Sunday, March 03, 2019

Woodstock/Kitchener Ontario - Waterloo Region Museum

We didn't wake until after 8:00 AM, when we got a call from Robyn saying that they had our activity planned for the day. It seems there was a Waterloo Region Museum (news to us) and it was hosting a space exhibit. We agreed to meet about there about 1:00 PM.

Heather called to say they would be out of church about 10:00 AM and, since we enjoyed it last weekend, we agreed to meet them at Dean Michael's Griddlehouse for breakfast. Tom was still busy volunteering at the church, so it was just the five of us.

 Well worth a visit if you are in Woodstock for breakfast or lunch

 This weekend, we had a booth

 Jasper's opinion of my skill at taking selfies

Yes, we are amused

As usual, the breakfast was very good. It was nice spending two consecutive weekends visiting all the grandchildren after a winter apart. We need to make an effort to visit more often.

About 11:30, we wrapped up breakfast and headed for Kitchener. It was still early, so I took advantage of the time and headed for the nearby Golf Town store. There used to be one in Sudbury, but our population and season length were not enough to sustain it. The reason for my visit today was to look for Skecher's golf shoes, which Golf Town's website said they carried. These shoes have a reputation for comfort. You may recall I spent last year visiting several Skechers outlet stores across the US, only to find that  none of them carried golf shoes. I also visited some Dick's Sporting Goods stores, another authorized outlet, only to find that they had just a few pair of off size Skechers.

As we approached Golf Town, we saw a modern looking light rail vehicle with "Testing" written on the side. It turned out this was a test vehicle for the ION light rail, part of Waterloo Region's rapid transit system, that was supposed to commence operation between Waterloo and Kitchener later this year. Eventually, it should connect all the way to downtown Galt in Cambridge.

Golf Town had hundreds of pairs of Adidas, Foot Joy and other brands of shoes, but only four pairs of men's Skechers. Of course none of them were in my size. The young lady said they were expecting a new shipment but did not know when they would arrive. I explained the geographical problem and she said that if I sized Skecher running shoes, the size would be the same and I could order on line.That I could do. (UPDATE - She must have been wrong about the shipment because, by the end of April, Skechers had disappeared off the Golf Town website.)

It was eight minutes from Golf Town to the Waterloo Region Museum. Mike, Jolene and Robyn arrived shortly after we did, while Kim had stayed home because she wasn't feeling well.

Waterloo Region Museum

 The museum did, indeed, have a Journey To Space exhibit on display. It featured hands on and other examples of what it would be like to live and work on outer space.


Mars explorers

There were also many permanent exhibits of local history, science, technology and commerce.

Hazel the steam engine operated at Kaufman Footwear 1908 to 1990

An original Conestoga wagon

Threshing machine manufactured locally between 1890 and 1900

Coming of Age traces teenagers from the 1920's to today

My favourite vector graphics video game

The Mezzanine provided an overview of the main floor as well as a Hall of Fame for notable local people and a memorial to those folks who gave their lives in defense of our nation.







The museum is the entrance to the Doon Heritage Village, which includes examples of historical buildings and lifestyles in the area. Although the village wasn't open at this time of year, there was a good view of the St. Petersburg (Waterloo County) train station and CPR steam engine 894.


Our final stop was at Hazel's Snack Bar for a quick bite to eat.

Behind the scene

What Mike saw

My overall impression was that the Waterloo Region Museum was pleasant, informative and well worth the afternoon visit. It called for another visit when Doon Village was open.

We headed back to Woodstock about 3:45, stopping at McDonald's to get some food to take to our room. Then we went over to Heather and Tom's at 6:00 PM to visit with the kids for a while  We had been wearing shoes all weekend, but had to put boots on when it was time to return to the hotel due to fresh snow on the ground.

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