Monday afternoon we decided to take a road trip and visit my hometown, St Catharines. A quick search on line to book a room and we were set. I threw some clothes in the suitcase and off we went Tuesday morning. It looked like it could rain at times but we had a rain free drive the whole way. The trees are changing rapidly now with beautiful colours.
You know me and clouds! I love the colour of the corn against the sky.
More....
Still more....
Anyway, we arrived in St Catharines and the first thing we did was drive by my parent's old house. They lived here for 50 years until my Dad passed away. The new owners are taking very good care of it. Chuck put up the numbers and front porch light 10 years ago. It is nice to see them still there.
This was Chuck's parents house for 15 years. Chuck grew up in Montreal and only lived here from ages 14 to 20 so not that long. When we were dating this is where he lived.
We proceeded on to the hotel and checked in. Very nice hotel. We felt like country mice coming to the big city. Chuck hung over the 3rd floor railing and took this.
I took this photo of the fountain from a safer place, the ground! Very hard to see but the big middle rock had a waterfall pouring down. We didn't do anything exciting the first evening. We went to a grocery store to get some juice and fruit and we ran into a girl I knew many years ago. It was great to catch up. Small world!
The next morning after a heavy rain we headed out. We wanted to visit my Oma and Opa's old farm and the church we were married in 32 years ago. Here in Trenton we are surrounded by corn and soybeans. I had forgotten how grapes are the predominant crop in the Niagara area.
The trees were beautiful.
This was my Oma and Opa's (my Dad's parent's) farm for 50+ years. The old barns are long torn down. There were two of them, massive wooden structures, two stories high. In my grandparent's time the house was always white surrounded by poplar trees. It is 90+ acres and in the old days had grapes, peaches, apples, pears and cherries. I still miss it.
The church we got married in is just a few miles from my grandparent's farm. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's one of my Uncles was the minister here. We felt very blessed to have a family member marry us. The church hasn't changed much except for the addition of the viewing screens up on the wall. The current Pastor let us wander wherever we wanted. It was lovely to see it all again.
The outside is the same. We were married in March and two days before our wedding a horrible blizzard hit the Niagara area dumping so much snow. Chuck was posted in Nova Scotia at the time and just managed to get in the day before the wedding. All the guests made it too.
After leaving the church we headed back to St Catharines for lunch. Everywhere you turned the trees were so gorgeous. We certainly picked the perfect time to visit.
Next time I will post the rest of our trip.
Have a wonderful day!
Robin
It must feel so nice to be back to visit your home town with memories to savour, and new ones to create. The photos look wonderful, and it seems like a lovely place to live. Greetings to you.
ReplyDeleteIt was wonderful to be back. We hadn't visited in 5 years.
DeleteThanks for dropping by!
What a lovely trip, catching up! Your parents' old home looks like a good size, not too big or too small. I'd take something like that, but on the property of Chuck's parents' former house! That looks like a nice, big lot.
ReplyDeleteThe hotel looks pretty nice too! I know that "country mouse" feeling, except I don't seem to fit in with either country or urban...or even suburban! :-p
I was surprised to see how modern and new the church interior looked. It reminds me of the United Church I was going to here for a while. A far cry from the Anglican churches I've been in, that's for sure.
Anyway, it's great you enjoyed the trip, got to see the fall colours...and arrived home safely! I'm all about getting home safely. LOL.
Take care.
Hi Kim, yes it was a lovely trip. My parent's home was three bedrooms, two bathrooms, small kitchen and dining room, large living room and a rec room in the basement. The lot size was 60 X 120 so decent size. We were five in that home and it always seemed big enough. Chuck's parent's lot was a corner lot so big in the front, not so much in the back. I found most of the rooms in their home were quite small, except for the kitchen. Chuck's bedroom was very tiny.
DeleteWe are so glad we went and plan on going back in the spring.
Take care and talk soon.
Oh, skip the corner lot. LOL. I don't like how they're all front or side, nothing in the back. Even your parents' home would be too large for me...but boy, not for 5! :-)
DeleteHave a great evening. I'm hoping for QUIET next door tonight!!!
Gorgeous clouds and coloured leaves!! Great idea to go back now when everything is still so pretty. Not that Winter isn't pretty but let's face it, it can't compete with Fall.
ReplyDeleteThanks G.M. The leaves were lovely.
Delete