Brockville (Ontario) Drivers

Next Drive

Date:TBD

#56 –Destination: TBD

Departing 1000 Islands Plaza, Section F, 10:00 a.m (sharp!)
(i.e. arrive no later than 9:45)

It's November, people. In an informal group with no rules, many have brought their fun-cars, and they will now be going away for the winter.

For some, that means dreaming of drives again in the spring. Not to say that we can't drive our more practical vehicles on winter tires and have fun in the cold.

We can.

Admittedly, it isn't the same. And we do have to be more prepared to cancel for weather.

If people would like winter drives — I do — then you know where to find me.

Join us.

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Previous Drive

#55 – Muddy Waters Café, Verona

Wed. Oct. 30

We had the best day, cool, not cold, sunny with occasional cloud-cover, and Earl found us the most wonderful roads.

I actually caved and had the house-burger for the first time, and it did not disappoint — the best burger I have tasted in many years.

That's probably it for summer-car drives, this year, but we have done winter drives, in more normal vehicles. Not all want to, but ... I do! (I'm a driver.)

ALSO ... on Nov. 5, Earl and I did a pop-up to Lavernes Eatery in Gananoque, through Portland and Battersea ... fabulous roads, sone circling due to being so busy driving (appropriate to the circumstances) that I missed a critical GPS-turn (twice).

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The Idea

Starting in June of 2022, Brockville Drivers exists simply for people who, like me (Charles T. Low), would like a group drive once in a while (cars, motorcycles, any road vehicle, really). In our short history to date, we have done shorter drives, longer drives, and no overnight trips (yet?).

Safety – the main thing will be safety, of course, completely on each driver's individual recognizance. This is not a club or any formal type of organization, the events not being sanctioned by any recognized body. The drives are nothing more than an offer to join others for an occasional motor excursion. I explicitly assume no liability whatsoever. I intend these, speaking only for myself, as 100% alcohol-free events.

Vehicles – there are no vehicular specifications. (I have said that I discourage unicycles, and yes, that is as humorous as I get.) We are tending to attract fun-vehicles, but ... come in whatever you like to drive!

Frequency – up to weekly in the summer, roughly monthly in the winter — no firm schedule.

Destinations – usually somewhere within 90-150 minutes outbound, shorter inbound, for lunch.

Routes – With help from other drivers, we have been finding back-roads routes, no major highways, and I have done my durndest to avoid badly bumpy roads, and strive mightily never to drive on gravel roads at all. Without pre-driving the routes, surprises can happen (and have done so) — all manageable so far. Road-condition websites (below) and Google-maps Street-View help immensely (if a bit tedious to wade through).

Starting point – we have been meeting informally, most often in the 1000 Islands Mall parking lot, between Gabriel Pizza and Staples, roughly between markers E and F.

Notification – Contact me if and when you would like to be on a (very private) notification list. I will attempt to contact interested parties individually, once, and anything further will only be with your explicit permission. Notifications could be through email, or potentially through an email list service such as MailChimp (could be necessary as numbers grow). As of August 2023, we have Facebook group, and I share some posts with a Brockville events group.

Weather – most drives are rain or shine (although I do intend to be intelligent about that), without a rain-date unless explicitly specified.

Some of the restaurants require reservations, and it also helps in general if you RSVP as early as you are able.

Charles T. Low
Brockville, Ontario

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Drives

2024

1. #32, MOM Restaurant, Verona, route, 4 vehicles, ~230 km, ~3.5 hours
2. #33, Tue. Apr. 16, Goose and Gridiron, Merrickville, Outbound, ~1.5 hours, 97 km, Inbound, ~1.5 hours, 102 km
3. #34, Wed. May 1, St. Andrews West, Quinn's Inn, Outbound 1, Outbound 2, Inbound, 250 km.
4. #35, Sat. May 11, Verona, Muddy Waters Restaurant, Outbound, 1 h 39 min, 113 km, Inbound, 1 h 38 min, 118 km
5. #36, Thu. May 16, Laverne's Eatery, Gananoque, Chit Chat Convenience (Lyn) for coffee, Outbound (really lovely, twisty run), Inbound, 178 km
6. #37, Sun. May 26, Fall River Café, Maberly, ~3 hours driving, round-trip, ~220 km.
7. #38, Thu. June 19, Embrun, Homestead Pub, outbound, 3+ hours of driving round trip, ~223 km
8. #39, pop-up drive, Wed. June 19 St. Louis Bar & Grill, Perth, 4 cars, ~175 km
9. #40, Tue. June 25, Au Vieux Duluth, Cornwall (lunch), The McIntosh, Morrisburg, coffee/desert, outbound (inbound extemporized), 5 cars, 232 km
10. #41, Thu. July 4, The Opinicon at Chaffeys Lock, extemporized as the planned route proved unsuitable, 7 cars, 95 km on the outbound leg, home via Gananoque, 1000 Islands Parkway, Lyn ...
11. #42, Howe Island, Outbound, Inbound, 4 cars, 5 people, slow waiting for ferries (so we talked), lunch at Husky, Joyceville Road and 401, ~200 km round-trip
12. #43, Cornwall, Blue Anchor Bar & Grill, Outbound, (Inbound extemporized, similar), Mcintosh Inn, 4 cars, 241 km.
13. #44, July 24, Cornwall's Pub, Rockport, 3 cars
14. #45, July 26, Muddy Water's Restaurant, Verona, 4 cars
15. $46, August 1, Rapid Valley Restaurant, Lansdowne, 3 cars
16. #47, August 22, The Swan on the Rideau, Outbound, Inbound, 4 cars, 240 km
17. #47.5, Sep. 2, pop-up to Village Bean Café, Merrickville, thru Jasper, home all the way west on Kitley 3 to #5 (then #8, etc.), 2 cars, 135 km, good drive
18. #48, Sep. 5, Lockmaster's Taphouse, Smiths Falls, Outbound, Inbound, 6 cars, 7 people, about 228 km, 3.5 hours round trip
19. #49, The Miller House, Lake on the Mountain, Prince Edward County, Outbound, Inbound (planned), Inbound, revised, disrupted (fanbelt, squirrels, but we got home), ~5.5 hours of driving, 434 km
20. #50, Alexandria, Outbound, Inbound, 4 cars (it seems)
21. #51, Redneck Bistro (busy!), Calabogie, Coutts Coffee, Perth, Outbound (Inbound more directly home), 5 cars, ~4.25 hours total driving, 304 km both legs
22. #52, Goose & Gridiron, Merrickville, Outbound, Inbound, 4 cars, ~3.25 hours, 229 km
23. Outbound (revised 2024-10-15), 1:43 h, 123 km
24. #53, Homestead Pub, Embrun, McIntosh Inn, Morrisburg (apple pie!), Outbound (theoretical), 1:43 h, 123 km, Inbound, 1:43 h, 113 km
25. #53b, Bastard Coffeehouse Pop-up drive, Oct. 21, straight there on 42, home along the near-mythical Opinicon Road among others (Marble Rock road, also delightful), 2 h, 140 km
26. #54, Bastard Coffee House, Delta, four cars including one newcomer ("had the best time!") Outbound, 1:33 h, 108 km -extemporized return including lovely slow portions on Sherwood Springs Rd. and Halleck's Road W.
27. #55, Muddy Waters Café, Verona, long-way Outbound, 125 km, wonderful Inbound extemporized along the Desert Lake Road (stony stretch in the middle), Junction Restaurant for pie and coffee, eventually through Junetown, 283 km round trip
28. #55b, pop-up to Laverne's in Gananoque, just Earl and me, fabulous roads -through Portland and Battersea

2023

1. #14, Sat. Jan. 21, Almonte, route up fun but faulty (not shown), route back, 4 vehicles, ~300 km
2. #15, Sat. Feb. 11, Coutts Coffee, route to Perth, 4 vehicles, ~170 km
3. #16, Tue. May 9, Westport, Tangled Garden, 5 vehicles
4. #17, Wed. May 24, Verona, Muddy Waters Restaurant, and Westport, Vanilla Beans Café and Creamery, 3 vehicles, ~250 km
5. #18, Sun. June 11, Blue Anchor Pub & Grill (near Cornwall), Outbound, Inbound, 4 vehicles
6. #19, Wed. July 7, Muddy Waters Restaurant, Verona, Ontario, Outbound, Inbound, 3 vehicles
7. #20, Tue. July 18, Gananoque, Laverne's Eatery, pop-up drive, there on the Parkway, home more circuitously through Emery and Junetown, 4 vehicles
8. #21, Sat. July 22, Fall River Café, Maberly, Antrim Truck Stop, Arnprior, Outbound, 7 vehicles
9. #22, Wed. Aug. 2, The Swan on the Rideau, Outbound, (inbound on back roads through Kemptville, Oxford Mills, Bishops Mills, North Augusta, New Dublin), 8 vehicles (incl. 1 motorcycle), 10 people, 209 km round-trip
10. #23, Wed. Aug. 9, Chaffey's Lock, The Opinicon, Ice Cream Shop, Outbound, Inbound, 5 cars, 6 people, ~200 km
11. #24, Sun. Aug. 20, Muddy Waters (FB), Verona, Outbound, Inbound, 4 vehicles
12. #25, Aug. 28, Carleton Place
13. #26, WhiteFace, Lake Placid, NY
14. #27, Fall River Café, Maberly (lunch) – Lanark – Coutts Coffee, Perth (coffee), Round Trip, 3 cars, ~235 km, ~3.5 hours driving
15. #28, Melt Gallery, The Miller House, 2 cars, ~320 km
16. #29, The Swan, Thu. Oct. 26, 4 cars, 4 people
17. #30, Muddy Waters, Verona, Fri. Nov. 3
18. #31, Nov. 30, Laverne's, Gananoque, Outbound, Inbound, 2 or 3 vehicles (complicated!), 162 km, ~2.75 hours driving

2022

1. Sun. June 12; Gananoque, coffee, Tim Horton's, return, 2 cars, 2 people
2. Sun. June 26; Kemptville (there and back), coffee, Tim Horton's, 2 cars, 3 people
3. Sat. July 2; Smiths Falls, McDonald's (there and back), coffee, 4 cars & 1 motorcycle, 6 people
4. Thu. July 7, Calabogie (there and back), Redneck Bistro, lunch, 6 vehicles, 6 people
5. Thu. July 14, Manotick (there and back), The Swan on the Rideau, lunch
6. Sat. July 23, Perth, light breakfast at Coutts Coffee Roastery and Café
7. Sun. Aug. 07, Chaffey's Lock (there and back), lunch at The Opinicon, 9 vehicles, 13 people
8. Mon. Aug. 22, St-Albert (Fromagerie at), there and back (legs one and two), 5 vehicles, 6 people.
9. Sat. Sep. 17, Gananoque, Laverne's Eatery, 6 vehicles, 7 people.
10. Fri. Oct. 14, Juniper Café, Kingston, Outbound, Inbound, 4 vehicles, 5 people.
11. Sun. Oct. 23, Opinicon Road, lunch at Ferg's Cook House (Crosby), 3 vehicles, 4 people.
12. Sat. Nov. 05, Bedford Road, Westport, actual route, snack at the Tangled Garden Café, 7 vehicles, 9 people
13. Sun. Nov. 10, The Village Bean, Merrickville, route through Perth, 2 vehicles, ~150 km

Feel free to suggest dates, times, places of your own choosing (duration, distance, activity, frequency, etc.). Feel free to comment on the roads — looking for safe, fun and interesting, will not damage the vehicles or overly jostle the occupants. Feel free to comment on the durations and distances of the drives.

Starting with full fuel suggested; otherwise the group very easily gets separated from each other.

If the group would like a drive on a date when I am unavailable, then I will try to help to facilitate it, as able (and that has happened, and it went well).

Sunblock!

It has happened that some of us returned to the start-point, rather than head straight home, and that has led to some spontaneous and very enjoyable conversation with or without another restaurant patio-meal.

Attracting Participants

Feel free to comment on:

• What size of a group would be optimal?
  • If larger, how would you advise attracting new participants (other than word-of-mouth and Facebook announcements)?
• With past drives, did you like:
  • the roads;
  • the distance;
  • the time;
  • the convoy-format?
  • the destination, specifically
    • the food?
• How frequently would like to do a drive?
• What would you like to see for future drives?

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Housekeeping

Non-rules

This is just a group of drivers going for drives, so no one has any explicit rules. Here however are a few useful ideas from formal driving clubs:

• No passing of other drive participants.
• Keep the car behind you in view, and make sure they can see you turning at corners.
• Keep the car ahead of you in view; it makes it very difficult for anyone to get lost.
  • (And watch your spacing!)
  • These two concepts should mean that the queue remains intact at all times, up to and including the point where if any vehicle pulls over to the shoulder, eventually the whole line would end up pulled over, with the vehicles ahead of and behind you still in sight.
• Drive within your sight-lines.
• Drive your own drive. If you find the pace unsuitable, then, when appropriate, move further forward or backward in the queue.

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Links

Route Resources

• Ride the Highlands
• Ottawa Road Trips
• Lennox & Addington Driving Routes

Road Conditions

• Ontario highways
• Municipal roads
• Less helpful:
  • Leeds-Grenville county roads
  • Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry, no highway construction map(?)
  • Lanark county roads

Car Clubs

Several other wonderful local car clubs exist, their focus being elsewhere than on driving, to my knowledge. I hope that I'm not stepping on anyone's toes, and please let me know, if so. So far, the Brockville Drivers initiative seems to have found a very receptive audience!

This is a very partial list (suggestions welcome):

• TISMA
• St. Lawrence Automobile Club
• Highway 43 Car Club

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