Today was an open ended day at the CWSF. Everyone got to sleep in a bit before going to breakfast. This gave us time to get ready for a full day out and about in Windsor/Essex. We boarded the coach bus as 10AM and our first stop was the Black History Museum. Along the one hour drive, we traveled through some neighbourhoods along the waterfront. Stunning views. This day trip included a very knowledgeable tour guide named Bev. She has great knowledge of Black History and the Underground Railway. This was certainly an added bonus.
The Black History Museum started off as a church built in 1848 by former
slaves who had escaped their captors in the United States. The church
has since been refurbished, and surrounding buildings had artifacts
pertaining to this terrible time in American History. This included a
cabin, its furnishings, and a kitchen. There were displays as well as
animated videos teaching our students about how Canada was the salvation
for so many slaves.
Following this stop, we had a two hour drive down to Point Pelee National Park. Point Pelee is the Southern most point in Canada at just under 42 degrees latitude. That's the same line that divides Oregon and California. Once we arrived, it started to rain and we got drenched. The shuttle trolleys helped keep us stay drier en route, but once we got there, the rain really started coming down. Point Pelee is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. It is a mecca for ornithologists (Birdies). When we arrived, we stumbled into a couple dozen of them with their telephoto lenses and binoculars watching the many different birds in the area. Further along, we managed to round up the team for a photo opportunity at the tip of this symbolic location. From the looks on their faces, the South Fraser team was really enjoying themselves. Meaghan and Cindy commented on how much they've learned from Bev along the way.
Following the Point, we drove about a kilometer to the Marshlands of Pelee. There is a boardwalk that jetties out into the middle of the marshlands and back onto the main shoreline. Meaghan likens it to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Lander, BC. It was very pretty and scenic.
We got back to the University of Windsor at 6PM and freshened ourselves up. Part of this included drying our shoes from all that rain. Susan came up with a brilliant idea of using her blow dryer. It was nice to walk with dry feet again. We boarded public transit and headed east towards Little Italy. We arrived there about 45 minutes later and strolled up and down the main strip looking for an Italian restaurant. We found the perfect spot - Spargos. The food was plenty, the prices were reasonable, and the service was fantastic. They brought us unlimited amounts of fresh bread and roasted garlic. And just for waiting for them to set up our larger table, they served us a dish arancini (fried risotto dumplings). None of the kids have ever had it, but their pallets were longing for more. Dinner was spectacular and the portions were generous. Everyone had enough to bring home in a doggy bag.
By the end of the meal we were all stuffed and needed to walk off all that food. We did so by taking a 30 minute walk to Wynndotte Avenue to catch a transit bus back to the university. Fortunately, the weather was dry and not too cold. We made it back at around 11PM.
It's lights out as soon as we arrived home and an 8AM breakfast for public showings of their projects.
Today's pedometer reading was 12,705 steps.
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