Friday, September 14, 2012

Port Dover Ontario Ride


September is a perfect time to ride through Michigan and Southern Ontario. My travels this time through Ontario included downtown London, which is not terribly large, but it does have plenty of local and chain restaurants and bars. There are four parks, including Victoria Park on the north side of the downtown area.  Ivey Park on the west side is small but beautiful, and including a kid’s water fun area, the Splashpad, by the Thames River (of course!) After enjoying riding though the country towns of Salford, Woodstock, Holbrook and Norwich, it was time to head South toward Lake Erie. Overcast skies and mild weather followed us to Port Dover. With historic roots in railroad and shipping industries, Port Dover now has the claim to fame of hosting one of the biggest Biker rallies in the region. Every Friday the 13th, thousands of bikers will fill the streets, some of which are reserved only for motorcycles. There are a couple of Leather shops, T-shirt shops, Clare’s Harley Davidson’s store, a beach, and several restaurants. Knechtel's at Port Dover has fish fresh out of Lake Erie, but I chose the chicken strips. They were very juicy and nicely seasoned. They came with the salad bar, which had very tasty homemade cucumber salad, tomato salad, pasta salad, and garden salad. The restaurant walls are covered in nostalgic photos from Port Dover’s historic past. The trip back toward Indiana took me through Potterville, Mi, where I found Charlie’s Bar and Grill (see Review on separate blog.)  This time of year is a great time to ride through Michigan and Southern Ontario, so put it on your ride list!