Monday 22 February 2016

A Half Decade Later... And A Love Letter



    "...It's been five long years and I love you just the same..."
                                                             -Colin James
    Five years.

    318 posts.

    250 000 reads... and growing.



    Thank you.


    When I started scribbling the Dock Six Chronicles back in  '11,  I didn't expect the D6C to find a worldwide audience.

    But, we did.

    A big part of the "why?" is our location, and my affection for it.


    I love this place, this sprawling county, this shore, this coast, this garden that is Norfolk County.

   I am also, occasionally, one of it’s harshest critics.

   For 5 years, I have been quietly blogging about my little part of this little place.

   The ‘folk has been going through a rough patch of late. Unemployment is up and opportunity is down. The number of vacant core storefronts in our towns and villages is growing, while our outskirts big box stores don’t have vacant parking spaces.


     We seem to have lost our self-confidence, seeking affirmation from beyond our borders.  (Seriously, the County Economic Development Department hands out an award for the best blogger from OUTSIDE Norfolk.  There is no award recognizing homegrown bloggers.  *Ahem*)



Maybe it’s time we start thinking about what makes us great and start patting ourselves on the back.


Today is the last birthday I will ever celebrate.

(Oh, ferpetesake, NO, this is not a suicide note- this is my 49th birthday, and I am NOT going to celebrate my 50th- that’s too much like growing up.)

With that in mind, here’s a list of 49 things I LOVE about this place.  Feel free to add your own.

1.        No 400 series highways.

2.       No traffic jams.

3.       Guacamole at Amiga's.

4.       Club sandwiches at Kaley's.

5.       A nice home is yours for the down payment on a house in the 416.

6.       The beaches.
                                          -image courtesy of norfolktourism.ca

7.       The Port Dover Harbour Marina.

8.       The sunsets at aforementioned marina.



9.       Our museums, big and small.

10.   Our strawberries.

11.   Our entrepreneurs .

12.   Our Home Hardware stores.

13.   Our wineries .

14.   Our microbreweries .

15.   Our apple cider donuts.
                                                       -image courtesy of norfolktourism.ca

16.   The Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show .

17.   Our  trail system .

18.   Long Point.

19.   Our history- rum runners, wreckers, tobacco growers, transplanted Arkansas guitar pickers, wars and wastrels.

20.   Annaliese Carr .

21.   The Lighthouse Festival Theatre .

22.   Norfolk Has Talent.  This should be a mandatory attendance event for everyone in the county.

23.   Perch at Knechtel's .

24.   Golden Glow at the Arbor

25.   Pottahawk .

26.   Friday the 13th .

27.   Port Rowan

28.   Gyros at The Bunkhouse in Delhi.

29.   Chipnuts, er, Crispy Potato Chip Covered Peanuts, from Picards .

30.   Our sweet corn.

31.   Our generations of Stanley Cup winning hockey players, especially Red Kelly- he won 8 Stanley cups, playing for 2 different teams, including winning one Cup in 1964, while serving as a Member of Parliament.


                                      -image courtesy of  Dirty Dangle Hockey

32.   The New Year’s Day Polar Bear Dip .


33.   Summerfest in Turkey Point.

34.   Pumpkinfest in Waterford.

35.   The Waterford ponds.

36.   Backus Mill


37.   The patio (and the tagline) at 211 Main.
                                                       -image courtesy of tripadvisor.ca

38.   Sailboat races on Monday and Wednesday nights.


39.   Ross Bateman.

40.   Normandale and Fisher’s Glen.

41.   Spooky Hollow Road.

42.   Port Ryerse.

43.   The Sand Hills.
                                                    - image courtesy of norfolktourism.ca

44.   Damn near every road is paved.

45.   Sangria and churros at The Combine

46.   Gamble’s Shipyard.


47.   The lift bridge in Port Dover.

48.   Waterford Old Town Hall.

49.  Panorama, in all of it’s anachronistic glory.

Okay, locals, it's your turn:  Why do YOU love Norfolk County?





    To all of you faithful readers over the past 5 years, thanks for sticking around, and passing the word. Please, continue to "Talk the dock!"


Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. Unknown22 February 2016 at 08:59

    Great list...don't foget the Waterford Deer Park.

    ReplyDelete
  2. gavinrsmith22 February 2016 at 09:05

    Where do you get those apple cider doughnuts? I now officially have a craving for those. Wastrels of the world unite!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown22 February 2016 at 10:26

    I love farm fresh produce. Every vegetable imaginable and almost any fruit available right at the farm gate. We have a circuit we follow as the season progresses. It is the only place in the world that refers to late spring as 'Asparagus time'

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown22 February 2016 at 12:15

    Where do I begin??? Burgers and super thick milkshakes at Andy's Drive-In (an institution since the 1940's!!!), Long Point sunsets, boating out to the lighthouse and spending the day on the other side of the point, the mexican food truck in downtown Simcoe, Courtland Bakery (nuff said), Bev's chip wagon...I could go on and on. One more addition...you yourself claimed that the egg salad sandwiches at Bella's Bakery in Port Rowan are the best around too! Ain't no folk like Norfolk!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown29 February 2016 at 22:54

    Dang it, somebody beat to asking where to get those donuts, lol. Are you going to tell us Brian? It's a great list. I'll add Bolerama at Long Beach Conservation Area every July. Oh and I'm 49 too! Cheers, Phil

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bursledon Blogger27 March 2016 at 14:41

    Congratulations on 5 years, I'm one of the people who likes to read about your small part of the world from our small part of the world. keep it up

    ReplyDelete

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