Photo Friday: O Canada

To celebrate my milestone birthday this year, my husband and I took a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's been on my travel bucket list for a number of years. NOTL is in the Canadian province of Ontario, borders the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, and is a 30 minute drive northwest of Niagara Falls. Best of all, it was only a four hour drive for us.

The heritage district of NOTL maintains its integrity as a well-preserved 19th century village. It was a delight to walk the streets and see so many thriving shops, restaurants, and bed and breakfast establishments.

One of the town's prominent buildings is the Niagara Apothecary. This pharmacy was in business from 1820 to 1964. Unfortunately, the 'museum' has limited hours and we missed the chance to go inside. However, we could see a lot from the large windows and there were some displays right in front.

The town is well known for its Shaw Festival, which began in 1962. Today, there are three theatres which feature productions by George Bernard Shaw and other contemporary playwrights. We had every intention of seeing a play, but when I began looking for tickets a few months ago, many were sold out and nothing appealed to me enough to pay the big ticket prices. The above photo is the Shaw Cafe and was one of many lovely restaurants along the main street. We had some delightful meals on the trip. My favorite was a zucchini tabbouleh at 11th Post on Queen. Phenomenal!

We stayed at the historic Prince of Wales Hotel, first built in 1864. It's said to be named in honor of the Duke and Duchess of York after their visit in 1901. Maybe Nick can fill us in on whether the Prince of Wales is the same as the Duke of York? That part of its history confused me.

We had a beautiful suite with a fireplace and private balcony. Sorry to all of you yellow haters!

Breakfast was included in the package. This is me in the hallway to the Noble restaurant, right off of the lobby. I should mention that the hotel was filled with flowers, inside and out.  Everything was so well tended. A pink rose was left on the pillow each night at turndown.

This will not shock most of you, but our main activity was wine tasting. There are 37 wineries in the NOTL district. Many are just 2-3 miles apart. Some are as grand as you would find in Napa Valley, like this one, called Two Sisters Vineyards.

Or Chateau des Charmes, modeled after a French chateau.

When we were driving up to Colaneri Winery, I felt as though I had arrived in Tuscany. Can you believe the size of this place? Although the weather was not great (mostly low 60's and overcast), we could not resist sitting outside for our tasting on their piazza.

The exchange rate is so good that we splurged on some of our tastings and did pairings, like this chocolate one. I should mention that the majority of our tastings were shared between the two of us so that we did not over indulge/imbibe.

I was super excited about this tasting, called Popping the Bubbles, which combined sparkling wine with flavored popcorns. You are looking at caramel corn, cookies & cream, and paprika spice.

For lunch each day, we shared a charcuterie board at a different winery. How ridiculous are the amounts of cheese on this board?? It was served with honey made at the winery. At another winery, we tried nettles cheese for the first time. We knew that nettles was a plant, but had never heard of it used in a cheese. It was herbaceous and delicious.

On to other activities . . . we visited this lovely rose garden/wedding venue at Pillar and Post. It is inspired by the works of Monet. Again, we were so impressed by how well the flowers were growing and kept.

     

We walked along the Niagara Parkway (also a bike route). This area is known as the Niagara Escarpment, due to its cliffs. It was overcast for most of our trip, but at least the smoke had died down from the wildfire.

Mark will be proud that we visited a roadside attraction, the Living Water Wayside Chapel. It is supposedly the smallest chapel in the world. You can go inside, but it wouldn't hold more than about six people.

Again, this is for you, Mark. We played cornhole, or 'bags' as you say in Wisconsin. We talked to a cute young couple here that were from Houston. It was their first time at a winery. When we recommended Wayne Gretzky's Estate Winery, neither of them had a clue who Wayne Gretzky is. That made us feel old!

A highlight of the trip was this ice lounge, part of the Peller Estates tour that we took. NOTL is best known for their ice wines and we received a sample inside this 10 degree room. The walls, seats and bar were all blocks of ice. Parkas were provided before we entered. I'm not a fan of the cold, but I was super excited to get to experience this!

It's not a real vacation for me without gelato. And Il Gelato di Carlotta is made by a family straight out of Florence. And the men working here were extremely attractive :) I recommend the dark chocolate.

Another highlight of the trip was the Ghost Walk. NOTL is considered Canada's most haunted town, due in part to the War of 1812. Our guide (we assume he was an actor with the Shaw Festival) was Daniel. He wore this cape and top hat and carried a lantern. He was an excellent storyteller, knowing just when to pause for drama, etc. We met with the group at 8:30 pm inside this shop. Note Lizzie, the haunted doll next to the top hat. 

The walk includes numerous stops outside of local establishments, such as the Olde Angel Inn. The ghost of a Canadian militia officer, killed while hiding in a barrel by an American soldier, haunts this restaurant. The last sighting was in 2020. We actually ate here the first night without knowing of the ghost story. 

For me, the creepiest stop was in front of this haunted house. It was overcast that evening and the place gave off some bad vibes. It didn't hurt that two weeks prior, two different tourists had taken photos outside the house that showed a white orb near the bushes on the left. The photos were indeed creepy. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it was an excellent evening of learning all about the history of the area.

On the tour, we stopped at this gazebo along the lake. It was built for the 1983 thriller, ' The Dead Zone' featuring Christopher Walken, and the residents asked that it remain. We were treated to a pretty sunset while hearing a gory story about the headless French soldier of Old Fort Niagara across the lake.

All in all, it was a marvelous birthday trip. Our Canadian hosts treated us like royalty and the service was about the best we've ever experienced anywhere.

Have you ever visited Canada (okay, not you Nicole!)? 

Please tell me you know who Wayne Gretzky is!