GC is fun to travel with. He’s not a driven driver – he’s open to detours and adventures and he welcomes any opportunity to get out of the car and do something else for a bit, just to keep himself awake. I suspect he is afflicted with a touch of narcolepsy. That’s the one where you fall asleep without much warning. (I’m spelling this out because sometimes I mix up the words narcolepsy and necrophilia, which GC doesn’t have.)
Photo: World's Smallest Book Shop
The first thing we stopped for was The World’s Smallest Book Shop. It’s on Monck Road, between Bancroft and Minden. It’s a little shack on the side of the road, and its signs are bigger than it is. In fact, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest the owner’s sign-making hobby has spiraled out of control.
Photo: When Sign Makers Go Bad
It’s a self-serve bookshop. All the books cost $3. You just pick your books, put your money in the box, and leave a note saying which books you bought. I bought one by David Attenborough called Life. GC bought a first edition of Rosemary’s Baby.
Photo: Shoe Tree
Not long after we got back on the road, we almost missed something. I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye. We had to turn around and go back to check it out. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing! It was fantastic! It was a Shoe Forest. I think it started out as a Shoe Tree, and expanded over the years to become a forest. People have even started nailing shoes to trees on the other side of the road now. If you’re looking for it, it’s near Minden.
Photo: Shoe Forest
Side Trips
Photo: Stephen Leacock's House
At the Mariposa Folk Festival, all the stages were in Tudhope Park except for one. The Acoustic Stage was a 15-minute walk away, on the lawn of the Stephen Leacock Museum. We wandered over there on Sunday afternoon to check out Elliot BROOD. After the concert we decided we might as well visit the museum, since we were already there. It was WAY better than I expected. It was Leacock’s house, filled with Leacock’s stuff. And there were no guards or staff or anything. You can just wander about, exploring his house, rummaging through his stuff.
Photo: Stephen Leacock's Desk
Photo: Leacock's tub
Photo: Leacock's stuff
After that we went for lunch at the restaurant next door (Swanmore Terrace), which was a lovely change from festival food. We got to sit on real chairs on a patio overlooking the lake, and we had good coffee and homemade potato soup and salad and pie. (Somehow it ended up costing us $67 once all the taxes and tips were in, but it was almost worth it.)
Photo: Alligator
Then we started walking back to the festival, and what to our wondrous eyes should appear but
The Lost World Reptile Store! We crossed four lanes of traffic to get to it, and it was totally worth it. We saw snakes and lizards and an alligator.
On the way back to Ottawa we stopped again at the World’s Smallest Book Shop (in search of a first edition Leacock), as well as a fudge shop, a combination used/new book store in Bancroft, and a roadside raspberry stand in Renfrew.
I know what narcolepsy is, but I couldn’t remember what necrophilia is, so I had to google it to find it on wikipedia. Now that I know what it is, I am glad to know that GC doesn’t have it! 😀 Though narcolepsy while driving might actually be more dangerous!
I wouldn’t say I have narcolepsy. I just get tired sometimes when I drive (… or read, or watch movies). That probably comes from being slightly sleep deprived. That’s all. When this happens I have no problem stopping for coffee or fudge or other adventures or a quick nap by the side of the road. Singing songs (in perfect harmony) at the top of our voices seems to work too. 😉
that’s a most thorough road trip!
I saw those shoe trees too. didn’t get a good picture like you tho.
love the shoe trees!
Two years ago when I lived in Gelert (sort of between Minden & Haliburton villages) I grew a shoe tree part way down my driveway. Last time I was in those parts, I saw it was gone. Asked the new owner what happened. “Cut it down.” “Too bad,” I said, shaking my head, “it were a rare species. What ya do with the shoes?” He said, “Took ’em to the dump.” He was from Keswick.