20 Apr, 2012
A road trip to Almonte
Posted by andrea tomkins in: Easy ways to make kids happy|Ottawa|Publishing/writing/career stuff|travel talk
My most recent piece for SavvyMom is about the wee town of Almonte. You must go there. You must. Because if you’re anything like me you will love it.
For starters, it is awfully pretty, with a healthy dollop of history:
Street parking is free and shopping opportunities abound, whether you’re looking for new goods:
… or old goods.
Not to be forgotten from our list of fave shops in Almonte is Gilligalou Bird Store (sadly I didn’t have a good photo to show here) but if you love birds like we do you must pay Bob and Louise a visit. Ask about their new spotting scopes!
There are plenty of places to grab a bite too. This one happens to be Cafe Postino, which is located in the historical post office:
Here’s the big question? Do you go as a family? Or solo? Or what?
I had to venture into Almonte alone for research purposes and although I was a little sad I wasn’t there with my family it turned out to be an AMAZING day. Imagine walking la-di-dah, coffee in hand, restfully, tranquilly, like a ship sailing calm waters… wherever your heart leads you. That was me, lingering contentedly and stopping to smell the roses and relishing every moment.
IMAGINE doing that without someone tugging at your pant leg (I mean that both literally and figuratively) begging you to hurry up.
But then again, you could also make this road trip into a little getaway with your girlfriend or spouse. See above re: peaceful lingering but add a quiet dinner for two, without someone dropping napkins on the floor, asking you to cut their meat, and begging you to hurry up.
But then AGAIN, you could really make this road trip into a little family getaway (which was, admittedly my original intent). Just alter your expectation and take a deep breath and accept pant tugging and hurry upping and enjoy this spot for what it is.
What say you? :)
