On a recent weekend, we found ourselves in the midst of a rare warm and sunny day (for this fall anyway!) and decided to head into Westdale to grab a coffee and take the dog for a spin around the neighbourhood.
We, admittedly, aren’t too familiar with the ins and outs of Westdale, apart from King Street West, and vaguely remembered there being some parkland in behind the houses, so we headed due north with our coffees in hand and the puppy in tow.
A block or two up from the coffee shop, we came upon a large field to the right, and a park straight ahead. Then a trail marker caught our eyes.
It was the Royal Botanical Gardens’ “Ravine Road Trail”.
In spite of all of my Hamilton travels, explorations and research, I have to admit I didn’t really know the extent of the RBG's series of trails.
Of course, we had to check it out. So, in we went.
All of a sudden, we were out of Hamilton, and in the middle of a beautiful, forested trail. The leaves were changing colour, people were walking dogs, it was quiet and peaceful and it smelled like fall. It was perfect.
As previously mentioned, we checked out the Rail Trail over the summer, and while we enjoyed it, the RBG trails were beyond our expectations. Where the Rail Trail (at least the part we were in) was largely open to the elements (on that particular day, the sun beating down on us), the trail behind Westdale is shaded, leafy, and in some parts, it seems you can walk for miles without running into a single soul.
The best part is, this trail network is huge – so huge, in fact, that we didn’t know how long it would take us to get back to our starting point if we continued on the trail. (With a young dog, this is a serious consideration. We didn’t want to have to carry her back!) It’s a real pity we didn’t have a map with us, because we ended up turning around just to be safe. Who knows what we missed out on further down the trail!
Needless to say, there is a lot more exploring for us to do here in future.
I love when you’re expecting a certain thing and what you end up getting exceeds all expectations. That was this trail for us. It was so far beyond what we were hoping to find that afternoon, and the dog adored it. It made our Saturday.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Doggies in The Hammer
I’ll admit, the pace of our “Hamilton exploration” has slowed recently, and no, its not because we’ve seen it all or that we've powered through our 'must-see' list already.
We’ve got a new family member of the four-legged variety, who is keeping us close to home and exploring the four corners of the backyard and every leaf and stick in the neighbourhood.
As a result, my newest obsession is finding out how “dog friendly” Hamilton is - looking for places around the city that we’ll be able to take our pup when she gets older - to run, exercise, socialize with other dogs and have fun.
There are the obvious places we can go in the car – pet stores, the cottage, etc. But as residents of an urban neighbourhood, what we are really looking for is walkability when it comes to activities – namely, dog parks and nice walks around our immediate area.
I read this article on OpenFile Hamilton (a site that I write for quite often), which reported on a new dog park in the North end of the city, but raised the issue of the lack of dog parks in general, in Hamilton's core.
According to the city, these are our options. While one isn’t too far from where we live, I was initially surprised that a city as large as Hamilton doesn’t have more dog parks and off-leash areas available.
It seems as though the subject of dog parks comes up often in the city, with new ones seemingly springing up every once in awhile. Of course, I’d like to see more (in various corners of the city – because, like her parents, my dog likes to explore new places from time to time!)
I know from my days in Toronto that this can be a long and arduous process in some neighbourhoods (just finding the space can be difficult). Anyway, in the meantime, we’ll soon be taking her to each one, so she (and her human parents) can acquaint ourselves with the canine side of Hamilton.
If you know of any other great dog friendly spots in the city, please share!
We’ve got a new family member of the four-legged variety, who is keeping us close to home and exploring the four corners of the backyard and every leaf and stick in the neighbourhood.
As a result, my newest obsession is finding out how “dog friendly” Hamilton is - looking for places around the city that we’ll be able to take our pup when she gets older - to run, exercise, socialize with other dogs and have fun.
There are the obvious places we can go in the car – pet stores, the cottage, etc. But as residents of an urban neighbourhood, what we are really looking for is walkability when it comes to activities – namely, dog parks and nice walks around our immediate area.
I read this article on OpenFile Hamilton (a site that I write for quite often), which reported on a new dog park in the North end of the city, but raised the issue of the lack of dog parks in general, in Hamilton's core.
According to the city, these are our options. While one isn’t too far from where we live, I was initially surprised that a city as large as Hamilton doesn’t have more dog parks and off-leash areas available.
It seems as though the subject of dog parks comes up often in the city, with new ones seemingly springing up every once in awhile. Of course, I’d like to see more (in various corners of the city – because, like her parents, my dog likes to explore new places from time to time!)
I know from my days in Toronto that this can be a long and arduous process in some neighbourhoods (just finding the space can be difficult). Anyway, in the meantime, we’ll soon be taking her to each one, so she (and her human parents) can acquaint ourselves with the canine side of Hamilton.
If you know of any other great dog friendly spots in the city, please share!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Super Duper Saturday
It was called Super Saturday, Superb Saturday – and one person even called it Hamilton’s Christmas – Saturday September 10: the day when the Supercrawl and the Locke Street Festival converged on downtown, bringing thousands of Hamiltonians and tourists out to experience the best of the core.
Like good downtown residents, hubby and I hit up both of these extravaganzas on Saturday, starting with the Locke Street Festival. First impressions: I’ve never seen so many people on Locke Street. I mean, it was crowded, packed and hopping – and that was at noon (ie: when it had just started).
Every store on the street had set up a booth outside, selling their various wares, which means – you guessed it – there were tons of amazing food options on offer.
We each opted for something on Locke Street we’d never tried before (I was surprised that there was something we haven’t yet tried, but it was true). I had a hotdog from Beach Road, and hubby tried the NaRoma pizza. Both were tasty and fulfilled their objectives (ie: we’ll likely be making return trips to these establishments in the future).
We loved the festival vibe on Locke Street – live music, a patio at West Town, cupcakes galore – it had the feel of any street party we’d been to in Toronto or London – but somehow better and more community-focused.
After savouring the best of Locke Street, we headed home to recharge and get out of the sun for a bit, then ventured out to James Street North for the much-anticipated and talked about Supercrawl.
I had heard about Supercrawl for what seemed like months. When we moved here, nearly everyone mentioned that we should visit the Art Crawl, but that in September, there was the mother-of-all art crawls that couldn’t possibly be missed.
Well, with all the hype on Twitter and in the community in general ahead of Supercrawl, we couldn’t possibly miss it. We got there, and it was like the art crawl on steroids. The art crawl and so much more. There were street vendors everywhere, huge grandstands with music blaring, the usual galleries open for a browse around, yummy food options – it was fabulous. About the only thing James St. N. was missing that Locke Street had (or maybe I missed it) was a patio right on the street somewhere, so people could have a drink and enjoy the bands.
What a stellar weekend to be a HamOnt-ian! Can't wait to enjoy more.
Like good downtown residents, hubby and I hit up both of these extravaganzas on Saturday, starting with the Locke Street Festival. First impressions: I’ve never seen so many people on Locke Street. I mean, it was crowded, packed and hopping – and that was at noon (ie: when it had just started).
Every store on the street had set up a booth outside, selling their various wares, which means – you guessed it – there were tons of amazing food options on offer.
We each opted for something on Locke Street we’d never tried before (I was surprised that there was something we haven’t yet tried, but it was true). I had a hotdog from Beach Road, and hubby tried the NaRoma pizza. Both were tasty and fulfilled their objectives (ie: we’ll likely be making return trips to these establishments in the future).
We loved the festival vibe on Locke Street – live music, a patio at West Town, cupcakes galore – it had the feel of any street party we’d been to in Toronto or London – but somehow better and more community-focused.
After savouring the best of Locke Street, we headed home to recharge and get out of the sun for a bit, then ventured out to James Street North for the much-anticipated and talked about Supercrawl.
I had heard about Supercrawl for what seemed like months. When we moved here, nearly everyone mentioned that we should visit the Art Crawl, but that in September, there was the mother-of-all art crawls that couldn’t possibly be missed.
Well, with all the hype on Twitter and in the community in general ahead of Supercrawl, we couldn’t possibly miss it. We got there, and it was like the art crawl on steroids. The art crawl and so much more. There were street vendors everywhere, huge grandstands with music blaring, the usual galleries open for a browse around, yummy food options – it was fabulous. About the only thing James St. N. was missing that Locke Street had (or maybe I missed it) was a patio right on the street somewhere, so people could have a drink and enjoy the bands.
What a stellar weekend to be a HamOnt-ian! Can't wait to enjoy more.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The End of Summer (or Hamilton's endless summer?)
In Toronto, the “universally” accepted definition of the end of summer is the arrival of the CNE – the Ex. Personally, the Ex has never really been a part of my end of summer traditions (ie: I’ve obviously been, but its not a tradition), but without fail, when it comes to town, talk of school starting and the arrival of fall are not far behind.
This led me to wonder about the equivalent “end of summer” sign in Hamilton. What I do know is that Hamilton had a ton of summer festivals, and we managed to make it to a great deal of them, as mentioned in previous posts – Its Your Festival, Festival of Friends, BuskerFest and most recently, the Augusta Block Party (awesome chili cook-off!) and the Winona Peach Festival (which, as an aside, was much bigger than we thought it would be!)
My conclusion is that Hamilton doesn’t really have an end of summer tradition (not that I’m aware of anyway), but the party seems to continue into fall, with exciting events like the Locke Street Festival and the James Street North Supercrawl to look forward to in the next couple of weeks, along with all of the usual pumpkin and apple-related events that fall seems to bring. I’m particularly interested to see how James Street North hosts such a large event, with concerts and the like.
Looking forward to our first autumn in The Hammer! If you know of any other great end of summer or early fall events that we should check out, please let me know!
This led me to wonder about the equivalent “end of summer” sign in Hamilton. What I do know is that Hamilton had a ton of summer festivals, and we managed to make it to a great deal of them, as mentioned in previous posts – Its Your Festival, Festival of Friends, BuskerFest and most recently, the Augusta Block Party (awesome chili cook-off!) and the Winona Peach Festival (which, as an aside, was much bigger than we thought it would be!)
My conclusion is that Hamilton doesn’t really have an end of summer tradition (not that I’m aware of anyway), but the party seems to continue into fall, with exciting events like the Locke Street Festival and the James Street North Supercrawl to look forward to in the next couple of weeks, along with all of the usual pumpkin and apple-related events that fall seems to bring. I’m particularly interested to see how James Street North hosts such a large event, with concerts and the like.
Looking forward to our first autumn in The Hammer! If you know of any other great end of summer or early fall events that we should check out, please let me know!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Festival of Friends and a very Hamilton weekend
Here we are, at the end of a VERY Hamiltonian weekend.
I have to admit that the original plan this weekend was to head into Toronto. Since Ontario Place announced that they would have free admission all summer long, we have been trying to make time to go (its one of my favourite childhood places, and I wanted to check it out again) and decided we would try this weekend.
It didn't happen.
Leading up to Friday, we were constantly hearing about the "Festival of Friends" and how wonderful it is. One person on Twitter called it "the essence of Hamilton"...with a description like that, we decided we had no choice but to check it out. I was also intrigued by the name "Festival of Friends"...as an aside, early on in our Hamilton experience, I observed that all of the festivals in Hamilton have very interesting names (case in point: "It's Your Festival"...)
After some serious navigating on Saturday afternoon, we found Ancaster Fairgrounds, parked in the field for $6 (pretty reasonable, compared to what you'd be charged in the T-dot for a similar event) and headed into the festival for FREE.
It was pretty much what you'd expect - lots of food, vendors, a carnival, and of course, music.
What made it unique though, was the Hamilton-ness of it all...by this, I mean that a lot of the vendors were local companies I recognized from Twitter (Gorilla Cheese and Cupcake Diner, for example), which gave us the opportunity to try a variety of awesome local eats. We were also able to buy some local decorative-type items for our new place.
Eventually, we settled down with a beer in the fenced-in beer garden (a concept I think is pretty silly, but that's for another time...) and listened to the afternoon band playing on the main stage. While we didn't see any "friends" at this festival, it was great to be able to enjoy some Hamilton-specific summer activities.
As a result of fortunate timing (a complete fluke, really!) we managed to get out of there before the massive rainstorm came down, and I imagine everyone would have been crowding into the craft vendor buildings...
I hear that this festival used to be held in Gage Park...I can't even imagine what that would have done to traffic in the area, given how many people were at Ancaster Fairgrounds on Saturday. Hubby thinks Hamilton should try to get the Festival of Friends back to Gage Park, as long as there's enough transit available to take people there. At the moment, I think Ancaster Fairgrounds is probably the right place for it -basically, there's more parking, although I'm sure that more transit from various parts of town to this festival (in the middle of nowhere) would be welcome.
Anyway, I conclude that: Festival of Friends + mucho eating out in Hamilton + working on our Hamilton house = we're officially Hamiltonians now :)
I have to admit that the original plan this weekend was to head into Toronto. Since Ontario Place announced that they would have free admission all summer long, we have been trying to make time to go (its one of my favourite childhood places, and I wanted to check it out again) and decided we would try this weekend.
It didn't happen.
Leading up to Friday, we were constantly hearing about the "Festival of Friends" and how wonderful it is. One person on Twitter called it "the essence of Hamilton"...with a description like that, we decided we had no choice but to check it out. I was also intrigued by the name "Festival of Friends"...as an aside, early on in our Hamilton experience, I observed that all of the festivals in Hamilton have very interesting names (case in point: "It's Your Festival"...)
After some serious navigating on Saturday afternoon, we found Ancaster Fairgrounds, parked in the field for $6 (pretty reasonable, compared to what you'd be charged in the T-dot for a similar event) and headed into the festival for FREE.
It was pretty much what you'd expect - lots of food, vendors, a carnival, and of course, music.
What made it unique though, was the Hamilton-ness of it all...by this, I mean that a lot of the vendors were local companies I recognized from Twitter (Gorilla Cheese and Cupcake Diner, for example), which gave us the opportunity to try a variety of awesome local eats. We were also able to buy some local decorative-type items for our new place.
Eventually, we settled down with a beer in the fenced-in beer garden (a concept I think is pretty silly, but that's for another time...) and listened to the afternoon band playing on the main stage. While we didn't see any "friends" at this festival, it was great to be able to enjoy some Hamilton-specific summer activities.
As a result of fortunate timing (a complete fluke, really!) we managed to get out of there before the massive rainstorm came down, and I imagine everyone would have been crowding into the craft vendor buildings...
I hear that this festival used to be held in Gage Park...I can't even imagine what that would have done to traffic in the area, given how many people were at Ancaster Fairgrounds on Saturday. Hubby thinks Hamilton should try to get the Festival of Friends back to Gage Park, as long as there's enough transit available to take people there. At the moment, I think Ancaster Fairgrounds is probably the right place for it -basically, there's more parking, although I'm sure that more transit from various parts of town to this festival (in the middle of nowhere) would be welcome.
Anyway, I conclude that: Festival of Friends + mucho eating out in Hamilton + working on our Hamilton house = we're officially Hamiltonians now :)
Sunday, July 17, 2011
More culinary adventures in The Hammer
To be honest, the trials, tribulations and general craziness involved with moving house have monopolized my time in recent weeks (specifically, my time for having fun and blogging).
Something else that moving has resulted in, however, is the chance to try new restaurants (sometimes after painting or putting stuff away, cooking is the last thing we want to do!)
I'm not saying you have to move to a new house or new city to get excited about discovering different restaurants (we were still exploring new places in Toronto after nearly five years), but in Hamilton, we have had a blank slate with no preconceived ideas about what's good, new or the latest 'cool' place to eat. We've been relying on online reviews as well as recommendations from people we know.
As I've said before, I'm no restaurant reviewer. But as someone who enjoys discovering new gems, here are a few places we've been to recently that merit a return visit!
Having never tried Ethiopian food before, I honestly didn't know what kinds of flavours and foods to expect when my husband suggested we try Wass Ethiopian on James Street South one night, after he saw it mentioned on Twitter. I was super intrigued and excited to try it out.
We visited Wass on a random weeknight and instantly felt welcomed and comfortable. The restaurant is unassuming, but the food is an awesome adventure. We ordered one of the combination platters (meat and vegetarian dishes) and dug in with our hands. The flavours were fantastic.
Given that we went to Wass in the evening (and if I drink coffee after 7pm I don't sleep!) we didn't get to partake in the famous Ethiopian coffee that night. This alone means we'll be making a return trip, but rest assured, we'll be going back for the food too!!
In Toronto, we were blessed to have lived in a neighbourhood with THREE awesome Indian restaurants. Since we moved to Hamilton last winter, we had been on the hunt for something comparable.
After craving it one night, we did a quick internet search and noticed some particularly great reviews for The Flavour of Himalaya on King William Street downtown.
We decided to go for it, and ended up having a fabulous Indian meal for less than $30 for the two of us (and hubby even got a beer.) Incredible.
While we've found these great restaurants which may become Hamilton faves, we're still on the hunt for an awesome wine bar or bistro-type place. (And as always, are always keeping our eyes peeled for more of our faves: sushi restaurants or BBQ places).
Any and all suggestions and reviews are welcome :)
Something else that moving has resulted in, however, is the chance to try new restaurants (sometimes after painting or putting stuff away, cooking is the last thing we want to do!)
I'm not saying you have to move to a new house or new city to get excited about discovering different restaurants (we were still exploring new places in Toronto after nearly five years), but in Hamilton, we have had a blank slate with no preconceived ideas about what's good, new or the latest 'cool' place to eat. We've been relying on online reviews as well as recommendations from people we know.
As I've said before, I'm no restaurant reviewer. But as someone who enjoys discovering new gems, here are a few places we've been to recently that merit a return visit!
Having never tried Ethiopian food before, I honestly didn't know what kinds of flavours and foods to expect when my husband suggested we try Wass Ethiopian on James Street South one night, after he saw it mentioned on Twitter. I was super intrigued and excited to try it out.
We visited Wass on a random weeknight and instantly felt welcomed and comfortable. The restaurant is unassuming, but the food is an awesome adventure. We ordered one of the combination platters (meat and vegetarian dishes) and dug in with our hands. The flavours were fantastic.
Given that we went to Wass in the evening (and if I drink coffee after 7pm I don't sleep!) we didn't get to partake in the famous Ethiopian coffee that night. This alone means we'll be making a return trip, but rest assured, we'll be going back for the food too!!
In Toronto, we were blessed to have lived in a neighbourhood with THREE awesome Indian restaurants. Since we moved to Hamilton last winter, we had been on the hunt for something comparable.
After craving it one night, we did a quick internet search and noticed some particularly great reviews for The Flavour of Himalaya on King William Street downtown.
We decided to go for it, and ended up having a fabulous Indian meal for less than $30 for the two of us (and hubby even got a beer.) Incredible.
While we've found these great restaurants which may become Hamilton faves, we're still on the hunt for an awesome wine bar or bistro-type place. (And as always, are always keeping our eyes peeled for more of our faves: sushi restaurants or BBQ places).
Any and all suggestions and reviews are welcome :)
Friday, July 8, 2011
Hamilton's history and my old house
For someone who grew up in the suburbs where most buildings dated from the 1970s or later, my recent move into a 100-year old Hamilton house has proved to be both exciting and daunting.
On the one hand, the house needs work, as most 100-year old houses do (and I’m sure this will never end!).
But my fascination for history and interesting stories has had me champing at the bit, since before we moved in, to find out more about this place – who built it? Who has lived here over the past century and what did they do for a living?
Essentially, I’m excited to discover more about Hamilton’s own history through my old house.
While we do have plans to research the house’s past properly through the city’s records, a quick walk around the place provides some evidence of the house’s (and Hamilton’s) evolution – a bricked-up old door to where we think the "service entrance" to the kitchen used to be, a conversion into apartments at some point, various additions and removals and now, big plans to eventually convert it back to its former glory.
Over the years, I’ve heard stories of people unearthing treasures and random artefacts from days gone by when fixing up houses like this. I was excited to start our exploration and see what we could find.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to renovate anything to get the first clues into the history of our house. This started on the day we moved in. Tucked up between some pipes in the basement, my husband found a little book on the history of the British Royal family, ending at King George VI and praising the power of radio communication for its impact and ability to broadcast the King’s Coronation ceremony around the globe. The book’s publication date was 1937 and it was perfectly preserved.
One day later, he was putting more things away in the basement and came across something even older – the top of a wooden crate, with someone’s army rank, name and our address stencilled on it. I knew it was ancient – the postal code was a different format than we’re used to.
As any amateur history buff might do, I instantly Googled the man’s name. It turns out he served in World War I – likely the first owner of this house, or their son. I find it absolutely fascinating that, through a century’s worth of owners, renters and renovations, these pieces of history have survived intact in our house.
I’m hoping these are just the first of many clues into our property’s past, and that we get a few more glimpses into early 20th century Hamiltonian life.
Have you found any interesting relics from the past in your old Hamilton house or apartment?
This post was originally published on OpenFile Hamilton's website.
On the one hand, the house needs work, as most 100-year old houses do (and I’m sure this will never end!).
But my fascination for history and interesting stories has had me champing at the bit, since before we moved in, to find out more about this place – who built it? Who has lived here over the past century and what did they do for a living?
Essentially, I’m excited to discover more about Hamilton’s own history through my old house.
While we do have plans to research the house’s past properly through the city’s records, a quick walk around the place provides some evidence of the house’s (and Hamilton’s) evolution – a bricked-up old door to where we think the "service entrance" to the kitchen used to be, a conversion into apartments at some point, various additions and removals and now, big plans to eventually convert it back to its former glory.
Over the years, I’ve heard stories of people unearthing treasures and random artefacts from days gone by when fixing up houses like this. I was excited to start our exploration and see what we could find.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to renovate anything to get the first clues into the history of our house. This started on the day we moved in. Tucked up between some pipes in the basement, my husband found a little book on the history of the British Royal family, ending at King George VI and praising the power of radio communication for its impact and ability to broadcast the King’s Coronation ceremony around the globe. The book’s publication date was 1937 and it was perfectly preserved.
One day later, he was putting more things away in the basement and came across something even older – the top of a wooden crate, with someone’s army rank, name and our address stencilled on it. I knew it was ancient – the postal code was a different format than we’re used to.
As any amateur history buff might do, I instantly Googled the man’s name. It turns out he served in World War I – likely the first owner of this house, or their son. I find it absolutely fascinating that, through a century’s worth of owners, renters and renovations, these pieces of history have survived intact in our house.
I’m hoping these are just the first of many clues into our property’s past, and that we get a few more glimpses into early 20th century Hamiltonian life.
Have you found any interesting relics from the past in your old Hamilton house or apartment?
This post was originally published on OpenFile Hamilton's website.
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