Guelph, we love you — even if it seems to rain in your city more than any other we know.

As lifetime Hamilton Tiger-Cats fans, at first, we reluctantly made the trip up the "killer highway," the infamous No. 6 with all its challenges, lane changes, cheaper gas, and ever-changing speed zones. (Yes, we were nabbed in one of your drop from 80 km/h to 60 km/h zones and paid the ticket. Yes, we saw the constant, shoot-a-fish-in-a-barrel traffic traps, and yes, we even managed to get a ticket on the last game of the year. Thanks for the warning of the OPP further up the lane by Morriston. We also saw Tiger-Cats fans early, late and in the midst of it all, determined to drive more than an hour up there and desperate to find a route that would be faster, heading to Guelph to support our team.) In the end Guelph, you were a delight.

We found out about your great restaurants — Borealis Grille, Penny Whistle, Café Symposium, and others. We found out about your neat downtown — having a burger at The Works — and accessed the easy street parking. And we found out about your university — modern, beautiful, friendly, and very neat.

We also found out about your weather.

In a lifetime of going to Tiger-Cats games, no other season had as much rain, cold, and general awfulness. (I bought a new raincoat Guelph, because of you. Also rain pants. A new umbrella. Did I mention it rained so much in the Edmonton game I had to buy a new shirt to wear at Wild Wings because we left at half time?)

But Guelph, you had us at hello.

You seem the right size. You are friendly. Your downtown is vibrant. Your community is fun. Right from the start we found your town friendly, easy and kinda neat. We found it different than Hamilton, but hey, we found so many Hamiltonians in Guelph, for a crazy moment we forgot just exactly where we were. We found your stadium intimate, cosy, leafy and fun. Even with the outdoor Johnny-on-the-Spots.

Did I say we were from Hamilton?

We found the stadium small and intimate. We liked being closer to the players. We liked wandering around before the game. We liked the food trucks. We liked being delayed walking back to the car because the team had to run through the end zone. But most of all, we liked the people.

We found the students and young people of your city refreshing and fun and well, nice. "Did you enjoy the first half," they would ask. "Welcome to Guelph," they would say. "Did you enjoy the game?" they'd ask as we were leaving, often soaked to the bone and fighting off the cold, the wet and the mud.