Things to Do in St. Thomas

The 18-hole course at Arkona Fairways entices golfers with lush, tree-lined fairways and fast greens. From the rolling inclines of the back nine, swingers can gaze out for miles, allowing them to quickly spot golf balls in argyle pants. The course’s signature 18th hole stretches out for 405 yards and challenges players to match a par 4 while tackling a dogleg right laden with traps and conquering a green in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Burgers and wings sate post-round appetites while golfers lounge in the shade of patio umbrellas of Mulligan's Bar & Grill.

G-force pulls faces taught as feet floor accelerator pedals. The smell of burning rubber fills nostrils. A halo of stadium lights illuminates a quarter-mile of pavement as it passes by in seconds. With help from the experienced instructors and drivers at Ontario Racing Source, anyone can zoom into drag races at the historic St. Thomas Raceway. Before each race, staff give racing skill and safety instruction, and show each new driver how to control their fully prepped cars using nothing more than the console and a few self-esteem-boosting words on how shiny they’re looking today. At regular intervals, visitors can also strap in behind the wheel of high-speed vehicles at the Grand Bend Motorplex and Toronto Motorsports Park.

In 1914, golf-course architects incorporated the three branches of the Sydenham River to form a wishbone in the middle of Bear Creek Golf Club's 6,154-yard layout. Coming into play on nine holes, the waterway factors prominently into the par-5 10th hole, where it flows just beyond the tee box, crosses the heart of the fairway, and snakes along the front of the green, providing an ideal venue to practice skipping ball markers across the surface. Tall trees hover at the edges of most fairways, waiting to complicate play after errant drives or approaches.

After putting out on 18th green, guests can watch fellow golfers traverse the course from the raised deck at Bear Creek’s Golfview Restaurant. Inside, aromas of chicken wings, quesadillas, and burgers fill the air along with the warmth from a stone fireplace, where golfers can destroy incriminating scorecards or Petrarchan sonnets they wrote about their sand wedge.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Length of 6,154 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 70.8 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 128 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

For 25 years, the talented staff of Creative Art & Frame has encased art, posters, and objects in handmade and custom fitted frames. Bespoke squares team up with acid-free mats, acid-free foam backing, and high-quality glass. Customers can exhibit multiple pictures at once thanks to the shop's computerized mat cutter, which crafts custom picture holes. Specialty frame services easily enshrine three-dimensional display-worthy items, including all manner of sports memorabilia and collectibles such as the elusive albino Rubik's cube. Empty frames find embraceable images by perusing the shop's art canvases and prints.

Established in 1940, Museum London stands today as the region’s preeminent venue for Canadian art and historical artifacts. Its permanent collections pay tribute to the city's long and active art history, ranging from the landscape and portraiture paintings of pioneers to the works of leading regional contemporary artists such as Kerry Ferris and Walter Redinger. The gallery's archives also hold more than 35,000 historical artifacts covering the city of London’s history and the advanced technology that allowed it to be airlifted directly from England.