In early August Zenning with Zay & I headed out on an epic adventure that had very little in terms of itinerary. We planned on sleeping on crown land & exploring where ever & whatever we came across. After camping near Sudbury on the Friday night we woke early & began our day. After picking up a few supplies we were on the road again looking for adventure & it wasn't long before we found our first place to explore!
The original use of this land was that of a gas station. The owners purchased it back in 1994 after briefly attempting retirement & vacationing in Florida. Their story started back in 1979 with the purchase of a nearby truck stop which they rebranded & purchased surrounding lands to provide additional services to truckers. The idea came from the new owner who was an ex-trucker & saw the need for such facilities as fuel, mechanical services & of course, food! His wife & family ran the restaurant while he worked in the shop. This was an one-stop shop for travelers!
In 1990 they sold their truck stop with plans of travelling to Florida but it didn't take long for the thrill of operating a business to start eating away at them & in 1994 they purchased a vacant gas station, renovated it & opened it up as a Country Store & Restaurant. Not only was the husband back operating a local truck stop, he was also was a local politician! From what I can tell is that it was in operating up until 2010 & afterwards it seems to have sat abandoned, slowly decaying with a touch of vandalism which is inevitable for such a high visibility place.
Now for the explore! The upper level of was used for an office area which also had storage & a full bathroom. It is quite possible that it was an apartment as well & appeared someone may have been squatting in there. Filing cabinets were filled with paperwork including void cheques, work schedules & bank deposit slips.
At the main entrance was a large room with a counter to the left which I can only assume would have been the country store. There was a smaller room that lead to the bathroom at the back & a nice staircase. Straight ahead lead to a private dining room which could be closed off from the rest of the store & restaurant. One thing I liked was the wood throughout!
To the right was the main dining area which was a very large room adjoining to the kitchen area. I also included a picture from inside the private dining room looking out towards the main entrance. I imagine this restaurant could accommodate a large amount of people serving up classic home cooking for tired travellers & local regulars!
The last area to explore was the kitchen which still had most of everything left behind including some very expensive appliances. Having worked part time in a kitchen before it brought back both found & stressful memories working in hot & cramped areas with someone regularly asking "where is this??" I am not sure what the future holds for this place as it has sat abandoned for nearly a decade but clearly it wouldn't take much to bring it back to its former glory!