My New Route Downtown

Earlier this summer I was downtown and rode along the harbour further than I usually go.  It was one of those blistering hot days, and I looked up Parker Street to notice it was all shaded, so I decided to explore it and see what the ride was like.  It turned out that Parker Street was smooth to ride on, much better than the other streets I have been riding, and when I came to Sykes Street, our busy main street, there was a crosswalk I could activate.

For these posts though, I'm going to turn it around and start from home. My drives downtown always starts by going down the Collingwood Street hill, a photo I've shown you before.

The daycare on the corner, Meaford's main daycare, is the landmark where I turn, though with my new route I turn left instead of right.

One block over is the new Long Term Care Home.  I've been in it for a tour, and it did seem very well done.  The old age home, built on the site of an old public school, blocks Parker Street for one block, so I have to drive around it.

But around two sides of the building it has this nice wavy sidewalk.  I quite enjoy driving down here.

My next landmark is this horribly pruned tree, a very tall tree so it stands out above the rest.  You can't miss it, although you'd like to!  How could anyone do that to a tree?

On the corner where I cross Sykes Street at the cross-walk, stands one of Meaford's beautiful old homes, which has recently been restored.

Looking back at it when I've passed it the restoration is more obvious.  I love the little porch under the attic dormer.

And then I'm down to the bottom end of Parker Street where it hits the shoreline at McCarrol Park, a much nicer ride than Trowbridge or Nelson Streets.  The pavement is simply smoother, with none of those annoying narrow cracks that have been filled in, cracks which you probably don't even notice in a car, but which are quite painful for me.  I've been driving this new route downtown and back ever since the first time tried it.