Then We'll Go To Port Hope

That’s a nice name for a place, don’t you think? There are two ways to drive from Toronto, east to Port Hope, Population about 16,000.

My 4-Level Backsplit on the corner in a terrific subdivision of good neighbors!

We’ll go along Hwy 401 and it will take us about an hour, with no traffic lights or towns to slow us down. Before Hwy 401 was built (oh, yes, but you knew it was built when I was a kid), we used to drive east on Old Highway 2. Highway 2 takes you through lots of small towns and sort of follows Lake Ontario, so it is a scenic drive.

Some United Empire Loyalists (UELs) settled here in the late 1700s. (These were people who wanted to be loyal to the English Crown.) In the old days, some wealthy Toronto families had summer homes in Port Hope. It is still a quiet area with most of the services you need and some nice subdivisions of friendly people. (We moved there to get away from the hustle of the city and I quickly made friends there.) Port Hope has most things you need and a wonderfully restored theater, The Capital. Coincidentally, we are currently restoring The Pines Theater here in Lufkin, Texas.

A little further along 401 is Cobourg where there is a nice shopping mall, a concert theater, a beach, and pretty harbor. In our great room we have a limited edition print of the harbor that my neighbors gave us before Hubby and I married and came to Texas.

I have noted websites for Port Hope and Cobourg, because I am certainly not a historian. So, let me tell you who we hope to see.

We’ll visit with my friend Judy and her hubby, Don. This is where we’ll be greeted by their grandson, William who likes to call me “Martha from Texas”. He’s the one who’d like to be a weatherman and he is well read on the subject already. He has a sister now – that would be Charlotte. My grandmother would have called Charlotte “a caution”.

First night there, we’ll eat at Swiss Chalet. I like to say that the two things I miss most about Canada are a basement and Swiss Chalet. (We don’t have either where we live in Texas.)

I’ll order the Quarter Chicken Dinner. I’ve been ordering that since my dates would take me there in about 1959 - 1960 which is about when they opened. The chicken is gentle barbequed on spits you can see and served with a delicious dipping sauce. It is not BBQ as we know it in Texas, because Texans would think it too bland. I like it: it is just right for me!

So, we’ll visit as many of the people as we can. These are people who helped me when I was alone after my late husband had a stroke. They are kind, friendly and gentle people.

We’ll tell you who we see as we see them – and that will be just after Mother’s Day.


http://www.porthope.ca

http://www.town.cobourg.on.ca/