My first visit to Niagara on the Lake (NOTL) was around 2010. My Grandmother wanted to introduce me to Ontario’s wine country as her and my Grandfather use to go on trips together quite frequently.
She booked the first hotel she found available as everything was booked that weekend. We stayed at the Moffat Inn which is location in town. Like all hotels or B&B’s in NOTL it was very quaint with our own fireplace. We arrived in the late morning about 11:00 a.m.
We walked through the Victorian town checked out all the cool little shops. We went for lunch to Pellar Estates Winery where we sat out on the patio that over looked the vineyards. We were undeceive as to what we wanted to order so we decided to do the lunch pairings.
I remember the feeling tht I had it was a feeling of joy and relaxation which I could tell she felt the same. I began to thank her for bringing me to Niagara on the Lake and said to her that I felt like I was in France and this is what France probably feels like. She replied with yes this is pretty close.
My Grandmother was a travel agent back in the 1960’s so she’s seen a lot of the world and Niagara on the Lake is one of her favorite places. I also mentioned to her that I couldn’t wait to meet a guy so that I could eventually come have a romantic getaway here. She said that will be nice and one day you will.
I’m going to fast forward to 2015 when my now fiancé and I went on our first ever visit together to Niagara on the Lake. We decided to do a day trip.
On the way we stopped at his favorite winery Hernder estates. We did some free wine tasting and we were on our way to town. When we got to town we strolled hand and hand through the old street with grins on our faces. It was a beautiful early fall day and the sun was shining.
We walked into the Christmas store on the main street which is a ritual for us. I always purchase a few little ornaments on sale to give as gifts.
The first time we came to this store together we bought a tree ornament it was a replica of the Art Gallery house in town called the Romance Collection Gallery.
We stopped off at Shaw Cafe & Wine Bar on the upper level patio for some snacks and a glass of wine. After our snacks we walked through town some more and we came across Fort George. As we walked around the outside of the fort for we appreciated the old cannons hidden in the hills and the view of the place. We were sad to leave and headed back home which is about 2 hours from Niagara on the Lake.
In the winter of 2016 my fiancé booked a surprise night stay at this beautiful hotel called the Riverbend located right behind Pellar Estates. We checked in and admired the building and the land.
When we walked in we were in awe of the décor the big crystal chandelier’s the art paintings on the walls. Then we got to our room and with great surprise to find a absolutely stunning room with a big fireplace and a oversized balcony that looks over the vineyard and Pellar Estates.
We left our bags and headed into town. We walked around to look at all the cool little shops we ate lunch at a greek restaurant where of course we ordered saganaki and wine.
Once we were finished we headed back out to the main street of town. We came across a gorgeous little bar where we each ordered a flute of wine.
I had made reservations for us at Pellar Estates Winery. We walked into Pellar Estates and were greeted by very friendly professional staff member who seated us at our table. The dinner room has a very beautiful cozy atmosphere to it. My fiance noticed a decanter that looked like it was on display from afar it was clear glass that spiraled with light pink glass blown through it. It was stunning! We ordered a bottle of wine and our waiter brought over that magnificent decanter to our table and poured our wine in. For our main course I ordered the Halibut and he had ordered the striploin.
Our dinner was amazing. For desert we had the cheese platter with ice wine, very delicious. We had a very romantic night and were very content after our meal. We headed back in for the night.
In the morning when we woke we enjoyed coffee on our over-sized balcony and enjoyed the view. It was the middle of winter yet we were very lucky with the whether it felt like a warmer spring day.
We decided to head back into town one more time before we headed home. We went for lunch on a heated patio in town and ran in to some of my fiancé’s old high school friends who live in Niagara on the lake with their families. They advised us on some cool things to do the next time we were in town.
Our next getaway to Niagara on the Lake was mid-September of 2016 we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast called the Cape House.
On our way we had to do our ritual stop of at Hernder Estates Winery. They showed us both rooms that were set up for weddings for the next day. They were set up beautifully with a very rustic theme for both which is totally my style.
We tried some of their wines. We bought a couple bottles to take to the B&B with us and I found very nice cheese platter’s which were very affordable to give as gifts.
Before we checked in to our B&B we stopped off at Hillibrand/Trius where I made reservations for lunch. It was absolutely amazing! We strongly recommend this place to anyone visiting the Niagara Region.
When we arrived the owner’s greeted us and showed us to our room. They showed us around to the upstairs lounge and the backyard patio. They asked us where we would like to have our complimentary wine we asked them if we could have it outside and they said they will have it out for us on the patio in five minutes. As we went to head out to the patio for our wine the rain started to pour down.
We decided that we would like to have our wine in the lounge upstairs so we walked up the stairs and into the lounge with beautiful contemporary furniture and some snacks laid out on the table.
We were enjoying the moment when all of a sudden another couple walked in to the room. They were older than us and they were from Pennsylvania and we chatted with them for maybe two hours as they were heading out for dinner and we were off for a drink at an Irish pub in town. We enjoyed their company very much.
As we walked into the Irish pub the walls were filled with the great sound of authentic Irish music that was being played by the live band. We ordered ciders and some appetizers. The menu was decently priced and the food and drinks were very good.
The band took their break and my fiancé asked them if they could play my favorite Irish song “Galloway Girl” They said yes! They will play it on the next set. All of a sudden it came on and the whole bar was singing “Well I ask you friend, what’s a fella to do? If her hair was black and her eyes were blue?”
When we woke in the morning for our complimentary breakfast at 8:00 a.m. we sat at the table with the couple from Pennsylvania and another couple that was visiting from Montreal, where we chatted about our plans for the day.
The owner’s came out and helped all of us plan our day and gave suggestions. I had booked bikes for us prior to leaving for our trip at Zoom leisure.
We booked a self-guided tour. The owners of our B&B gave us wine tasting cards for different winery’s and gave us a map and showed us how to get to all of them that she gave us the wine tasting cards for.
We headed out to grab our bikes and we began our adventure. I wish I could remember all the winery’s that we stopped at but unfortunately there were too many to remember.
Wow! What a fantastic day we had, riding through the country roads, stopping off drinking wine on the beautiful landscapes and talking with the employees of the wineries. It was truly one of the best days of my life.
The last winery we stopped off at we had lunch outside and ordered a bottle of wine as it was the same price if we had ordered two glasses. The employees advised if we didn’t finish it we could take it with us. This is what we did.
On the way back to drop of our bikes we stopped off on the trail by the lake where we noticed elderly couples and picnic tables eating and drinking wine. So we thought what a great idea we can finish our bottle of wine and enjoy the scenery of the lake.
We dropped of our bikes and started walking back to our B&B which was about a 10 or 15 minute walk when my fiancé noticed all these unique guitars out on someone’s lawn.
We stopped to take a look there were about 20 guitars and some vintage plates and décor he was selling as it was a garage sale. We chatted with the man for a while before I noticed a customer walk up and pick up a crystal bowl which matched the candle holder beside that I really wanted. I ran over to the candle holder’s picked them up asked him how much he said $5.00. I asked $5.00 each? He said no just $5.00 and you can have them both. I have the lovely man his $5.00 and we were on our way.
Later that night we went on a Ghost Walk Tour that they hold over in town. It’s approximately n hour walk it was absolutely fantastic! The stories were good and a bit creepy too. It contained a lot of really interesting history facts as well.
The next morning we had our breakfast with the other guests which we were sad to say goodbye to. We packed our things and checked out.
We stopped off at one of our favorite winery’s called Reif Estate Winery to have some wine and a bite to eat. My fiancé decided he wasn’t ready to leave and we stopped off at one more winery that we were driving by which is called Chateau Des Charmes. It was absolutely gorgeous.
We really felt like we were in France. This place resembled a castle and the vineyards went for miles. We each got 3 glasses of wine to try and sat outside on the back veranda.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we were definitely sad to be leaving. However we were happy that we had such an amazing weekend and that we will always have the memories of that weekend.
