a peek inside the fishbowl

25 Sep, 2011

Weekend drive down Highway 7

Posted by andrea tomkins in: travel talk

Highway 7 between Ottawa and Marmora – where my mother lives – is twisty and scenic. It’s one of my favourite drives. And if you happen to be taking the trip on a sunny fall day, well, that’s just a bonus.

If you ever find yourself on this route during daylight hours, make sure you stop at the Fall River Grill and Gift Shop about 15 minutes west of Perth. Someday I will hit it at the right time for lunch, but the shop is full of neat stuff. There’s a separate building for drive-through coffee and homemade snacks. I am pretty sure I had the best latte and date square I’ve ever had in my whole life there today.

The best thing about this drive is that there’s a lot to see. The worst thing about this drive is that if you’re the driver it’s hard to keep your eyes on the road.

Ahem.

On this particular drive I saw turkeys, turtles, trees, rocks, rivers, lakes, swamps, hills, valleys, trains, towns, bridges, junk shops, taxidermists, vultures, farms, motels, rusted out cars, sumac bushes so red they look like they’re on fire … and more. It’s quite a journey, and it’s never the same twice.

Someday I would like to take the time to do it justice with a proper camera. Maybe I should consider biking it next summer?* It might be the only way to take it all in.

* According to Google maps it’d take me 11 hours and 2 minutes to bike from my place to my mother’s house. Hmmm.

Highway 7

First stop, Silver Lake

pulled over for pretty colours

closed for the season

fuelling up

snacks, not for me tho'

Rest stop near Tweed

Almost there

Arrived! My mom's place

red chairs are happy


6 Responses to "Weekend drive down Highway 7"

1 | Tammy

September 25th, 2011 at 5:32 pm

Avatar

My husbands family is from Marmora and we’ve had lunch at the Fall River Grill before…. AMAZING food!!!

2 | Catherine

September 25th, 2011 at 9:19 pm

Avatar

I would totally recommend biking it but I would tent half way. One small tent and food that you can bring that doesn’t require cooking could be completely doable
Please take lots of pictures.

3 | Sherry

September 25th, 2011 at 10:00 pm

Avatar

I love that drive, did it with my daughter last month. Stopped for fresh blueberries and to take my daughter’s pic under the sign to Arden, as that is her name.

4 | James

September 26th, 2011 at 9:03 am

Avatar

My daughter introduced me to the Fall River Grill, but it’s almost always closed when I pass by.

5 | Sarah (mrsgryphon)

September 26th, 2011 at 9:17 am

Avatar

Now that we’re back in Ontario, I’m excited to take our girls to Ottawa for a weekend, and I always loved that part of the drive (when I was a kid, we often would get off the 401 at Belleville and travel the rest of the way on Hwy 7)! Someday…

6 | Jen Hughes

October 9th, 2011 at 11:34 pm

Avatar

This is a well-travelled route for us too, and I love it. I’ve never stopped at the Fall River Cafe. Good to know it’s worth a stop. I love those little blueberry/home-baking stands. I really must stop at one of those someday too. Fun post!

comment form:

Archives

Me and my pet projects

Ottawa Bucket list

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


  • Gretchen Humphrey: I had a beautiful bee& birdbath filled with a solar fountain and dozens of antique marbles that were suddenly disappearing. At first I thought my
  • Jinjer: I am sobbing reading this post. And you're right, companion is not enough. Little furry treasured gifts that they are. Thanks for sharing cutie-pi
  • Karen: Dear Andrea, Mark and your daughters I am so very sad for your family xxx Piper was/is my favourite Instagram post. You shared with us so intimately
  • Christina Banuelos: Thank you for sharing Pipers life with us. Your posts of Piper brought me joy. Every time I see your post and see what kind of mischief Piper was gett
  • Carla Slocum: I am sitting here yet again crying at your loss. We have known that loss with Asta the WFT our first pup but now have the enormous gift of Stryker the
  • Janelle Brown: Dear Andrea Thank you for sharing Piper’s story with her followers. I empathise with your grief and emptiness as I lost my 14 year old Westie last
  • Natasha McReynolds-Nicholl: My god reading this is heartbreaking. December 1st was the as you describe longest day of my life, we lost out beautiful WFT hazel. Pipers final momen

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you'd like to contact me, please use this form. If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here. Thank you for visiting!

 


Connect with me at these places too!

Still calling it Twitter