In the 30 years I’ve lived in Mississauga, I’ve been to the Niagara region many, many times, and am familiar with lots of history and many points of interest.  But yesterday, I did something for the first time that most others, who live within a couple of hours, have done multiple times, AND, I learned some new stuff, too.

Who hasn’t been on the Maid of the Mist, either for their own enjoyment or because it’s something fun to do with family and visitors?  ME!

Who knew that up until the War of 1812 the capital of Upper Canada was Niagara-on-the-Lake?  NOT ME!

Today, my work team went on a field trip that included a boat trip “under” the Falls, a scenic drive down the Niagara Parkway, lunch at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf & Country Club, a tour of a chocolate factory, and a tour and tasting at a winery.

My favourite part?  Believe it or not, NOT the winery!

I loved the Maid of the Mist (although that’s quite the misnomer)!  I have no idea why we have never experienced this as a family and now want to take my family back there to make up for this serious over-sight.  For a mid-September day we really lucked out with the weather – sunny and warm (about 25C – that’s mid-70’s for you, Linda) – so getting wet was okay.  And, get wet I did!  You’re given these lovely blue plastic ponchos and, knowing my hair looks better “misted”, I tied the strings tight around my neck but kept the hood down.  Big mistake!

We cruised out into the middle of the river and moved slowly past the American Falls – lovely.  So far, so good.

   

As I was at the back of the boat, I didn’t actually see the “change of weather” coming.  But it came, fast and furious!  All of a sudden, as we drew closer to the Horseshoe Falls, gale force winds blew in and brought a torrential downpour with them.

Have you ever tried to untie tightly tied plastic strings with one hand, while you hold your (thankfully waterproof) camera in the other, while the wind whips your plastic poncho up around your head?  That took a little longer than it should have and, although I was successful in finally getting my hood up, not before my head was so wet I had streams of water running down my head, my neck, my face, and off my nose by the time the boat turned around and I was front and centre!  I had to take my glasses off, as I couldn’t see through them.  And most of my pictures of the Canadian Fall are so obscured by water (who knew?) that they aren’t worth posting!!!

   

   

The Falls are an amazing sight at the best of times but you really need to see them from below to get a very, very different and very, very impressive perspective.  Great fun – and I’m not kidding.  This will definitely be on my list of places to take visitors in the future!

We had a tour guide who joined us when we disembarked from our bus at the Falls.  Dirk never stopped talking from the time we got back on the bus until we arrived at the Golf Club for lunch.  Now I know that sounds a little judgmental, in a negative kind of way, but NO!  Dirk was a wealth of information, and entertaining, too.  That was a trip down the Niagara Parkway like I’ve never experienced before (probably because I’ve never had a tour guide before).  He started with a history of the Falls and, as we passed by hydro plants, monuments, vineyards, farms, tourist attractions, forts, and more, he had fascinating details about all of them.  I can’t remember everything, but these are the few details that made an impression…

• millennia ago, the Falls dropped where the Whirlpool area is today – that’s quite the distance erosion has covered (albeit somewhat slowly) – who knows what the terrain will look like after another million years!
• there are over 80 wineries in the Niagara region today – that’s about 60 more than about ten years ago
• Niagara-on-the-Lake was the Capitol of Upper Canada until the Americans razed it in the war of 1812 – after that, it was considered a little too close for comfort so was moved to York (a.k.a. Toronto)

Lunch at the golf course was lovely.  We had a private section to ourselves, laid out with a fabulous buffet of chicken, salmon, veg, salads, and breads.  It also included one glass of wine and an apple crumble a la mode for dessert.  Not only was the food delish, the view was pretty good, too.  The rest of the dining room was full of what appeared to be retired folks.  As NOTL is a bit of an upscale locale, I couldn’t help but speculate at the combined wealth in the room that day.

   

A few miles down the road, one can find Chocolate FX, a small but yummy chocolate factory and retail outlet.  We had a tour, which didn’t take long, and enjoyed some free samples when we got into the store.  Maybe it was because we were all full from lunch, but I don’t think too many people bought that much.  I know I only had three samples and left empty-handed.  But I know where it is and will surely go back!

    

    

   

The winery was another story, though.  We ended up at Fielding Estates, on the Beamsville Bench – a swath of land with an ideal climate, just under the escarpment, that’s home to seven wineries.  Steve and I have only been to two or three local wineries and, wouldn’t you know it, this was one of them.  Oh, well, wine tasting is always fun and they have excellent Ice Wine.  I always take advantage, and came home with two bottles that will sit in our fridge until the right moment comes along.

   

   

   

   

Twenty-five of us left work at 9:15am and arrived back just before 6:00pm.  The ride back was a lot less rowdy than the ride out.  It didn’t seem tiring while we were having fun, but it sure was a jam-packed day and we were all pooped (and happy and quiet).

So, why have I not done this before?  Who knows, but maybe we shouldn’t be so complacent about where we live.  There are lots of other local touristy things we could/should be putting on our bucket list.  Perhaps you’ll read about them here, in future posts…