For our 45th wedding anniversary we travelled to Windsor and Essex County. It is overdue. Prior to the Covid shutdown, we travelled to the Erie shore in every year in May; excepting a couple of trips to Port Dover, we haven’t renewed South Westbound explorations. Also, Sam and Trevor enjoy travelling to Essex County so we have heard good reviews.

Kingsville

Prior to arriving in Windsor we stop at the Dairy Freeze in Kingsville, per Sam’s recommendation; vintage style Ice Cream and fast foods, highly recommended.

River Walk

We chose a hotel on the River Walk with excellent views to the north into Detroit. Walking the Riverwalk is quintessentially Windsor; Dieppe Gardens are directly across the street from the hotel, they are tribute to unfortunate Dieppe raid in World War 2. You will also find other tributes to Canadian Naval history.

Malden Park

Malden Park includes the highest point in Windsor; a short but fairly steep hike leads to a carefully engineered platform where you can view the beautiful new Gordie Howe Bridge to the U.S. The park has many excellent trails, worth visiting.

Devonwood Conservation Area

We loved this reserve near the airport; what a pity that we did not allocate enough to time to explore it properly.

Amherstburg

This is picturesque town south of Windsor along the Detroit River. General Brock mounted his improbably successful defeat of Fort Detroit from the docks at Amherstburg during the War of 1812. In return, the Fort (Fort Malden) was occupied by the U.S. for much of the war representing the longest occupation of Canadian territory in history. This summer, all national park entry fees are waived so we explored Fort Malden for free.

Holiday Beach

A beach and a renowned bird sanctuary. There are excellent views from a wooden tower (climb carefully, it is impossible to avoid a bit of vertigo). The hiking trail is primarily a boardwalk which is always a fun surprise.

Point Pelee

We visited Pelee Island, the southernmost point of Canada many years ago. The southernmost mainland point in Canada is Point Pelee which is also part of a national park complete with drives, hikes and camping grounds. The last 2-3 kilometers of the drive is off limits to private cars, everyone completes the journey on a park operated tram. I climbed the impressive all steel structure, we hiked to the southernmost point of mainland Canada. It was our first visit to Point Pelee and we loved it, next time we will allow much more time, there is quite a lot to explore.

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