I had contact with an old Waterdown High School friend Bob Vernon through Facebook. He invited me to come for a weekend to stay at his place. I told him I would be brining the pugs and he was fine with that. In fact, by the end of the weekend.

Eve had fallen in love with Bob and was happily sitting on his lap, getting pets. No fear issues. Bob was a very gracious host and gave me a tour around the Niagara region.

Once we all settled down in Robert’s place in St. Catharines, he pulled out the grade 9 year book from Waterdown High School. There I was. I had no idea “what was missing”. I guess the caption editor thought there was room for improvement.

Bob has worked at the Shaw Festival for the past 15 years so he took me on a backstage tour. I’m standing in front ot a set piece for the Man and Superman production.

Silversmith Brewery in Virgil, ON is highly recommended. It is in a converted church on the outskirts of Niagara on the Lake. It is a regular place for Bob and not that busy compared to the places in Niagara on the Lake. I ordered the tasting selection. The lunch special was a sausage sandwich which was excellent.

Bob took me to the main Shaw Festival theatre in Niagara on the Lake. We sat in the theater for the “change over”. Once a performance ends, the crew removes all of the set pieces and replaces them with the next show that is scheduled to be performed.

This is the set for The Ladykillers’ It will be removed and Brigadoon will be set.

The section is removed and taken out to the back.

The second piece is hugs and the whole crew has to guide it through the door with just inches to spare – side to side and top to bottom.

The Brigadoon tree is in 2 pieces and has to be bolted together. The trunk is on the right. They hoist the top part of the tree.

Once bolted together, the safety line used by the hoist is kept tied to the top for safety.

The rest of the Brigadoon set is brought in and it is ready for the evening performance.

We stop by the Angel Inn for a pint (Bob’s driving so he has a coffee). It is the oldest inn in Ontario established in 1789. The American soldiers billeted her during hte 1812 war.

It is a low ceiling pub. Because it was down a side street it wasn’t as busy has the places on the main drag.

I had been posting some of the pics to Facebook. Decided to check on how people were responding.

Bob drove along the Niagara Parkway which is a low speed, 2 lane highway along the Niagara River. It is also part of the wine route.

William Lyon Mackenzie – journalist, politician and rebel has his original house in Queenston. It is now a newspaper museum.

The Niagara Falls walkway was packed on Labour Day Sunday.
We took the Parkway through and got to see the crowds.

A rainbow to end our weekend in the Niagara region.