Daytripping Spring 2023

GENTLY USED ~ PREVIOUSLY LOVED
• Furniture • Small Appliances
• Housewares • Clothing • Decor
Mon-Fri 9 to 4 • Saturday 10 to 4
202 Queen Street
Chatham • 519-354-5033
Wandering along Hwy. #2 through CHATHAM, KENT BRIDGE & THAMESVILLE
thrift store
• Furniture • Housewares • Clothing • Toys
Your purchases enable us to donate in
Chatham and around the world.
Tuesday to Friday 9-4 • Saturday 9 to 2
127 Colburne St., Chatham, N7M 3L8
(Just down from Rona) • 519-352-0911
On Old Highway 2…
Take It Easy
I’m standin’ on a corner
Of Kingston Road In Toronto
Such a fine sight to see.
It’s a girl my Lord
In a flat bed Ford…
(with apologies to The Eagles)
Ontario has its own Route 66? Sure
does, and maybe something even better.
Old Highway 2, although it has been
reduced to various municipal roads and
byways, still exists and it threads its way
through historic towns, villages and cities
along a path that was established long
before any flat bed Fords had been built.
Highway 2 was once the major eastwest
thoroughfare in the eastern part of
Canada, stretching from Windsor in the
West to Quebec and New Brunswick,
ending at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In spite of the fact that Highway 2
was overshadowed by the construction
of the 401, completed in 1968, and
lost its provincial designation in 1998,
Highway 2 still exists and the original
route of the pioneers, commonly known
in Southwestern Ontario as Governor’s
Road, is still there. A diligent daytripper
can trace every mile of it, all the way east
to Gananoque and
beyond. A road trip
such as that could
be a rewarding
experience for
dozens of reasons.
Although the first
construction of the
road was in 1793,
it is fairly certain
that some of the
route followed
Indigenous trails
that had been used for hundreds and
possibly thousands of years. Highway
2 has history on its side. The original
construction was 20 miles (32 kilometres)
of rough road joining Dundas to Paris,
built to meet the military needs of John
Graves Simcoe, thus being dubbed the
Governor’s Road.
Highway 2 grew from a corduroy
road through a pristine wilderness to
the super highway of the 1920s and
subsequent decades, serving as an
artery of communication and commerce
that linked a substantial portion of the
Canadian population.
On a personal note—we recently
traversed a good deal of this route on a
trip from London to Gananoque to visit
our daughter. It took us three days—
because we wanted it to and we still
thought we had hurried past far too
many attractions. We could have covered
the same distance in a little over four
hours on the 401.
Highways may change names and
their importance may wax or wane,
but they don’t usually move. They don’t
W
N
By Frank Prothero, Port Stanley
S
E
Lake Huron
7
go anywhere. Highway 2 follows
the MICHIGAN
same path that 40 made
Petrolia
it
indispensable more than
80
a hundred years ago.
21
Following it is a
simple matter
Wallaceburg
Dresden
in its
40
21
Lake
2
St. Clair
Chatham
Windsor
3
Amherstburg
Essex
Ruthven
18
Kingsville
Leamington
77
Sarnia
Tilbury
401
402
western
extremities. From Windsor east
to Lambeth it is mostly known as
Longwoods Road. In London, the
explorer will have to follow several street
designations such as Wharncliffe and
Dundas before settling on the highway
to Ingersoll, Woodstock, Brantford and
Oakville.
In Toronto, in spite of the massive
growth of that metropolis, it is possible
to follow the route of Highway 2 along
Lakeshore Boulevard or the Gardiner
Expressway and Kingston Road.
To the east of Toronto, we leave the
dauntless explorer to their own wiles.
Many municipalities in this region have
continued to designate segments of the
route with signs. Others, not so much.
But a well worn road and street map from
days gone by and careful observation will
get you through to Port Hope where the
route is fairly clearly marked all the way
to Kingston where it becomes Ontario,
Princess and Queen Streets before
continuing on to Gananoque.
So, why three days on Highway 2, as
opposed to four hours on the 401?
To begin with, there is no place on that
muti-multi lane artery where you can
find a Mom and Pop family restaurant
where you can still get a wholesome
breakfast at a decent price while enjoying
the chatter of a room full of local people,
the decent, common types who are the
backbone of our province.
If you don’t really enjoy driving at
speeds in excess of 110 kilometres an hour
on pavement that has been pounded to
21
Forest
Blenheim
Shop and dine at Brickyard Antiques along Hwy. #2, west of London
2
3
79
7
Bothwell
Mrs. Bell’s
Specializing ing in
Afternoon Tea
Making every day
a special occasion!
Lake
Erie
Tea
RoomR
Wed.-Sat.
11 to 4
11 3rd St, CHATHAM • 226-627-0248
Laurie Clark Designs
9 Victoria St., Thamesville
Spring 2023 Chuck Norris died 20 years ago, Death just hasn’t built up the courage to tell him yet.
Page 17
81
21
Strathroy
Glencoe
West
Lorne
Exeter
81
4
Grand Bend
Parkhill
2
3
Blyth
83
22
4
8
4
7
Listowel
St. Thomas
23
Stratford
London
St. Marys
Pt. Stanley
73
Sparta
131
119
8
2
Aylmer
19
Tillsonburg
3
86
Waterloo
Shakespeare
Woodstock
403
59
59
53
Delhi
pieces by the
constant parade
of huge trucks, try
Highway 2. Quite often,
with much of the road to
yourself you can drift along at
whatever speed suits
your fancy.
And for those of
us who might find
inspiration and
consolation in ancient
church spires, well
preserved municipal
buildings, and a
varied and diverse
residential architecture,
the overpasses and
expansive tarmac of
the 401 are anathema.
We are not aware of
any antique stores
that sell their wares at
the infrequent stops
on the 401. Almost
every community on
Highway 2 has one or
more. Local theatre,
museums, baseball,
hockey, concerts, fairs,
festivals, yard sales,
fund raisers, butter
tart trails, wineries, cheese factories, art
galleries, quiet harbours, clean parks
and camping grounds… will you ever
find any of these on the 401? No, you
won’t but they are all around you on the
highway of our forefathers. We always
find it slightly disappointing that a look
at the road map (your own Daytripper
24
6
7
Guelph
Kitchener
Paris
24
Mon-Sat
9-5
8
Brantford
Waterford
Pt. Rowan
Antiques
& Artisans
Local
519-692-3322 or 5519
Full Service Floral & Gift Shop
www.laurieclarkdesignsflowers.com
2
24
6
Cambridge
Dundas
53
2
6
403
401
5
8
7
QEW
Hamilton
Lake
Ontario
St. Catharines
QEW
12-13)
54 20 reveals 406 that
Caledonia
58
Toronto
Niaga
Falls
more than Cayugaten miles away. It Fort is not Erie
3 3
11 key sites mark the 1813 route along
the Thames River the British and
Indigenous armies were pursued by
the Americans during the War of 1812.
www.destinationontario.com
has one of the
best—see pages
the next stop on one of
56
our secondary highways is
Simcoe the trip. It is the destination.
The construction of Highway 401
Port Dover
bypassed the towns and villages along
old Highway 2, stealing the vibrancy of
whole communities whose commercial
outlets were further eroded by the
invasion of big box stores in cities
served by the new highway. But those
little towns displayed a resiliency that
allowed them to survive and even
thrive in the face of
adversity. In the spirit
of old Number 2, they
lived on and spawned
dozens of unique
shopping adventures
in sharp contrast to the
blandness of the retail
malls adjacent to the
401.
Any attempt to
chronicle more than
200 years of the history
of Highway 2, would
have to be encyclopedic
in scope. More than
just a highway, it is
the trajectory of a
legacy that arcs from
prehistoric times
through feast and
famine, war and
peace, depression and
prosperity, life and
death down to the very
present.
The next time you head out on the
open road, may we suggest that you
ignore that sign that has an arrow
pointing to the 401 and, instead, seek
out old Highway 2 and follow it, not to
wherever you are bound but to wherever
it takes you.
And, by the way,…Take It Easy.
Paris, Ontario, the original terminus of the road through the wilderness, is
still a pleasant place to pause along old Highway 2. Penman’s Dam and the
Via Rail trestle provide a restful setting in a small park beside the river.
Publisher’s note: Terrific job Frank! If I had my way, this entire historic Ontario
highway (along with a few others) would be designated as a Hwy. #2 Heritage Route,
with signage to lead travellers along a much more enjoyable journey.