Water and Wine

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This morning we set out early after a breakfast at our B&B “Rainbow”. The B&B is not the best, but the location is a nice short walk from the falls and the glitz of the Niagara falls “strip”. We got in line early for the “Maid In The Mist”, a classic that really is the best thing to do to see the falls in a unique way. We dawned our ponchos and neared the falls until the spray engulfed us and a fresh drink of waterfall was in our mouths. I thought about going over the falls in a barrel, which is still legally permissible - but chickened out at the last minute.

We packed a lunch and made the short drive up to Niagara On The Lake for some wine tasting. It is a beautiful region and we inebriated ourselves with ice wine and a good bit of regular wine. The best couple of wineries we went to were Konzelmann and Strewn. Konzelmann for the wine (Robyn and I each bought a bottle) and Strewn for the fun-loving gay fellow who made us feel at home and gave us insider advice on which wineries to visit for the best stuff.

In the late afternoon we made our way to the quaint old town historic district We browsed the yuppy shops and toured the old apothecary shop. A butter tart from Niagara Home Bakery made for a perfectly sweet afternoon snack before heading back down to our B&B.

After a brief rest we made our way over to The Capri Restaurant for dinner. It was not cracked up to what it sounds like it used to be when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman patronized it 10 years ago. We thought it a decent place to eat if you are near the horribly trashy touristy Niagara strip, but otherwise steer clear of the area altogether.

In retrospect it would have been better to have stayed in Niagara On The Lake and traveled down to the falls for a day trip, rather than the other way around. You can pretty much get a good sense of the falls with a Maid in the Mist tour and perhaps a sunset viewing or night/fireworks viewing. We took another night view of the falls on our walk back and Robyn got mad at me for making jokes when people walked by us, saying loudly “This beats both my first AND second honeymoon”. Or angrily, “Will you please remind me why I married you!” I guess one can only take so much of that…

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