One more day in paradise

Technically, yesterday was supposed to be me and Daniel’s last day in NOTL. The original plan was to head back to Ottawa this morning, and give ourselves Monday to clean the house and get ready for work the next day. Instead, we decided to prolong our stay….to heck with housework for a change.

The past few days here have been very relaxing. Despite the fact that I am only in my twenties, I am already starting to make plans for my retirement here. Old period homes, huge trees, gorgeous flowers and sprawling vineyards - not too shabby in my books. It’s the kind of place that just makes my fingers itch to write.

On Friday, Daniel and I decided to stay in town and check out some of the wonderful shops. Actually, this was more my idea than Dan’s…I kind of just pulled him around. The husband and wife thing is working out great – haha! The shopping here is fantastic...sure it’s pricey, but there are so many little eclectic boutiques. It’s a good thing Dan was with me, otherwise there’s no telling what I would come home with.

Friday afternoon was a definite highlight of our time here. Both avid theatre lovers, our trip would not have been complete without a visit to the Shaw festival. We were fortunate to get decent last-minute tickets to “Arms and the Man”, a fabulous Bulgerian / Serbian wartime comedy written by George Bernard Shaw. The characters were wonderfully written and the performances were all the more memorable. The entire audience was in stitches for the full 120 minute play. The standing ovation was well deserved – it was one of the most enjoyable performances I have seen. Highly recommended for anyone visiting NOTL!

After the theatre, we ended off the evening at Tetley’s restaurant. This was a funky little basement dining room serving awesome cheese fondues. Very cozy and very yummy!

Then it was back to our cozy B&B for a seat on the verandah with a bottle of wine and some fresh bakery treats.

And now, here is Dan to tell you about day three in NOTL:

So while the shopping was a PILE of fun, we decided to hit some more wineries on day 3. For the first one, we went to Jackson-Triggs. We were told that it was a very modern facility, with not much “old-world charm” to it. However, we were also told that the tour was fantastic. So we went, and it was probably my favourite winery so far! It was a very new building, designed to look like an ultra-modern farmhouse. Everything was brand-new top-notch equipment, and the tour guide was probably the best we’ve had to date. I would definitely recommend Jackson-Triggs to anyone who goes to NOTL.

The other vineyard we saw was Peller Estates. This was another nice looking Estate-style winery, but the tour was a waste of money. We got to see the fields and the barrel cellar. Woo. If you go to Peller, just wander around the outside on your own, and save yourself the $5.

Two wineries was pretty much my limit, and Jenn was a bit drunk by that time, so we decided to do something that didn’t involve drinking for the rest of the afternoon. This region has two forts, Fort Erie and Fort George. Fort George was right near us, so we went to visit it. We got there right in time to see a musket demonstration, and then got a tour around the place. It was pretty neat, they had recently redone the place in the 40s, but it still looked very authentic. You could walk around the earthworks, and climb on the cannons, it was a good time.

We decided to book Monday off of work so that we could have an extra day to relax, or do with as we please. We were thinking of going through 1000 islands and staying a night there on the way home, but we instead decided to stay an extra night at NOTL, and see some more wineries. 1000 islands is fairly close to home compared to NOTL, so we decided to make the most of our trip out.

Jenn mentioned it yesterday, and when you look at it, this trip will probably cost us as much as a cruise. Ah well. I had a good time, and I’m glad we decided to come. We’ll cruise some other time. --Dan