And On To Owen Sound…
We got up around 8:30 today to find another bright and sunny day in Ontario!
We showered and got ready for the day, then made our way over to the nearby A&W to pick up breakfast. Returning to the hotel with our breakfast, we quickly demolished it (the breakfast, not the hotel) – not too bad for fast food.
At about 10:00 we started to pack everything up and got ready to vacate our Collingwood base. We made our way down to the lobby and checked out of Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham Collingwood at about 10:30. What a pleasant stay here! Really enjoyed it.
Vince set his phone’s GPS for the Best Western hotel in Owen Sound and we hit the road. It was an extremely pleasant drive from Collingwood to Owen Sound, and no driving mishaps this time. We thoroughly enjoyed the hour-long trip – the roadsides were dotted with corn farms and the odd dairy farm, which were interesting to check out. The roads were very smooth having recently been repaved.
We reached Owen Sound without incident at about 11:30. We first went to the Best Western Inn on the Bay to see if we might check in early. Our room was not yet ready, however, but the Receptionist took my cell number and said she’d call when the room was ready.
We left the mighty Durango in the hotel’s parking lot and set out on foot for Owen Sound’s downtown. It was roughly Noon so we were in search of a hearty lunch. To reach the downtown we passed by Owen Sound’s harbour:
There was a huge container ship docked in the harbour, of which I took several pictures:
We reached downtown and wandered what appeared to be the main street(s) of the town in search of a good place to eat. We decided to try a place we found called Sizzlin Restaurant – it was absolutely freaking awesome!! From the staff to the food, the ambiance and decor, everything was great. Vince had a Vegetarian Wrap and I had a B.L.T. – really delicious. Just after lunch the Receptionist from the hotel called my cell to say that our room was ready.
The next stop after lunch was the local DQ (of course!). I had been waiting a long time for this – I had a large cherry Sundae and Vince actually ordered something – a medium chocolate-dip cone. All was consumed in record time!
By this time it was about 3:30. We decided to return to the hotel to check in, so we walked back through town in that direction. We walked along 3rd Street for a long while – very mixed housing and conditions on this street, ranging from white-trash flop houses to restored mansions.
Our hotel was out of the centre and it took about 20-25 minutes on foot to reach it. When we got back to the hotel we unloaded our stuff from the vehicle and checked in. We were given a room on the second floor (#211) with 1 Queen bed and a sofa bed, but no mini-kitchen. What a comedown after having been spoiled by the last 2 hotels with King-size beds and kitchen suites [if you’d like to read my TripAdvisor review of the Best Western Inn on the Bay, click here].
We unpacked and got comfortable, then decided to stroll north along the waterfront path, also known locally as the Tom Thomson Trail. It was a lovely walk and we seemed to be the only ones around:
It was a blustery day on the waterfront so the waves were really rolling in to the shore. We followed the beachfront path until it came to a dead end, then circled back on a different street, returning to the hotel.
We decided to go to the local Metro to get a few food supplies, so we bypassed the hotel and walked on the waterfront path down to the grocery store. We bought drinks, apples and granola bars, then returned along the waterfront path to the hotel – I was getting pretty tired by this point, so was glad to hit the hotel.
Returning to our room we rested a while. Our intent for tonight’s dinner was to eat in the dining room of the hotel. At about 6:00 we went downstairs to the dining room. We were greeted and asked if we had reservations – well, of course we didn’t. The host said they were full up (due to reduced tables because of COVID restrictions) and that we had to make a reservation. We were told, though, that we could call in a food order to the dining room’s restaurant from our room and they would prepare it; we could then take it back and eat in our room.
We went back to our room and looked at the restaurant menu. We decided on a Grilled Chicken Club (Vince) and Fish & Chips (me), so I went down to the restaurant and placed our order. Staff in the restaurant said they’d call our room when the order was ready. They were as good as their word and the phone rang about 25 minutes later. I went down and retrieved the food and we ate the best we could, slouched over the coffee table – thankfully the food was quite good. It was about 8:00 when we finished our meal; this is late for us, but it was OK given the circumstances – at least we didn’t have to head out again in search of food.
We spent the rest of the evening reading, listening to RadioTunes and catching up on this journal (me). Really tired tonight (it’s all this walking and fresh air!), so early to bed again.
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