One year later….

Well – its official. It has been one year since we packed up our place in T.O. and drove down the 403 to settle in Hamilton.

Does this mean we’re no longer newbies here?

I don’t think so. Sure – I know a lot more about the ins and outs of Hamilton than I did 12 months ago, but there is still a lot to learn…

I started this blog with the goal of documenting our travels as we explored our new home – everything from restaurants to tourist attractions and day-to-day Hamilton experiences.

Ultimately, we didn’t want to be hermits in our new town. So we made a point of seeing and experiencing everything we could.

In the last year, this has included, but is not limited to: skating, Dundurn Castle, the farmer’s market, trails, art crawls, the art gallery, Dundas, Ancaster, Ottawa Street, Locke Street, the waterfront, Supercrawls, festivals galore, Legions, Tweet ups and parties, rock climbing (and of course, the dog parks.)

We also found great Ethiopian food, BBQ restaurants, Japanese restaurants, coffee pubs, regular pubs and more. We’ve met loads of awesome people – some that grew up in Hamilton, others that are newbies like us – all intent on enjoying this city and making it the best it can be.

And to top it all off, we literally became invested in Hamilton.

We haven’t seen it all. Not by a long shot. Hamilton is a smaller city, sure. And after a year of serious exploring, we’ve scratched the surface. We’re comfortable – we know where to go for groceries, a beer, a fun Friday night, or to get out into nature for an afternoon.

But there’s more. For instance, I learned the first week we were here that Hamilton is a city of waterfalls. I will sheepishly admit that I haven’t yet gone to see one of these. Definitely on the list for 2012.

There are loads of great restaurants that we’ve yet to try out – in all corners of the city. There are more trails to discover, some festivals to attend that we didn’t make it to in 2011.

In short, it has been an eventful and busy first year for us in Hamilton. Much like the city itself, we’ve had good times and bad. But our quest to find the best that Hamilton has to offer is far from over. It seems we’re here for the long haul.