Bringing Joy to Canada - 10th update from Chrisandra's Roadtrip

Aloha all,

we’ve been road tripping as a threesome with Sandra’s sister for the past weeks. We slowed our tempo a little bit to give Petra some much needed and well deserved rest. We also mostly honored her request not to go to any museums while she’s with us. I guess she got scared when she read how much time Sandra and I can spend in a museum. You might want to thank Petra; imagine how long this blog would be if I also told you about the 17 museum we did not go to. 

But we’ve still seen a lot: We time traveled to a British fort in 1775, we spent two care-less and car-less days on Mackinac Island, hiked across dunes, learnt what a “tridge” is, had the best Italian food since Pompei, went to arguably the most German town in America, brought Joy to Canada, drove a boat into a waterfall, heard the Canadian perspective of the war of 1812 and spent two days walking, biking and eating our way through Toronto.

Mackinac Island and Michilimackinac were two of our favorite places on our 2008 road trip, so we did not mind going back there to show them to Petra, specially since both places turned out to be new and improved. The fort at Michilimackinac is recreated as it was in 1775, when this was still a British Colony. To bring the history of the fort alive they don’t just dress up in colonial clothes, they showed us how they are made, they don’t just talk about the importance of the tea trade back then, they also served us tea. They don’t just tell us how bread was baked back then, they also baked some fresh bread for us. All the programs were really well done, even better than in 2008.

Colonial Fort Michilimackinac with the 'Big Mac' Bridge behind it

Mackinac Island itself did not get any better in the last 10 years. In fact, time seems to be standing still there. Everything looked exactly like when we were there last. But we were able to improve our experience this time around: Instead of just doing a day trip, we spent a night on Mackinac Island. They banned cars on Mackinac Island in 1898, shortly after automobiles were invented, to protect the horse carriage businesses. I don’t think they realized how smart that was. All the pretty houses and gardens would not be the same if there were noisy cars and trucks instead of bikes and carriages.

Our Bed & Breakfast on Mackinac Island

Most hotel and vacation rental rates on Mackinac make Maui look cheap, but we were lucky and found the cutest bed and breakfast or technically a “bed, breakfast and tea”, which is in one of the oldest or maybe the oldest victorian home on the island. Spending a night there gave us plenty of time to explore the town, the fort and even the very exclusive hotel. We also biked around the whole island, took a horse carriage tour and made new friends at the Pink Pony, one of the bars where locals and tourists seem to be equally happy.

Tandem Ride around Mackinac Island

Both forts on Mackinac and at Michilimackinac switched hands several times over the years between the British, French and American forces. I will not bore you with all the details (even though of course I remember everything!), but I found these two stories particularly interesting: In 1763 Indian tribes attacked the fort at Michilimackinac by staging a ball game outside of the fort, pretending that a ball was mistakenly hit towards the fort’s entrance and then use weapon, which the Indian women were hiding under blankets, to capture or kill all British soldiers in the fort. The most intriguing story of Fort Mackinac was the British takeover of the fort at the very beginning of the war of 1812. This was a month after America had declared war on Britain. However, the American soldiers station at the fort did not know this yet. Therefore they were completely surprised and totally outnumbered and surrendered the fort without a fight. Hard to believe in the age of Twitter that 200 years ago, even the soldiers themselves were not aware of a war that was declared a month earlier. This was no exception, I’ve learnt that the last battle of the same war and also one of the biggest victories for the US was won in New Orleans, three weeks after the war was officially over, but neither side had heard of the peace agreement. This might have been one of those rare situations, when a little tweet from the president would have been a good thing.

Next, we went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Our favorite activity there was a long hike through the dunes to Lake Michigan. When we climbed up the sand dunes, I told my Apple Watch that it was a stair master exercise. I don’t think my watch has ever been so proud of me. 

View from the Sleeping Bear Dunes to Lake Michigan

But the highlight was when we saw these two medieval looking sword fighters on top of one of the dunes. It looked like the Highlander had made it to America. When we talked to them, we found out that it was actually a US Marine and his French girl friend practicing ancient German sword fighting techniques. And lucky for us, they were very eager to share their knowledge. They even knew German words we had never heard. This would have been an interesting lesson anyway, but the surreal background and turquoise colors of the lake made it an extra special experience for us.

Our lesson in ancient German sword fighting at Lake Michigan

Midland in Michigan held three highlights for us: The beautiful Dow Gardens, the best Tortellini I ever had and the only tridge we have ever seen. In case you have never heard of a tridge, it’s a three-way-bridge that connects three places separated by rivers. It's a very efficient way to connect the three areas with just one structure. But to be honest, I think most people on the tridge were like us. We did not need to go to any of three places, but it’s just so beautiful that you can not help but going to all three ends to enjoy the views of the tridge.

"The Tridge" in Midland, Michigan

The next day was very German. We started off shopping at Aldi and then went to Frankenmuth, which is the most German town I know in America, even though it’s only slightly more authentic than the German pavilion at EPCOT where I worked at Disney. We went on a nice little boat tour on the “Bavarian Belle", bought some German-ish cheese and meat and had good old French crepes and some good new American micro brews. 

Frankenmuth in Michibavaria

One of the things we miss about Maui are all the plays at the Iao and ProArts Theater. But luckily, we found out that there is more to Flint than bad water. The cute little community theater put on the musical “Gypsy” and it was spectacular. Maui is extremely lucky to have so many talented actors, but it’s not the only place. The cast of “Gypsy” was extremely talented, we loved the music and the story and everybody was just as nice as at the Iao Theater. And I am not just saying this because they let us stay overnight in their parking lot after the show.

Off to Canada! The customs went a lot smoother than on our last Canadian road trip. But if we had never been to Canada before, after the first few hours, we would have thought that it’s a dirtier, stinky version of the US. The waterfalls in Hamilton had more litter than water and the otherwise nice Lakefront Park had stinky algae, trash and dead animals in the water. Luckily we were able to confirm soon thereafter that this is not typical for Canada.

The whole next day we looked at the Niagara Falls from every possible angle: From the top, from the side, from behind the falls and from a boat in the middle of the horseshoe falls. 

The Canadian version of the Maid of the Mist cruise into the falls

We also did the White Water Walk along some category 6 rapids and went to a 4D movie with some fake waterfalls. At most of these places get you so close to the water that you get pretty wet, but then they give you a poncho to keep you somewhat dry. Frugal as we are, we kept most of them and now have a collection of ponchos in just as many colors as the illuminated falls at night.

One of the many views and one of the many ponchos at Niagara Falls

On the way back from the falls, we came through Hamilton again and this time, the city made up for the not so pretty side it showed us the first time. Dundurn Castle was meant as a relatively quick stop for a guided tour, but ended up offering so much more. The architecture of the “castle” is very eclectic, the history is very interesting and the tour was very delicious. They were cooking in the old kitchen in the basement and the broccoli was yummy and we got to sample more of their produce when we toured the historically re-planted garden. The house belonged to Mr. MacNab, he had made a name for himself in the military, made a fortune for himself with some land speculation and even became premier of the Canadian colonies. The servant’s quarters in the house were surprisingly comfortable for the time and the main house not only had running water, but also porcelain toilet bows with elaborate  patterns that cost $500 each, which was about half a year’s wage at the time. He went bankrupt later in life, I am not sure whether it was the generosity towards his servants or his expensive taste in bathroom fixtures that did him in.

Besides the guided tour of Dundurn Castle, the snacks and the garden, the $11 ticket also included a small museum about the history of the site, where the battle of Stoney Creek was fought during the war of 1812. I found this particularly interesting. We have been to several sites related to this war in the US, but this was the first time I heard the Canadian perspective. In the US, we learned that the US declared war on Britain because they disrupted US trade routes with France, stopped ships and forced Americans without proper papers to serve in the Royal Navy and also because Britain was supporting Indian tribes fighting the American westward expansion. Here the story sounded somewhat different: The US saw that Britain was weakened by war with France, by their prime minister being assassinated and their king becoming mentally unstable. They took advantage of the situation and declared war on Britain in order to take over Canada and fulfill the United States "manifest destiny" to settle all of North America. The historians do not seem to agree on why the war started and not even on who won. But I am glad the result was Canada and the US living peacefully next to each other ever since. 

The last two days we were in Toronto. I had been here once before, but it was on a work trip in February and I spent most of my time in the underground pathways because it was ridiculous cold. I did go up on the CN tower then and we were fully expecting to go up there again this time. We always love going up on towers. However, they were a little bit too greedy. They want $43 to let us look down on Toronto. Or you can walk on top of the platform and hang secured from a wire for $225. Is it just us or is this crazy? Paying that much would take the fun out of it for us, so we went on two free tours instead. One about “Death, Destruction and Disease" and another one about “Power, PATH and Politics". Toronto is another location from “The Tour Guys”. And just like in Vancouver they offer free walking tours of various neighborhoods in the city. They don’t need to charge anything because the tours are so good, that people tip generously.

Our Toronto "Tour Guys" tour guide Aaron, or "A.A.Ron" 

Our guide was full of interesting and funny stories, as to be expected from a city where the mayor is known to be on crack and the home of one of the most notorious Darwin Award recipient: Garry Hoy was a lawyer and an engineer. In 1993 he had a group of students visit the law firm in downtown Toronto. In order to prove that the building's glass windows are really unbreakable, he slammed himself against the window. He had done this little stunt several times before and always bounced back unharmed. But this time, he ended up dead on the street 24 floors below. Apparently the glass truly is unbreakable, but the frame is not. 

Just like in Chicago, we also explored the lakefront by bike. These share bikes, which are now available in just about any city, are really a great invention. Somehow riding a bike makes me feel less like a tourist in a city, which is kind of ironic since you can usually tell the tourist from the locals depending one whether they ride a regular or a share bike. It used to be that you could tell tourists because they were holding a city map while the locals held a newspaper, but now everybody holds a smart phone.

Biking along Toronto's Lakefront

Since we failed to show Petra a state capitol on the tour, we went to the Parliament building of the provincial government of Ontario. We learnt about some pretty big differences between the Canadian and American system, but the building was just as impressive and the tour just as interesting and just as free as they usually are in US capitols. We also walked by the university campus, Chinatown and through Graffiti Alley, where the city decided to encourage graffiti rather than fighting it.

Graffiti Alley in Toronto

We could spend much more time in Toronto, even without visiting museums, but since big cities are not really RV friendly, we had to stay at a campground fairly far outside and we spent enough time on trains and busses and therefore are heading back towards Michigan. But unfortunately, we just had to drop Petra off at the airport. It’s been super fun having her along and we miss her already, but now we are free to do the things that married couples like to do when they are alone,...like going to museums.

Aloha from Canada,

Chris, Sandra & Petra