Live to Ride...Ride to Eat

[Nortoon_imp]

About 1 ½ hours west of my home is the picturesque town of Westport on the western end of the Upper Rideau Lake. A popular spot during the summer for tourists, boaters and bikers. It is one of the terminal points on my day rides as it has a number of twisty, hilly, scenic and quiet roads in the area. My homemade maps include a dozen destinations to and from Westport.

My preferred restaurant there for breakfast is The Tangled Garden Café. It has a modern décor, pleasant service, good food and reasonable prices. If you have sausages with your breakfast instead of bacon or ham, you probably won’t eat lunch.

Lunch will usually find me at the Cove Country Inn and Spa. This 19th century inn features two large indoor dining rooms, as well as, a large patio overlooking a quiet cove. In the summer I usually plan my lunch break before or after noon so I can take advantage of the shaded patio.

The Cove is the only place on my day rides that I allow 1 hour for lunch. The chef usually offers an interesting and tasty Soup of the Day that is always worth trying, especially in the cooler weather of spring and fall. The staff are friendly and attentive. The menu offers some unique meals, my favourite being the Beef Yorkie. A large Yorkshire pudding filled with sliced tender roast beef and gravy, served with mashed potatoes or fries. This is a place that I will have a glass of wine with my meal. That usually means I am in cruise mode the rest of the day.

Some evenings they have live a band featuring blues, or jazz, or country and western. There also have rooms for weary travellers.

From Westport some of my favorite roads are to the locks on the Rideau Canal Waterway that runs from Kingston on Lake Ontario to Ottawa on the Ottawa River. They also make great rest stops as there usually pleasure boats passing through the locks.