Finally we had a nice day with no rain... wow... felt good! We decided right out of the box to jump on our motorcycles today, and head up to check out the Town of St. Marys.
It is only a 40 minute drive north west of us, very close to Stratford.
This is the old Water Tower, which is still in use from what I can tell. The wording is "A Town Worth Living In!"
As we made our way to the downtown core... I was really impressed with the old buildings! They look great. The Castle looking building above was the old Town Opera House, built with local stone in 1879. It has now been converted into an apartment building... too bad. Guess there was not enough business for the Opera House to run.
One of the reasons we wanted to come here, was to check out the Thames River. It runs right through St. Marys and we thought for sure there might be some good kayaking here, and there is. You can launch right from the Town Park located downtown. We found a couple of people kayaking down there today.
The Thames River is quite wide here, and heads north for quite a way... great spot to boat.
HOWEVER... I am not sure we are ready for the water you see above here... yikes... might need a turbo boost.
The Town bills the picture above, as the biggest swimming pool outdoors in Canada! Everyone has a claim to fame. It is built on an old quarry pitt. It is all stone and is huge... The kids were having a ball as you can see. They have water slides and everythig here...
St. Marys was founded way back in 1839 by a man by the name of Thomas Ingersoll, who turns out to be a Brother of Laura Secord of all people. Thomas built a grist mill right where the downtown core is. This mill drove the economy and eventual development of St. Marys. If you look at the picture below, you can see the original grist mill wheel... still there! Hasn't turned an inch in years now!
And I bet you didn't know that St. Marys is the home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame! Now you know!
Had a fantastic day, enjoyed the sights, and will be back.
Till tomorrow...
Posted with Blogsy
just love the St. Mary's area such a scenic area. Lots of neat old towns here in southern Ontario to explore. enjoy the great weather.
ReplyDeleteNice tour of St. Mary's. These little gems exist all over Canada and the US.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, John, St. Mary's looks like a perfect little town.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you'd want to be heading for those waterfalls in your kayaks!