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Exploring Perth, Ontario

April 12, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

2017 Nissan Versa Note with statue of legendary Canadian horse Big Ben on the shore of the Tay River in Perth, Ontario.

Dating back to 1816, the town of Perth, Ontario is primarily a Summer tourist destination these days, with shops and eateries all through the town. When checking in to the surprisingly cool Best Western Plus right in downtown Perth, we asked the Front Desk Dude where he would go if he were looking for a late afternoon snack and a pint. Without hesitation, FDD suggested we check out Fiddleheads, which is conveniently located directly across the street.


Situated in the basement of the historic Code’s Mill, Fiddleheads has a super cool pub vibe that features 176 year old stone walls and wood beams. Our waitress had a lovely Irish accent, which made the place that much more inviting. We nibbled on fresh, house made pizza with locally sourced toppings. It wasn’t the best pie we’ve ever had, but it hit the spot. We will return.

It is kinda wrong just how badly I want this van.

After a swim and a nap, went for a walk around the town and eventually wandered over to O’Reilly’s Ale House, which has some pretty solid reviews on Yelp and a pretty sweet looking location. It was a Thursday evening, about 8 o’clock and every other place we passed was almost empty, but O’Reilly’s was packed.


We grabbed the coolest table, which was elevated above the bar, ordered drinks and a charcuterie platter. It looked fantastic and came on a wonderful, live edge wood tray. The ciabatta demi was nice and warm and the cheese duo were fantastic if a little bit on the skimpy side. The meats however seemed like a bit of an afterthought. Too thickly hand cut, basic, middle of the road grocery store deli meats were not what we expected. The quick pickled red onions were fab. The real surprise however, and the absolute star of the platter, was the dipping sauce, of which no specific mention was made.

That little, red dish of heaven is TOTALLY worth a mention of its own. Made by local company, Perth Pepper and Pestle, this stuff is a Curry Cardamom Everything Sauce. Click the link and either order some online or find some in a store if you live up that way. It will change your life forever!

While we were there, we noticed a tiny shelf on the way to the bathrooms, with nothing on it. We asked our waitress about it and she had never noticed it. She asked a long time employee and she hadn’t noticed it either. A couple of days later, we returned for a pint and left a friendly surprise on the shelf. I can’t wait for our next visit to see if it is still there.

The following day, we made a short trek over to Smiths Falls to grab some shoes. Yeah, I know, flip flops in March are a gamble. Anyway, we found the town to be absolutely gorgeous and yet hideously depressed at the same time. There wasn’t even a single pub that looked interesting enough to entice us out of the car. Very sad, as there is so much tourist potential there.

On the way back, we found an incredible spot that is worthy of its own episode of American Pickers. The gent who owns Rideau Antiques has been collecting stuff for 55 years. His assistant is just a pup, having only been helping peddle junk for 35 years. The place is on Rideau Ferry Blvd, between Perth and Smiths Falls and offers maybe an acre of hunting on one side of the road, and a barn full of stuff on the other. You know you are in for a hunt when the owner hands you a flashlight before you venture into the barn! There is a lot of new-ish junk, mixed in with some truly vintage finds, all sort of loosely organized. We easily spent a couple of hours, pretty much overwhelmed by the amount of stuff. I did at least by a scruffy old Matchbox Can-Am car.



Day 2’s dinner did not go as we had hoped. Perhaps the best thing I can say is to check out my Yelp review. Our post dinner visit to DQ was uneventful and successful.

This cool ’63 Chevy van, turned into a chip truck, is on the Rideau Ferry Road on the outskirts of Perth.

 

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Small car scribbles

November 15, 2016 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

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In addition to organizing the Canadian Car of the Year awards testfest event last month, I had also been tasked by a print editor to evaluate the small car category. Doing double duty means that I typically don’t have time to actually write about the cars during the event.

Unlike some of the old guard, paper note pads aren’t my thing. Instead, I use Google Keep, which allows me to keep great notes. It occurred to me while writing the story yesterday that it also allows me to share my scribbles with you.

In no particular order, here are my roadside observations of the vehicles entered in small car this year.

Chevrolet Spark

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screenshot_2016-11-15-12-21-19

 

Hyundai Elantra

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screenshot_2016-11-15-12-09-59

Subaru Impreza

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screenshot_2016-11-15-12-05-02

Mini Cooper Clubman

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screenshot_2016-11-15-12-09-29

Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback

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screenshot_2016-11-15-12-09-22

 

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One week with the 2016 Ford Focus RS

September 21, 2016 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

gg_focusrs-3-of-5

After years of stiffing the North American market, Ford has finally brought the hottest of their hot hatches to our shores for 2016. I finally got to spend some time at the wheel of the incredible Ford Focus RS.

After the first few days of redline shifts and generally being a noisy nuisance, I discovered that the blue bomb is a thirsty wee beastie when driven hard. It isn’t too bad when driven like a grannie though.

gg_focusrs-1-of-5


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2012 Hyundai Veloster

March 26, 2012 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

When Hyundai debuted the Veloster at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, there were more than a few journos on the show floor that were scratching their heads a bit. I have to admit that I was among them. While the little runner was certainly cool looking to my eyes, the third door was a little gimmicky and the back seat it allowed access to offered headroom for a 10 year old and not much more. With only 138 ponies under the hood, the Veloster wasn’t even remotely about performance either.

To be fair, auto manufacturers were locked in a battle to outdo each other in the fuel economy wars at the time. Hyundai promised to be the first manufacturer to offer a full line of 30 mpg plus machines, while the high mileage variants from their competitors required consumers to spend extra money up front. The Veloster was positioned as a fun and funky car for around town, not a performance car. Then, at Chicago, they confused the message by showing off the purpose built racer that Rhys Millen would campaign in the US Rallycross series.
[Read more…]

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First Drive: 2012 Toyota Prius C

March 22, 2012 by Gary Grant 3 Comments

As is often the case for Canadian new model launches, our first taste of the 2012 Toyota Prius C came this week, a full month after the US media launch. Unlike some other manufacturers though, when Toyota Canada invites the press out to an event, they put considerable thought into the location of the event, relative to the product they are showing. This week’s Prius C event brought us to Seattle, Washington.

As the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Starbucks and the home of Microsoft, Seattle could be considered one of the hippest cities in North America not to mention being green in a few senses. The historic downtown area from Pike Place to Seattle’s infamous red light district provided a perfect combination of old world sights and steep hills to put the C for City moniker to the test. From there, we headed out to the lovely countryside around Lake Washington, where we got to see how the C handled a wind swept causeway and some twisty country roads.
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Fiat 500 hauls cargo Canadian style!

November 1, 2011 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Yes, that is indeed 9 cases of empties stuffed into the back of a Fiat 500, plus a few 6 packs. We could easily have fit another 4 or 5 in there too!

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Chevy Sonic storms the beach in rural Quebec

October 12, 2011 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Since catching a glimpse of the upcoming Chevrolet Sonic earlier this year, I’ve been dying to drive Chevy’s new hatch. The General hasn’t had a serious contender in this segment in a very long time. Sure, they had the Aveo, but it was far from being a rival to some of the traditional imports. In other words, The General has a lot riding on the new Aveo Sonic.

First off, there are a couple of things about the new car that nosy gearheads will want to know, although most consumers likely won’t car to ask. Even though buyers in Canada and the rest of the World love hatchbacks, US drivers still seem to lean towards sedans in the showroom which means Chevrolet has to offer both. While the design team is truly made up of a global team, the car was developed by GM Korea which prompted one journo on the press launch to get into a debate with a GM employee over this being a Daewoo. It may be splitting hairs, but the Daewoo brand no longer exists so who cares? Canadian cars will be built at the Orion Assembly plant in Michigan. Adding to potential confusion, this true “World Car” will be sold as Sonic in some markets and Aveo in others. It would seem that the Aveo moniker is a positive one in some markets. In other cases, the Sonic name was not available for use.
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First Impressions: 2010 VW Golf 3 door and wagon

October 27, 2009 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

2010 golf family launch (5)

The Canadian launch of the VW Golf family began when we left the hotel in downtown Montreal headed north west towards the track at Mont Tremblant. My driving partner for the day was a Montreal native so our journey through town in the 2.5L Golf 3 door hatch was a breeze. Our tester was a Trendline or base model with the 5 speed manual transmission. With this setup, the 170 horsepower was perfect for zipping in and out of traffic on Montreal’s busy Rue St Laurent.

I’m not used to riding shotgun, but I found the ride comfy enough. The cool, practical thing about this little ride is the amount of space they’ve jammed inside. We had a VW guy along for the ride and he had hopped in to the back seat behind me. Access to the aft seat isn’t bad, even for an adult and back seat rider had more than enough room to get comfy. We had our travel bags and coats stuffed in the rear cargo area with tons of space to spare. Looking around the cabin, the fit and finish would be considered more than adequate for a car that cost twice what this one does. For a 3 door hatch that rings in at just a tick over 20 grand, the interior is outstanding. The engineering squad have used all manner of lightweight sound deadening tricks, combined with an extra thick laminate windshield to keep interior and exterior noise down and it has worked. The car is as quiet as a few luxury boats I’ve driven costing 3 times as much. Nice job. Following the prescribed drive route, we switched drivers just in time for me to enjoy some gentle curves as we got off the highway and on to the rural roads. The 170 horsepower 5 cylinder is smooth silk and offers consistent power throughout all 5 gears of the slick shifting manual box. The engine also offers a hint of that VW/Audi heritage with a nice 5 cylinder snarl from the exhaust. On the open road, the ride is smooth and the handling reasonably crisp.
[Read more…]

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2010 Toyota Matrix: Redefining a revolutionary

June 10, 2009 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

2010-toyota-matrix-5

While some may disagree with me, I have always felt that the first generation Toyota Matrix was revolutionary. It was a small vehicle that offered tons of utility in an edgy, sporty package at a time when Toyota wasn’t known for being overly daring. In fact, shortly after Toyota launched the Matrix, I became the service manager of a Toyota store and spent 3 months driving one. Not long after, my step father bought his own dark blue XR model. I have recommended the Matrix to more consumers than I can count. When the 2nd Gen version launched last Spring, I wondered if they could retain all of that goodness that I fell in love with. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to get behind the wheel of one until this past week.

Visually, designers have kept the original’s dna intact. While the curves have softened somewhat, there is no mistaking the current body for anything other than the Matrix except for possibly it’s cousin from Pontiac, the Vibe. Sliding behind the wheel, many similarities from the original car remain. From the functional plastic cargo area with plenty of tie downs to the funky dash, the heritage is definitely evident. They’ve even kept the oh so deep looking nautical Blue Metallic paint that seems to bump the visual up by a few thousand dollars.
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