Niagara on the Lake

All too soon, it was time to leave Niagara and head to our next destination, Toronto.  But we took a slight detour on the way.

We headed through the state park, following a popular bike route along Niagara River that leads to the small but perfectly formed Niagara wine region.  It reminded us a lot of our trip to Margaret River in South East Australia several years ago.  We stopped briefly at the Whirlpool Rapids and the Devils Hole Rapids, then drove on through lots of lovely vineyards and towards the town of Niagara on the Lake.

This was a gem of a place - a little town surrounded by lovely little boutique wineries (vineyards), with random names like Frogpond Farm, Coyote's Run and Stonechurch.  We discovered the sweet delights of ice-wine (harvested during the winter months when the grapes are still frozen and giving a sweeter and more intense flavour to the wine). Obviously it would have been rude not to have stopped at a couple of the vineyards on our way through and sampled (and purchased) their fare...

The town itself was very pretty - flower-filled streets and lots of boutique shops and cafes / restaurants lining the main street.  Also, possibly the prettiest and most under-stated Starbucks I've seen in a while.  I can imagine it would be a blissful place to retire to...

Then, after a spot of home-cooked lunch in one of the vineyards, we were back on the Expressway and headed for Toronto.