Stirling Lodge

Today's episode of #roadfill comes from the Stirling Lodge in Newboro, Ontario. This Lodge has been welcoming guests for over 120 years and offers both rooms to stay as well as a restaurant for weary travelers and those who are vacationing amongst the area's many lakes. I didn't come to stay, but instead to partake in lunch. I entered the old wooden building which was joined to a stone building, no doubt the two were cobbled together at some point to expand the Lodge. Passing by the reception area I wandered into its dark dining room. With few windows the dining area almost seemed spooky. Fortunately the dark spilled into a bright, walled-in porch area with many windows bringing in considerably more light. This was much more appealing for eating. I found a table next to a big window which overlooked a number of colourful flowers. I miss the variety of flowers we have up in Canada that could never grow in the desert of Arizona. The hot, dry climate would kill these guys dead in no time. A young cheerful woman welcomed me and asked me for my drink order. In celebration of Canada's 150th birthday, I requested a bottle of Molson Canadian. I haven't had one since my college days as I am not really a fan of lagers. It would be good to rekindle and old relationship however. Once it arrived, having one swig, that taste brought back a flood of memories including one where I was at a party and my boss at the time, having put away a six pack of Canadian, passed out hitting the carpet hard leaving a pronounced rug burn on his forehead that would last for weeks. Ah, the good old days. I perused the menu which, for lunch, was rather small, but did offer some tasty suggestions. Some of which included Fried Haddock and Chips, the standard burgers, BLT and Grilled Cheese and of course an East Canadian staple: Poutine. I thought I would pick a much healthier choice than the latter: The Post & Beam Signature Salad. Yes, I, a card carrying carnivore, had ordered a salad as my entree. Don't get too excited though...there would be chicken on it. I would never order just salad. After all, salad is what food eats. For entertainment while awaiting my meal, I tried to check Trump's latest Tweet however although there was a wifi network at the Lodge, it apparently was password protected for 'guests' only. I, according to my server, was just an OTR (off the road). I assumed they didn't want OTR transients loitering in their lodge watching YouTube. Instead I had to pass the time eavesdropping on 'guests' from Pennsylvania sharing their 'fish stories' with one another. My meal arrived just as an argument started to ensue over the name of a specific fishing lure. The dish, albeit a salad, looked quite nice, although the plate seemed pretty small for an almost $15 price. I needed to remind myself of the exchange rate between US and Canadian $ and then the smaller plate size didn't seem to matter as much. Aside from the expected greens, the Post & Beam Signature Salad had Cranberries, Almonds and Feta cheese to accompany strips of marinated Chicken. All would be bathed with a Vinaigrette dressing. I grabbed my fork and dug in. To the chicken first, of course. The chicken was perfectly cooked and having been marinated, was amongst the juiciest I had ever tasted. In fact, the entire salad was really tasty; and that's something coming from a carnivore. I might have to make dinner salads a more regular routine in my diet... Ah, no. That's not going to happen. But for this stop, it was well worthy of two forks up. $14.95 CDN for the salad. The price of the beer escapes me - likely $5-$6 or so.