All day via bus on Saturday, Sept 14th

8:30 a.m. Load Bus at St Clair Subway station south entrance on Pleasant Blvd (next to 40 Pleasant Blvd).

9:00 a.m. Leave for Tour. During the tour I will comment on the countryside we are passing through and the history of its villages, cities and historic sites. We'll travel directly to the twin cities of Kitchener/Waterloo passing through them to our first destination.

10:30 a.m. Arrive with free time to experience St. Jacobs Country's two authentic farmers markets both popular attractions for local shoppers and visitors alike! St. Jacobs Farmers' Market & Flea Market and the Waterloo Farmers' Market, continue to complement the strong agricultural activity of the Waterloo Region and made this a unique and lively place to shop. At either market, you will find aisle upon aisle of fresh produce from across Ontario and from local farm gardens. Plus, find meats, cheese, baking, crafts, home decor, furniture, clothes, tools and more. Local delicacies like summer sausage and pure maple syrup are sold by Mennonite farmers who travel to market by horse and buggy. Indoors and outside you will find more than 600 vendors! Visitors enjoy live performances by buskers, and you can catch a ride on Country Livery Services' Horse Drawn Trolley Tours. There is also a livestock area, which often has auctions occurring. As well, chock a block next door is another shopper's paradise - the St. Jacobs Factory Outlet Mall. Come and fill your market basket!

12:30 a.m. Leave for St. Jacobs Village

1 p.m. Arrive St. Jacobs Village free time for shopping and eating. the main street and side streets are filled with shops of all kinds. Happy visitors go home with gifts, new pieces of art, intriguing Waterloo County handcrafts and furniture, food that really, really schmecks, antiques, clothing, toys . . . the list is literally endless. The shops of St. Jacobs are famed for their personal service, and for their unique environments and range of unique items. A stroll through the shops of St. Jacobs will find you discovering ladies' fashions featuring only cream-coloured items (at La Creme), or exclusively black fashions and accessories (Essentially Black); evaluating a huge range of antiques (before touring the Maple Syrup Museum that is included in the Antique Market); browsing through thousands of antique architectural furnishings, from fireplaces to finials; lingering in shops selling edibles ranging from peanuts to preserves; and planning your garden design in shops featuring statuary and furniture. 

3 p.m. Leave for West Montrose via Elmira

3:30 p.m. Arrive West Montrose Covered Bridge for viewing and photographing. The West Montrose Covered Bridge is the only surviving covered bridge in Ontario. Covered bridges symbolize the small-towns of North America. Something from the nineteenth century, a little archaic and strange to 21^st Century eyes, picturesque and sentimental, "kissing bridges" recall a time when life was simpler and closer to the land -- if only in our dreams. Covered bridges complement autumn leaves and autumn emotions. Photogenic and often remote from the Major Highways and cities, covered bridges lure the explorer to find the little streams and dirt roads that the 21st century has almost passed by.

4:00 p.m. Leave for Elora

4:30 p.m. Arrive at the Village of Elora and the Elora Gorge and be enchanted. Elora sits nestled within a natural wonderland of towering pines and glacial rock formations. It's an atmosphere of world class shopping, historic stone buildings, extraordinary craft shops and affordable fine dining! Elora's most breathtaking geographic feature is the Grand River. Winding peacefully through the town, the rive still powers an ancient mill, only to plunge into the spectacular Elora Gorge.

5:30 p.m. Leave for Toronto passing through the Quarry at Elora, Fergus and Guelph.

7:00 p.m. Arrive at St. Clair Station

Cost of this great outing is $60 payable in advance. Parking at a "Green P" parking on Pleasant Blvd or take the subway and get off at St. Clair then go to the south entrance on Pleasant Blvd. "Wear comfortable shoes bring water, sun screen and hat," Mommy.