Day 27: St. Catharines to Hamilton

Yesterday morning, I left Joe’s house and had breakfast at Sunset Restaurant in downtown St. Catharines. I had some eggs, ham, home fries, and toast. The menu also had peameal, which is something I never heard of. As it turned out, it’s a more expensive pork rolled in yellow peas. I should have ordered it instead of the ham. Next time I will.

I cycled out of St. Catharines and rode on N Service Rd. This road paralleled the Queen Elizabeth Way, which is a highway. Facing headwinds, I stayed on that road for a long time until I reached the town of Grimsby. At Casablanca Waterfront Park, I took a short break before riding again.

Since I was making good time, I rode through a beautiful park called Confederation Park in Hamilton before stopping by to get lunch at Wanda’s Caribbean Kitchen on the east side of Hamilton.

I had the jerk chicken with macaroni and coleslaw. The meat on the chicken was so tender that it easily fell off the bones. Definitely one of the best chicken dishes I’ve had.

When I tried to pay $2.03 for a can of soda with my Canadian coins that I brought, the cashier won’t accept my 3 cents. One of the customers told me that the cent is out of circulation as of a few years ago. Bummer. The bill was rounded up to $2.05 so I paid with a nickel.

After lunch, I rode several more miles to get to my Warmshowers host’s house in Hamilton. I had ridden a total of 38.7 miles.

My host is Joanna. She had met her husband René on Couchsurfing when she hosted him. They both have done cycling tours in Europe before. Now they are settled down and have a two years old daughter.

After taking a shower, I passed out on the couch for an hour or so since I was so tired. When I woke up, I did my laundry.

Joanna had invited me to go to a neighborhood potluck dinner and made some pasta and broccoli. I had a great time at the potluck chatting with many of Joanna and René’s friends. And the food was excellent!

When we came back to the house, I set up my sleeping bag in the living room and went to bed around 9:30 PM. This morning, I woke up at 5:10, the earliest wake up time since I started my bike tour.

I will leave Hamilton and head to Toronto today.

Riding on N Service Rd

A cool house in Grimsby

Took a rest at Casablanca Waterfront Park

The best jerk chicken is located here.

Love the bike lanes and the bike signs in Hamilton

Never heard of this spice before.

Neighborhood potluck friends

The community garden near Joanna's house

Joanna and her daughter Stelvia