a bit of traffic in the GTA, the drive home was uneventful and after a quick dinner stop at Mary Brown's in Woodstock, we arrived home around 7pm (midnight for us!). The cats were happy and the lawn was out of control, as the guy we had hired to cut the grass in our absence clearly had NOT. 

On the whole, what a truly memorable experience to celebrate our 25th Anniversary!!!  :)

Catching the afternoon train from Conwy to Holyhead

Holyhead train station

Celtic Gateway Bridge to Holyhead

Hut Seafront Inn

Downtown Holyhead

Holyhead War Memorial

Good place for a pint!

Shuttle bus from the train station to the Stena ferry 

Leaving Holyhead behind

Breakfast on Board!

Entering the River Liffey

Arriving back in Dublin!

Final repack for the flight home

Last Supper at Metro Hotel Dublin Airport

Westjet Dublin to Toronto

Home to out of control lawn

Just missing the Guinness!