Our tickets (Bear's first as a
senior, that means I'm the only adult - is that responsible adult ???)
asked us to be at the station a half an hour before departure. Being timely we
added fifteen minutes arriving at the Niagara Falls VIA
Station at five thirty. However, no one bothered to mention the doors
only get unlocked at six. The ticket man is used to a flood of people the second
after six and was quite surprised that there was a delay - I was so cold
by the time I saw the nice man with the keys that I couldn't work out it was a
pull door, Bear had to tell me. Settled on the very high up train it took two
cups of tea to feel a little thawed out. We left on the dot of 6:16 for our two
hour journey to Toronto.
Bear was delighted to see a double decker train or
two and I was thrilled to pass through Aldershot
Staion (my birth town in England). Here it is the western terminus on the
Lakeshore
West line train service in off-peak hours, with buses continuing on
from here to Hamilton
GO Centre and the McMaster
University Bus Terminal. Eight trains (four in each direction)
continue on to Hamilton during peak hours. Some rush-hour trains use Burlington
GO Station as their terminus, and GO buses connecting to these trips
stop here as well. Aldershot serves Burlington and Hamilton on Via Rail's Quebec
City-Windsor Corridor routes. It is served by trains to Toronto,
Ottawa,
Montreal,
Windsor,
and Niagara
Falls, and by the joint Via-Amtrak
Maple
Leaf train, connecting Toronto and New
York City through Niagara Falls. Burlington
Transit connects with this station via 'Route 1 Plains/Fairview' and
Hamilton
Street Railway 'Route 18 Waterdown' connects to the station during
peak hours - just in case you felt life could not continue unless you knew this
particular nerdy info......
We pulled
into Toronto at eight twenty five, queue for a short while until we settled on
train 56 leaving on time at nine twenty five. The equivalent
of the Skylon Tower.
This four hour journey had fantastic wi-fi, so
a chance for me to do a couple of blogs. Still
didn't feel I could take any layers off.
Jeff was at Cornwall Station waiting to meet us, off to get
our fishing licenses, Bear's excitement level palpably rising. Then a quick
transfer to Jay's car as Jeff's decided to get poorly and we had to leave it
where it died - wheel bearing knackered, then off to Long Sault Motel
(pronounced Long Sue).
The Long Sault Motel
was built in the 1960’s when Highway #2 was the main route from Montreal to
Toronto and the waterside villages along the route were
flourishing.
When Marian and Jeff
Vaughan bought the property in September 2004 the motel had fallen on hard times
and was badly in need of some loving attention. Over the ensuing years the motel
has been extensively renovated, both inside and out, and is now far and away the
best equipped and cleanest motel in the area. After extensive research last
October - this was the place to surprise
Bear.
Marian and Jeff are
still based in England, only living at the motel between April and November.
During the winter months the business is very ably run by Jay Lalonde (our
rescuer, local resident and close friend of Jeff and Marian).
Originally the
business was purchased due to Jeff’s love of carp fishing. The Long Sault Motel
is situated just minutes from the best carp fishing in the
world on the beautiful St Lawrence River. Carp fishing and the Canadian
Carp Club are still a very important part of the business, but the motel is also
kept busy with a continuous stream of both regular repeat customers and others
visiting after recommendations from friends. If you type in Jeff Vaughan carp
fishing an enormous amount pops up. Down to earth, REAL knowledge from extensive
fishing experience all over the world makes this man a true gem.
.
