|
I had contacted the tourism
office of Chatham-Kent to see if there was any information I could use to
tell a wee story of the area. They told me that each year around the end
of June that they took the students on a tour around the area.
These are students that
having finished their year take a job helping to look after the visitor
centers in the area. This tour gives them the opportunity to meet each
other and also to give them a better idea of all the tourism attractions.
They will of course know their own area very well but this tour gave them
the opportunity to see other attractions further afield than their own local area
in Chatham-Kent.
At each stop a
representative of the local tourism areas would come onto the bus to give us a
talk and a quick guide around their attractions and so all and all this
was a great opportunity for me to get to know more of the area and many
thanks to Joy, Eloné and others for letting me join them :-)
I took over 300 pictures on
my travels so thought it might be best to divide this day into sections so
I don't overload you with too much information on a page. I would add that
being on the bus meant I couldn't get out when I wanted to take pictures
otherwise I would likely have taken many more. Some of the scenery
was just beautiful and the towns we passed through had some houses going
back to the early 1800's. Some of the beach scenes were also beautiful but
I missed many of them due to being on the bus.
Here is the Itinerary and
you can click on the links to visit the appropriate pages. I would
just note that most of the pictures are around 1000 pixels width but I
have retained some of double that size where there was a lot of detail in
the picture. All of the pictures have been thumb nailed down in size
so click on the picture to see the larger version.
STUDENT FAM
TOUR
TUESDAY JUNE 28, 2005
This is the coach that was to take us on the
tour and some of the students. Anyone that knows me will be amazed that I
managed to get here for the 8am departure :-)
Prior to departing we were
given a talk by the Wheels Inn
8:00 am -Depart from Bloomfield Visitor
Information Centre
*take 401 to exit 63. Follow Hwy 2 into Tilbury. Turn left onto Queen SI
Follow into Wheatley. Turn left onto Talbot Rd. Follow to Wheatley Park.
8:30 am -Arrive at Wheatley Prov. Park. Meet park staff, Bea Patterson
and staff from Talbot Trail. Tour Park and town of Wheatley while on the
bus.
9:15 am -Depart Wheatley by Hwy 3 to drive
past Talbot Trail Golf Course.
*Take Hwy 3 out of Wheatley. Follow to A.D Shadd Rd. Turn left. Follow
into North Buxton.
9:45 am -Arrive at Buxton National Historic
Site & Museum. Tour site.
10:30 am -Depart Buxton. Travel on Hwy 401
as to drive by RM Classic Cars.
*Drjve out of Buxton and turn right onto Eighth Line. Follow to Bloomfield
Rd and turn left. Take Hwy 401. Take exit 101. Follow Ken Bridge Rd. into
Rondeau Park.
11:00 am -Arrive at Rondeau Provincial
Park. Meet park staff, tour park on bus and visit the Visitor Centre.
11:30 am -Lunch provided by the Friends of
Rondeau (one hour)
12:30 pm -Depart Rondeau by Rose Beach Line
and discuss the beaches in the area.
*Follow Rose Beach Line into Ridgetown. Turn left onto Main St. and pick
up Joan.
12:50 pm -Meet Joan Coffell from the
Ridgetown Chamber and tour Ridgetown.
1:15 pm -Depart Ridgetown by Victoria Road
*Follow Main St East out of town. Take Victoria Rd (Hwy 21) into
Thamesville. Turn right onto London Rd. Follow Hwy. 2 to Parks
1:45 pm -Arrive at Parks Blueberries
2:15 pm -Depart Parks Blueberries
*Follow Hwy 2 to Zone Rd. 7 to Oil Museum
2:30 pm -Arrive at Bothwell Oil Museum,
where staff from Fairfield Museum will also meet us to discuss their site.
3:00 pm -Depart Musuem and travel to
Dresden.
*Follow Hwy 2 back into Thamesville and turn left onto Victoria Rd. Follow
Hwy 21 into Dresden.
3:30 pm -Arrive in Dresden, and meet ?
Destination
Dresden. Tour the town on the bus, seeing the Dresden Slots, Uncle Tom’s
Cabin and discussing the Trillium Trail.
3:45 pm -Depart Dresden for Wallaceburg
*Follow Hwy 15 out of Dresden and into Wallaceburg. Turn right onto Murray
St. and then left onto McNaughton Ave. Turn right on Wallace St.
4:05 pm -Arrive at Wallaceburg Museum
4:30 pm -Depart Wallaceburg for Mitchell’s Bay
*Follow Hwy. 40 out of Wallaceburg. Turn right onto Electric Line. turn left onto Bear Line Rd. Turn right onto Bay Line. Follow into Mitchells
Bay.
4:50 pm -Arrive in Mitchell’s Bay. Visit Marine Park and have staff
discuss the amenities that they offer. Tour Mitchell’s Bay and enjoy the
beach area.
5:30 pm -Depart Mitchell’s Bay for Chatham
*Follow Bay Line, turn right onto Bear Line Rd. Turn left onto Dover
Centre Line. Turn right onto Hwy 40. Follow into Chatham. Take St. Clair
St. to Grand Ave. and turn right. Follow Grand to Keil Drive and turn
left. Turn right onto Richmond St. Turn left onto Bloomfield Rd.
6:00 pm -Arrive at Bloomfield Visitor Info Centre. |
