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Friday, August 14, 2020

Things to do with kids (and pets) in Windsor--as it moves to Stage 3

Windsor, ON

We were last in Windsor pre-Covid days. As we had to stay a couple of days, being about 4 hours from Toronto, we also had to find other stuff to do apart from taking Grandma to Caesars. The Caesars in Windsor paled greatly in comparison to the Vegas one. However, we were still pleasantly surprised to find a couple of outdoor things to do in Windsor (which should satisfy social distancing requirements during these times)!

Caesars, Windsor

Detroit River view from Windsor Riverside

The Riverside across from Caesars has nice park with swings and bike paths. It is a lovely spot to relax, walk your furry friend or just enjoy the view of the Detroit skyline.
    • Odette Sculpture Park—on Riverside Dr., for almost 4 km from the Ambassador Bridge (going into the US), there are 30+ outdoor sculptures to enjoy. It is a beautiful walk along the Detroit river and the sculptures are quite interesting. (There used to be an Art Cart, a free trolley, which you can take if you cannot manage the walk). 
Sculpture gardens at Windsor
    • Dieppe Gardens—past the Sculpture park, the Dieppe Gardens is a nice place to relax as well. There are plenty of trees to give shade and a couple of monuments/memorials. It was quite nice to be among the greenery looking out onto the river. It is not very big and is really more for relaxing vs sightseeing.
    • Sandy Point beach--a nice enough beach but make sure to check out the water safety bulletins)
The below are closed as of this time but might be worth checking out when they do reopen:
  • Caesars Augustus Tower is the only tower where all ages are allowed (except pets, though). This is also where you can access the Colosseum for shows and where you can have a nice Italian meal at Spago. You need to be 19+ to be in the Forum tower (where the casino is located)—and they do check IDs. Great thing to note is that parking is free and that the towers are connected.
  • Canadian Club Whisky (Hiram Walker/J.P.Wisers) buildings from the 1890’s which are beautiful. They do tours and tastings. (we went past these buildings a few more kilometers to Sandy Point beach
  • The Art Gallery of Windsor is also across the street on Riverside Dr from the Korean War memorial in Dieppe Gardens.
  • There are also river cruises departing near the Dieppe Gardens.
Overall, Windsor is a lovely place to visit and the view of the Detroit skyline across the river is probably better from over here than if you were in Detroit looking across. The Riverside is gorgeous, and we had a very relaxing trip with many interesting photo ops along the way.