On Day 7 we woke up and enjoyed coffee and breakfast at The Copper Flat before taking an Uber to the Bell Homestead. Upon arrival we walked around the property a bit before realizing that all the buildings were locked and we finally discovered the office and gift shop where you purchase your ticket. While we missed the official guided tour, an employee was gracious enough to accompany us to the two buildings on site: the former residence of Alexander Graham Bell and the first Bell office building. She explained many things in the office building that otherwise we wouldn’t have understood, so we really appreciated her taking the time!
First we toured the residence, where we explored the building on our own. The contents of the home are mostly original and it was fascinating to see both how the family lived their lives, and the rooms where AGB worked on his inventions.
Next we moved on to the building that housed the first Bell offices. It was moved from it’s original location in downtown Brantford to the site of the Homestead. This is where we saw the first telephone sold to the public, and a couple of different styles of the first switchboards. Our guide explained how the switchboards worked, with an operator speaking to the person wishing to make a call and connecting their line to the person they were calling. She explained that each line had a number and that in the beginning, one line could only be connected to 6 others, each having a unique ring pattern. Later switchboards allowed a greater number of connections but was still limited. All of this reminded me of stories told to me by my mother and grandmother. My mom had told me that at one time her phone number had been “6 ring 1,3” with the “1,3” portion meaning one long ring, 3 short. I didn’t understand at all what that could possibly mean until this tour. Similarly, the tour guide told us that switchboard operators were always unmarried young women and that once they married they no longer worked. It made me remember that my grandmother was a switchboard operator up until she married my grandfather, so this tour had personal connections to me that I was not expecting!
I never expected visiting an old timey house and office would be so enthralling but it was a highlight of the trip and I have a new appreciation of the impact this invention has had on the world, and how interesting it’s evolution has been.
Next up we had lunch at Fume Restobar, which is a super cute place with delicious food. We had a salad, calamari, risotto and ravioli. I actually remembered to take a picture this time.
After lunch we went for a walk along the Grand River and to Waterworks Park where there is a cute bar where you can buy beverages, which we did because again the day was a scorcher! We heard and saw many birds on the walk, including a Baltimore Oriole.
After stopping in the park we continued walking around a bit more and found ourselves in downtown Brantford. We weren’t really sure where we were going or whether we’d made a mistake coming downtown, but eventually we came across Hudson Public Kitchen + Bar which was on our short-list of places to check out. We stopped in for a happy hour bevvy, and from the window we could see a mural honouring Phil Hartman. We didn’t know it was there so it was a fun surprise to find!
Next we headed to Zander’s to watch the Blue Jays game and have another bite to eat. I didn’t know what to expect from Zander’s as it’s in a bit of a big-box, out of the way location, but it exceeded all expectations and may be one of the greatest bars in Canada. The decor is amazing, the food is great, the tune selection is A+, but the best part is the staff. Everyone was super friendly and hilarious and I would go back to Brantford just to chill at Zander’s.
After the Jays game we went back to our apartment and crashed, as it had been a long day out in the sun and we had another early (for me) day the next day as we were walking to Paris!