Archive for February, 2010

To conclude our wonderful weekend in Niagara, we drove around to as many wineries as we could before they closed for the evening.

First stop, the Ice House Winery. They had free tastings of most of their ice wine and we ended up buying two bottles. A little pricey, but definitely worth it!

Look at all of that ice wine!

Next was Riverview Cellars. Not sure why I didn’t get a picture of the building. I think it was really windy when we arrived and we just wanted to be inside!

We enjoyed most of their wines and ended up purchasing a bottle of 2007 Fontana Dolce.

Inniskillin was next. We only stayed for a few minutes and looked around. They had an impressive collection and we sampled a few but weren’t really impressed.

The Reif Estate Winery was next on our list.

A few minutes down the road and we ended up at Strewn Winery.

I loved the modern look on the inside!

We tasted a few different wines and purchased two bottles of their ice wine. I already have one open bottle in the fridge.

They even have cooking classes!

Our last stop was Peller Estates Winery. It was after 5:30pm at this point and all of the wineries were closed, except this one that was open until 6pm.

There were so many people at the tasting section and a few people waiting so we just looked around and checked out the wall of different corkscrews. They even had another display on the other side. Who knew their were so many different kind?

Dinner was simple. We headed back to the hotel and found a little restaurant, called Falls and Firkin that was part of the casino. Plus there was only a 5 minute wait which made it even better! Another restaurant we checked had a 3 hour wait! I understand it was Valentine’s Day, but it was already 6:30 and we knew we couldn’t wait another 3 hours for dinner.

After looking at the menu, I had a hard time trying to decide between a Vegetable & Goat Cheese Wrap or a Veggie Burger. I chose the burger.

We were all starving by this point so I happily ate this delicious burger. I may have also eaten the onion rings that came with it. I have a weakness for onion rings.

On Monday morning we left a little early to get a start on our 8hr drive back home. It was a great weekend, even though it was cold.

On Sunday we headed to White Meadows Farm to go on a Sugar Bush walk. This walk was more like a one mile hike with a few hills. The snow also made some parts very slippery, I almost fell down a few times!

We had to wait for a tractor to take us back to the woods, so while we waited I made friends with Cocoa.

On the tractor taking the very bumpy ride to the woods. Our friend Nate is giving the camera the evil eye.

The walk consisted of several stations that took us through different time periods, from the Native Americans to Pioneers to modern day.

At one of the stations you could get snow covered taffy which was basically maple syrup on a stick. It was yummy and I definitely had a sugar rush after that!

The scary bridge we had to cross to get back to the tractor.

Back at the farm, they had a little shop where you could purchase various maple items. They even had maple ice cream! Sadly they were out

I did end up buying some tea and a maple sugar candy. What I loved most about the shop though was the map they had.

It was interesting to see where everyone had come from! As you can see the Pennsylvania area was well taken care of so we didn’t ask for a pin.

Next up was the Butterfly Conservatory where they were having their Bug-a-licious Insect Battle Showdown.

There were two chefs who created two different plates and they had to use the same main ingredient: the Stink Bug.

They also had a side table of some granola bars. This really intrigued me because I love granola bars! From what I can remember, there was honey, goji berries, raisins, nuts, oats and…..crickets!

I almost didn’t eat a piece, but I thought when would I be able to do this again? I’m guessing my piece didn’t have a cricket in it because they were pretty small but the rest of the granola was really, really sweet. I have a huge sweet tooth but this was way too sweet for me!

When the chefs were ready we each grabbed a dish. One was a thai salad, and the other was a spring roll.

We both agreed the salad was the definite winner. It had so much flavor. The spring roll was bland and I totally freaked out when I crunched down on the bug! It was sharp and pointy! Ew! Let’s just say I won’t be jumping at the chance to have another one.

After we got our fill of bugs, we walked around the conservatory and watched the butterflies enjoy the warmth of the greenhouse while it was freezing outside.

We then decided to finish our afternoon off with, you guessed it, more wineries!