As of January 2013, Campbellford, Ontario is where my husband and I now call home. Located midway between Toronto and Ottawa in Northumberland County along the banks of the Trent River, it is also known as the municipality of Trent Hills when Campbellford, Hastings and Warkworth amalgamated in 2001.
Wanting to leave the suburban life in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and get away from the road rage, population, pollution and just enjoy the simple life, we chose Campbellford because of its many amenities, such as a Hospital, grocery stores, local businesses and the ability to feel like you are on vacation every day! Just beautiful scenery everywhere. They don't call it the rolling hills for nothing!
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Campbellford Road (8) to Stirling.
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Campbellford is home to the landmark 27' giant Toonie displaying the polar bear designed by local wildlife artist Brent Townsend. The toonie is what we call the $2. Canadian coin and the $1. coin is called a loonie.
When I first moved to Canada 14 years ago, I saw a child in a bank and thought how cute it was when he said he was putting his loonies and toonies in his savings account. Little did I know it is the common terminology for grown adults alike to call these coins loonies and toonies.
While researching my facts about the giant loonie, I now find that I am blown away by Brent Townsends work. While looking at his paintings, I saw so many landscapes that looked familiar to me. Some looked like my favorite lake in Ontario and others looked like some local landscape of the countyside around Campbellford.
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Brent Townsends - Edge of the Barnyard, is so reminiscent of the landscape in Trent Hills. Photo courtesy of http://www.artcountrycanada.com/townsend.htm
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I just made the connection of why I love the Campbellford country side, it reminds me so much of some the Wyeth prints that I have in my home, mostly Evening at Kuerners, which reminds me of the beautiful rolling hills of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania which was not far from the suburbs of Wilmington, Deleaware where I grew up. I also read that Brent Townsend was influenced by Andrew Wyeth, so I see a visit to his gallery in nearby Warkworth is in the future:-)
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Ranney Gorge Suspension Bridge
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The Ranney Gorge Suspension Bridge, is a must see! I love their slogan. "Get over it, EH" I made it halfway for the first visit, I know in the future I will get over it:-)
Below you will find some of the many services and businesses located in Campbellford.
Apollos pizzeria in Campbellford is one of my favorite places for pizza delivery. Especially since they deliver to us and we are about 9 miles away. Awesome! Will give a full review on the great dining there too. The place has charm and is a local favorite.
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The outside patio at Apollos
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Capers Restaurant: 28 Bridge Street
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We have heard many great things about Capers Restaurant, but have not tried it yet. But you can be sure when we do visit, you will get the full review. I think it will be a striploin for me and snitzel for the hubby.
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Outside Patio at Capers Restaurant
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The Stinking Rose Pub: 26 Bridge Street
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The Stinking Rose Pub is next to Capers on Bridge Street West. Its a cute little pub owned by Church Key Brewery serving a limited selection of local microbrews. I must say I visited the pub twice and did not purchase a thing. The first time was when we were house shopping in the area and looking for some lunch. It was a Monday and Capers was closed, so I walked in to see what they had to offer. I was told they didn't really have a food menu, but usually offered a special of the day. Even a small selection of appetizers would have been enticing.
The next time I visited was with some relatives from out of town. We took a look at the bar menu on the chalkboard and could not find one beverage we were in the mood for. It was a very hot day and sometimes you just know what would satisfy your thirst. I would have been happy with a coors lite or a wine cooler. I was really disappointed, as I was hoping it would be a place that I would visit often, you know a place where everyone knows your name. Check out the photo below, when George Wendt (AKA NORM) from Cheers visited the Stinking Rose. How COOL is that? He was in town filming a documentary for the History Televisions series, Name This.
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George Wendt AKA Norm from Cheers at the Stinking Rose Pub.
Photo courtesy of Sacred Order of the Stinking Rose facebook page.
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If you like microbrews then you would enjoy the Stinking Rose. I am a big fan of Church Keys Northumberland Ale and I did have a nice cider beer that I purchased at the Brewery. It would be nice to have a sampler serving, just a taste for a smaller price to see which one you really enjoy. Gordon Biersch did that when they were located in Whitby, you paid .05 Cents and you got a taste of their four microbrews on tap. Then you were able to decide what you wanted to drink. Perhaps the nightly entertainment and the fact that the capacity of the pub is about 30 people makes it popular for the locals who live nearby. I will give it another try, I'm just not a huge beer connoisseur but would like to see a nice little pub in Campbellford where I could take visiting friends and relatives to have a few drinks and appetizers.
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Fishers nofrills: 15 Canrobert Street
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Fishers Nofrills grocery store in Campbellford is the more affordable option for shopping than some of the bigger chains. The owners of this store, used to own a nofrills store in Whitby which I frequented often. Make sure you bring a quarter for the cart, and bags for your groceries.
There is also Sharpes Food Market which has great selections of meat, produce, deli, bakery and lots of cheeses.
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Sharpes Food Market - 85 Front Street North
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Empire Cheese & Butter Co-op: 1120 County Road 8
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Campbellford is also home to Empire Cheese & Butter Co-op. Imagine being able to wake up every morning and buy fresh squeeky warm cheese curd. Yum!
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If you want white curd, its available on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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Bacon WARPPED chicken? at the M&M frozen meat shop.
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The Aron Theatre: 54 Bridge Street East.
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And for a night out, their is the Aron Theatre on Bridge Street.
Watch for more additions to this page and individual posts and reviews, upcoming soon!
