St. Jacobs and Elora Gorge

St. Jacobs market was still on my list of things to visit before the year is out. This was a damp and rainy morning, but we figured this might change; this is the most gorgeous summer I have had in my adult life and good weather has been a constant here since May, it seems.

To market, to market ...

Traditional dress of the region.

These baskets are for display only. If you buy the veg, they are emptied into a plastic bag for you. The baskets make the stand look very pretty and appealing, though. 

Reasonably priced cut flowers, cottage garden style.

St. Jacobs market on Saturday is a circus. The place is dripping with visitors from far and near. The parking lot is huge - and yet there is hardly an empty space to be found. No horses or buggies anywhere near the place (and who would blame them, with all those cars). The fruit and vegetable part of the market is only a small corner of the area, the rest is covered in "antiques" and useless things of every hue. The prices are sky high. As with all these farmers markets, you pay for "freshness" and "buying local", which is all the rage right now. All those visitors are getting hungry at midday, of course. The burger bars make a roaring trade, with long lines forming in front of them. Ridiculous!

We did not stay long in St. Jacobs. I remembered that Elora had been recommended to me as a point of outstanding natural beauty. Since we were near, we drove a bit further to the Gorge. 

This is another official conservation area, with admission per person, which I really am getting displeased about, especially considering the dirty and littered paths in this park.  The number of visitors was horrendous - any noteworthy place within the vicinity of Toronto must be this busy on a summer's Saturday. 

I guess the weather did not help, as it really started to bucket it down soon after we had taken the short trail in the woods near the gorge.

All in all I would recommend: visit St. Jacobs market on a Tuesday or Thursday. It might be more intimate then. Bring your own lunch there - the picnic tables are quite adequate. Visit Elora Gorge on a sunny day, during the week. Park at Elora Mill Inn on the other side of the Grand River. For the $5 per person admission in the Conservation area, you might get a cup of coffee at the inn and then could go hiking along the gorge as well.