We’re determined to get breakfast before the thundering
herds, so we are up bright and early (well, maybe not so bright!) and arrive
around seven thirty. Sure enough we have
our choice of seats! The selection
hasn’t changed and I suspect this will get old eventually; but not yet!
Armed with maps, water bottles and high hopes we are bound
for Niagara-on-the-Lake, a darling old town bordered by Lake Ontario and the
Niagara River. The surrounding
countryside has more than thirty wineries and the vineyards are
everywhere. Our chosen route seems to
slip through our fingers as roads change name and direction with warning but we
are heading in the right direction and forge ahead, secure in the knowledge
that eventually we’ll either hit the river or the lake!
Along the way we find a chocolate factory but the fates are
with us and it isn’t open yet. That’s
about the only temptation that we pass up!
Farther on we see a sign for Lakeside Pottery which sounds like a
winner! And we only have to stop once to
get directions, since the sign was no help at all. Connie goes into a shop and returns with a
map of the town but no idea where the pottery shop is. The lady from the shop comes running out to
say she found it on the map, and show us the way!
 |
| Every winery has it's own eye-catching display by the roadside. |
The map isn’t to scale; but it does have lots of landmarks
and we eventually find it. The potter
and his wife are perfectly charming people and I make a couple of
purchases. They give us directions and
another map that they created which lists the restaurants in town.
As we continue driving we happen upon one of the wineries on
our must-see list, Peller Estates Winery.
They open at ten, just like the chocolate factory, but it’s now 9:54 and
we drive in. The entrance road passes
through the vineyard and the grapes are still wet from the rain and mist. They are the darkest grapes I’ve ever
seen! Peller is famous for their ice
wine and I just can’t wait for all that sugary goodness!
We drool over all the bottles and glassware on display
before settling in for our tasting. A
flight of regular wines consists of three samples; but the ice wine flight only has two. Since we are both tasting, that gives us four
delightful taste sensations, Vidal Blanc Icewine, Oak-aged Vidal Icewine, Riesling
Icewine and Cabernet Fran Icewine, the
only one with a lovely red hue.
 |
| The Peller lobby it so warm and inviting! |
We go to check out and the cashier tells us about their
sister wineries and that one was built in tribute to the family’s founder. He says that the majority of the company’s
stock is still held by family members which we think is pretty wonderful. Since we bought a bottle of wine, one of our
tastings should have been free; but he
decides not to charge us for the other one, either! Life is good!
We have directions that should take us the rest of the way
into town and it works after a little detouring. Somehow we always get where we’re going! There is free street parking but that’s all
full. Happily we find a parking lot that
charges in ten-minute increments and we figure that three hours of wandering
should be plenty.
There are lots of touristy places, including some with local
foods and delicacies, as well as clothing and jewelry stores. All things considered we demonstrate
remarkable self-control, guided as much by the size of our luggage as any sense
of decorum! And the fact that we can’t
bring home anything liquid that’s too big for our stupid liquids bags!
Lunchtime finds us at the Irish Design Irish Tea Room where you have to walk through all the Irish woolens and celtic jewelry to get to the cozy tea room in the back. We both have shepherd's pie made with sweet potatoes! The sides are broccoli salad and pickled beets and all three are yummy!
 |
| Cows Ice Cream is a huge Canada favorite and their t-shirts are one funnier than the next! |
 |
| There are large, fluffy dogs everywhere, some with their people and others waiting patiently tied to a tree. This store has provided an elegant serving dish for their water! |
We get back to our car with about eight minutes to spare,
which I think is pretty spectacular! Yay
us! We’ve been told to go home via the
Queen’s Parade/Niagara Parkway, which runs along the bank of the river. And it does that; but there aren’t really any
good places for photos, as we had been led to believe.
 |
| That's the USA on the other side of the river! |
I’m a little disappointed until we come to a
pull out with room for lots of cars.
This usually means there is something worthwhile to see. Oh yes!
I’m not unhappy any more!
There is enough time left for us to go back to our room to
freshen up before going to our dinner theater, “Oh Canada, Eh”. The only hitch is that neither of our key
cards will open the door! Connie goes
upstairs to the lobby to have them rekeyed but when she returns they still don’t
work. A hotel employee comes along at
just the right time and uses his card to let us in while he goes upstairs to
see what the problem might be. He doesn’t
return but the manager does and says that he keyed them for 405 instead of
105! We make him wait until we’ve tried
them both before we hit him with another question – do they have a corkscrew we
could use? Sure, but I have to bring the
bottle up to the lobby because they only have one! No problem!
Bottle opened, we sample our Icewine before leaving for the theater.
We’ve allowed about fifteen minutes because it looks pretty
simple on the map. But it’s not. We finally have to stop at someone’s home to
ask for directions! They are a charming
young family with a small son and a big dog, and their directions are
spot-on! We come sailing into the lobby
to be greeted like long-lost family! We
are the last to arrive and they were really worried about us!
Our table is down front.
The serving is family style and the gentleman next to Connie shows us
the ropes. So far everyone has had their
salad and is finishing their pea soup, and we catch up pretty well before the
show starts. Our server is one of the
performers, as are all the others, and he sees to it that we have everything we
need.
I just can’t say enough about how wonderful the cast
is! Beautiful voices and harmonies,
terrific senses of humor, everything you want in your dinner-theater performers
– or any others for that matter! There
are four young men and four young women, in addition to a pianist, stand-up
bass player and a violinist who also plays guitar and sings. The music covers many genres and time periods
and alternates between sentimental ballads, classic rock, country and downright
hysterical and campy! The Mounties ride
hobby horses through the audience and “Nelson Eddie” serenades his Jeannette
MacDonald so realistically that we have to compliment him after the show. He admits that he has studied Nelson Eddie extensively! When he cocks his head to the side and smiles
you just want to die!
 |
| Our MC, Pierre, who teaches us to be bi-lingual! |
 |
| Connie describes this wonderful lady as Canada's Carol Burnett! |
 |
| Audience participation! His wife is enjoying the show! |
The main course includes roast beef, chicken and fried
haddock with roasted potatoes and a vegetable medley. How these kids can serve and still make all
their cues is beyond me!
The show is two hours long with not even a five-minute
intermission! Coffee and dessert show up as slickly as everything else and the
marble cake has maple icing! I could so
live here! Yum!
The cast receives a standing ovation to mark the end of
their twentieth year of productions, and after they are available in the lobby
to receive their accolades.
We hop in our little Toyota and figure that it will be
easier to get home than it was to arrive.
Yep, it only takes us ten minutes!
I still don’t know what went awry but it’s nice to be home and it will
be grand to get more than four hours’ sleep tonight! A touch of the grape, a bit of blogging and
it will be off to Never Never Land!
No comments:
Post a Comment