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Road trip to Prince Edward County
There is something different about a road trip with an electric car. There’s the obvious: no fuel. Plus you have to stop at charging stations en route if your destination is further than your range. What I didn’t expect was these charging stops end up as little social stops too. I have noticed, especially at stations with multiple chargers and along the 401 corridor, I inevitability end up talking to other drivers. Most are EV drivers as you swap stories about respective cars and mileages (or to help each other figure out which chargers are working). There are still relatively few EVs on the road in Ontario (about 7.2% of…
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An autumn hike bookended by wineries
“You see that path over there?” our friendly server walks to the large window in the wineshop and points to the vineyard below. I follow his gaze out the pane of glass to a wide path that intersects the vineyards at Vineland Estates and ends at a dense cluster of red, orange and yellow trees. “There’s an entrance to the Bruce Trail there.” My husband and I were picking up a few bottles of wine at Vineland Estates, and hoping to combine it with a short hike on this sunny October day. The winery staff was super helpful in pointing us in the right direction. This short section of the…
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A convivial lesson at Bench Brewing Company
Do you remember your elementary school? I do. I can clearly picture the L-shaped brick building from the 1960s, the classrooms with draughty windows, the raised stage at one end of the gymnasium (with its brown stage curtain), the circular trough-like sink in the washroom. While the building I have described now houses an elementary school under a different School Board, it will always be Woodside School to me. Even if years, and years, and years pass, my guess is most of us remember our elementary school. Those were six formative years: memorizing the times table, perfecting cursive writing, sitting diligently for story time…. ….learning about hops, malt and ales.…
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The story of Shawn & Ed Brewing Co.
“Once upon a time” may be a fine start for a fairytale. But the stories that begin with “It all started more than 25 years ago” are the stories that hook me. What dream has been brewing for more than 25 years? Could it be a dream to open a beer garden? Well, close. In the case of Shawn and Ed it was “two friend’s dream to one day open up a brewery.” So when an ideal building becomes available some 20 years later, the two friends were ready to execute their dream and Shawn & Ed Brewing Co. came to fruition. Like an old friendship, the historical building in…
