The elephant's front legs

Our first stop of the day was at the Port Dover harbor museum. Port Dover is almost due north of Erie Pennsylvania. During prohibition, there was a brisk business in Port Dover supplying thirsty Americans with alcohol. When boats left at night, they were said to be going for "midnight herring".

Port Dover figured in the war of 1812. The Americans built a fleet of warships in Erie PA, but they were trapped in Presque Isle Bay by a British blockade. When the British ships broke off the blockade for a visit to Port Dover, the American fleet escaped out into Lake Erie. The American fleet subsequently defeated the British fleet. In the words of Oliver Hazard Perry, "We have met the enemy and they are ours".

In 1814, as the war continued, American forces took a little trip to Dover.

The harbor museum has touching stories and artifacts from numerous shipwrecks. Many involved fishing boats from Port Dover, with families of the lost sailors still living in the community.

Bell from the steamer Atlantic, lost in Lake Erie in 1852 on a run from Buffalo to Detroit.

We would have liked to stay longer in the harbor museum, but we had to start peddling. We passed the Erie Works, which looked to be a steel mill. Out on the lake we could see a ship docked near the Erie Works, presumably unloading coal or taconite for the steel mill.

On the far left you can see a ship unloading coal or taconite at the Erie Works pier.

A long conveyor belt leading from the pier up to the Erie Works.

The conveyor belt continues up to the works.

We had lunch in the cafe behind this mural.

By gas we lived and gave life to others. Hmm, we saw no evidence of any present day gas wells in the area.

During lunch I had a conversation with a local about the great variety of crops growing in Ontario. I mentioned that in the US I could ride all day and see only corn and beans growing.

He said, "it's like that here in the elephant's trunk".

"The elephant's trunk???" I gave him a blank stare.

He said, "You know how Michigan looks like a glove? Ontario looks like an upside down elephant. And in the elephant's trunk, they only grow big commercial crops."

I do know that Michigan looks like a mitten. I closed my eyes and tried my best to imagine an upside down elephant.

Oh wow, I see the elephant! We're on our way down his front legs towards his toes.

For several days as we have traveled along the north shore of Lake Erie, the population density has been slowly rising. The distance between towns gets closer, the towns get a bit fancier. Today that trend continued, and indeed accelerated. In the morning the space between towns was filled with woods or farms. After our lunch break, there was an almost unbroken line of houses along the lake shore. The traffic increased throughout the day.

Nevertheless, it had the feel of a retirement or vacation area. Lots of the lakeside houses had people sitting on the porch, waving to us as we passed by.

The water level in the lake looked high. Some trees along the shore were standing in a few inches of water. A local confirmed that the water was unusually high. The shoreline is usually 30 feet further out. He said it hasn't been raining all that much, but the government controls the water level on all of the great lakes, and you never know what the government is up to. A fear of government over reach seems to be a common theme in Ontario.

Shoreline trees are standing in water. What's the government up to now?

Tonight is our last night in Canada and we haven't set foot in a Tim Hortons. Instead, we discovered Harvey's. It may have started out as a burger joint, but Harvey's makes a delicious rice bowl.

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