SWITZERLAND JOHN SWITZER
Beans, beer and big sky
“Why not head east?” wrote one of our readers. So, with visions of those great back
roads overlooking the Ottawa River and maybe discovering a good breakfast stop, we motored down the Queensway heading east. First we had to get off Hwy
174 (efficient but boring) and, remembering a fishing outfitter on the Trim Road, we decided to exit there.
Instead of heading north to the river, we headed south and found not one but two Timmy’s (a good start). After fueling up, and with farms to the left and “burbs” to the right, we continued south, arriving in the unique village of Navan. Now our buddy and travelling
companion (“Uncle Ray”, we call him) “knows his oats”, so when he demanded we stop at a barber shop
on the edge of town we were at first reluctant but then pleasantly surprised to find a real back roader’s barbershop. The Barber Shop Garage (a high
performance hair cutting emporium) has hub caps on the walls, engine blocks for tables and…wait till ya see the barber! Turning left at the church, we
discovered J.T. Bradley’s General Store
(since 1890). Not only do they have good coffee, a great staff, with lots of friendly people coming and going but in the back they have an entire LCBO. Now how great is that! I wandered outside to sit on the welcoming
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benches lining the store front and found CHILLY CHILES right next door. This establishment is Rob and Allyson’s hot sauce depot in which they have an entire store of
unique hot sauces, in-store-made spicy rubs and chili powders. Leaving Navan, we toured down the
Colonial Road towards Sarsfield, home of Bourbonnais Equipment Inc, a retailer of farm toys, who took pity on me (a city idiot) and sold me my almost new 1962 Massey- Ferguson tractor. Alas, we never got there; the rolling landscape and big sky country dragged us back north on the Dunning Road towards the river. On this trip we were constantly in awe
of the high level and enormous size of the agricultural development located here on this rich flat plain, with each giant farm representing a living monument to the skill and hard work of its creators. The road dipped back into the Ottawa
River valley, disclosing the village of Cumberland with its beautiful and stately old homes. On turning east on the Old Montreal Road we found the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum.
I am a history
freak and had never even heard of this place with its Upper Canada like historic buildings and displays of old machinery and vehicles. What a great place to bring the grandchildren (if ya need an excuse to go). We then meandered down the old
Montreal Road. We caught glimpses of the Ottawa River on our left and the land rising abruptly on our right − the vestiges of the old beach of the long-gone Champlain Sea. Unfortunately the Old Montreal Road petered out and we ended up on HWY. 17 at Rockland. In today’s Rockland we bemoaned the
inevitable expansion of the suburbs with their rows of big box stores inundating this old lumber mill village and our fishing supply centre. This was assuaged by keeping in mind that the giant Muskie (world’s largest), bass and walleye are still lurking in the nearby reed beds, just waiting for us. We deviated off the busy highway at
Clarence Point and wandered down the twisting (albeit painfully rough) road that hugs the majestic Ottawa River. We
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