It rained all morning and gradually stopped in the afternoon, but remained overcast all day. Not a good day for seeing the sights in all the little towns along the north coast of Lake Erie -- generally, I couldn't even distinguish the lake from the fog.
In the early afternoon I stopped at a little restaurant called Coop, at Long Point, near Port Rowan. There was no one else in the restaurant when I arrived, just the proprietor, reading a newspaper. I had intended to stop for a quick bowl of soup, and he said he was known for his excellent clam chowder; I decided to give it a try. It was, in fact, excellent, and he explained that he takes pains to use only the best ingredients, using only canned clams that he gets from Maine. I was impressed, so decided to try a sandwich, and he recommended a fried perch sandwich: again, excellent! So at this point I thought I should try one of his homemade pies, and selected cherry -- but he told me I really should try his specially, "Long Point" pie. He said that it would be the best dessert I had ever had and that there was no charge if I didn't like it. So, out of curiousity, I gave it a try. (See photo, below.) It was a fairly generous piece of warm apple pie, covered with vanilla ice cream, and with a heap of whipped cream; I think the whole thing was then placed under a broiler for a minute or so. It was very good ( although not the best dessert I had ever had, and not even the best apple pie I had ever had).
While I was working my way through this meal, described above, I was glad to have a long phone conversation with old friend and fellow actuary Ted Z. As we were about finished our talk I saw, out the window, another bicyclist coming down the road with all the baggage indicating he was on a long tour. I quickly signed off with Ted, and ran outside to flag down the cyclist; meanwhile, he had already spotted my bicycle and was pulling into the parking lot to look for me. Matt (see photo), from Colorado Springs, Colorado, had left Seattle in July, bound for Bar Harbor, Maine. He joined me in the restaurant, ate his fair share (including a "Long Point" pie), and joined me on the ride to Pt. Dover, where we shared a motel room.
Note: While Matt and I were in the Coop restaurant, we got to talking to a couple that had come in. They, and the owner, were very enthusiastic about the Long Point region, and pointed out that this was the longest "point" on any fresh water lake in the world, a spit of sand stretching out about 22 miles across the lake, about half way to Erie, Pennsylvania. It has over 400 shipwreaks, a much higher concentration than the "Bermuda Triangle." It is apparently one of the most important sites in North America for migrating birds, and attracts serious/academic ornithologists from around the world. The guy was pointing out how big Ontario is, and drove the point home by explaining that it is further for him to drive from his home in London, Ontario to his cabin in northern Ontario, than it is for him to drive to Fort Meyers, Florida! I don't know where his cabin is, but looking at a map of Ontario I do see how this would be possible.
Silly Photo: I was amused by this street sign. It suggests that the folks in this part of Ontario like Bill Clinton but worship George Bush!
No comments:
Post a Comment