Home From Honeymooning

Once again this morning, our breakfast consisted of the goodies found in the mini fridge in our room. We arrived back home in Breslau around 1pm and relaxed. The rest of the day was spent relaxing while Heather also engaged in handing out Halloween candy to kids. It was a weekend getaway that we don't get to do very often but it was worth every penny to spend this time together.

Kicking Around Port Stanley

This weekend's breakfasts was courtesy of the hotel and the basket of goods that were in the room every morning included bread, juice, fruit, etc. At around 10am, we left the room to explore the town and to allow housekeeping do its job. The conditions outside were very windy and somewhat chilly. We walked in the direction of Lake Erie and even made it to the beach which was mere minutes from the inn. Despite the uncooperative weather there were a couple of brave souls in the water, albeit in wetsuits, waiting for a wave to surf on.

Jackson's Fish Market.

From the beach we walked from shop to shop including art galleries, bakeries, souvenir stores etc. Pretty much anywhere we went this weekend was within shouting distance of where we were staying. Just before noon we ended up at the train station where we inquired about train rides.

Port Stanley train station.

We ended up buying tickets for the 1:30 ride. The two car train took us on a few kilometer ride through the back country of Elgin County. We rode in the closed car (open was an option too but the weather wasn't ideal) to a station called Whytes Park which consisted of nothing more than a snowplow engine and an old circus car sitting on the sidelines.

Circus car.

I should also mention that the tour guide was a retired engineer that worked for CN for many years including a stint in Sudbury. From the train station we explored more of the town by visiting a local pizza joint Godfather's and an ice cream shop. In the evening, we again went out for supper to nearby Mickey's boathouse where in addition to a fine dinner we were entertained by a pair of local musicians, Mike & Michelle, playing their acoustic versions of well known classics like "Turn the Page", "Brown Eyed Girl", etc.

Official Anniversary Weekend Begins

As mentioned previously, Heather and I had an anniversary getaway a week after our actual anniversary date. But before we left, we still had to go to work and my office had various activities to celebrate Halloween including best costume, a pie contest and a pumpkin carving contest. I joined four of my female co-workers to dress us as the Spice Girls. One of my co-workers, Jennifer, made a jumpsuit for my Scary Spice costume which earned me second place and a small gift card.

Scary Spice.

We left Heather's office at 5:30 and arrived in Port Stanley shortly before 7. After checking in at the main building of the Inn on the Harbour, we moved our belongings to the adjacent building called the Little Inn. Then it was off to M.E. & Suzie's for supper. In a small port town like Port Stanley we would get around town on foot while the car sat in the parking lot. The restaurant had great food including a pulled pork quesadilla and specialty beer brewed exclusively for this restaurant. I enjoyed a tasty pint of Earl Elgin's County Auburn Ale. Our server was a very engaging guy who offered us complimentary dessert after finding out that it was our anniversary weekend.

Heather with leftovers from M.E. & Suzie's.

We left the restaurant shortly before 9 and spent the rest evening relaxing in the room which included a short stint in the hot tub.

365 Days Later...

...and we're celebrating our first wedding anniversary. The official celebration will not take place until next weekend over two nights in Port Stanley. We couldn't do it this weekend because Heather spent Thursday and Friday night at meetings of the Association of Administrative Assistants where she is the National Treasuser.

We did manage to get in a short ride in the morning to Kitchener to take a picture of an old water tower that is scheduled to come down starting next week. It was an overcast morning and the roads were wet from an early morning rain but the temperature was mildly warm in the low double-digits. As we arrived at the tower we saw an older couple just finishing taking their photos of the tower. I guess a lot of people will miss it.

When we got home we shared a piece of a year-old cake and it tasted as good as it did the first time we had it.

Our wedding cake.

We're just starting on this ride and we're looking forward to many more years together.

WATER TOWERS

Our Newest Niece

Early today morning, our stable of nieces and nephews grew to four as Heather's sister Kim gave birth to Robyn Michelle. This is Kim and Mike's second child as Robyn joins Jolene who is almost two years old now. Congrats, guys!