An Insider's Guide to Waterloo Region

Monument at McCrae House, Guelph ON

McCrae House in Guelph is just a 20 minute drive from Kitchener. I visited it for the first time this week and was impressed by the well restored house, the indoor displays and the lovely grounds. This is the birthplace of John McCrae, a physician and soldier who wrote the famous poem In Flanders Fields. Millions of poppies are worn by people in our nation to commemorate Remembrance Day today as we honour the sacrifices of our soldiers in past and present conflicts.

This United Brethren Church was built at Freeport in 1861. It was cut in half and moved here in 1962. It is still used for special services and weddings. There is an Easter sunrise service here each year. The contrail of an airplane is seen in the sky and that struck me as out of place in this 1914 setting.

This blacksmith shop was reproduced in 2004 based on the design of the Valentine Gies Blacksmith Shop in Conestogo, built in 1894. I don’t think the blacksmiths in 1894 wore MP3 ear buds like this young man is sporting.

This dry goods and grocery store was built in 1830 in Delaware, Middlesex County. A.R. Goudie financed the move to Doon Heritage Crossroads and the building opened in July 1961. This young woman gave us a little tour of the place. I was interested in the 25 cent paper bills which were in the register. Apparently they were equivalent in value to a 20 dollar bill today. We went grocery shopping at Zehrs when we left and I decided that shopping here would have been a lot simpler and faster.