CANADA ... OH... CANADA

Last night we headed back over to Niagara Falls to see what we could see at night.  Since we wanted to bring Billy with us, we needed to stay on the American side which hampered our viewing.  The wind direction had changed so all the spray was going right up on the American side.  I got two interesting shots but that’s about it.

June 6, 2012

Today being even more beautiful than yesterday....each day is getting warmer … we decided today was a good CANADA day and Dave’s recent wine memory is diminishing so that he’s willing to do a winery.   We went to gas up before heading over and I remembered the two bottles of wine that were in the cooler in the back seat, so we headed back to the campground to leave the bottles behind. 

We headed across I190 towards the Canadian border.  

Our Border Agent didn’t have much in the way of personality …. assuming there was one …. and pretty much rattled off questions, repeating them in various ways and asking us individually and together to see if we gave consistent answers. 

The Agent asked where we were from – twice.  Dave, being ever pleasant, explained it was New Smyrna Beach, Florida as if this could engage the Agent in a conversation.  Wrong.

What were we doing up here.  

Where were we staying. 

Why are we going to Canada.

  

Dave, normally a man of a few words, became Chatty Cathy, describing in great detail what we were doing, where we were from, all of our future plans and that we were going into Canada to visit the wineries.

She asked us four times about weapons, guns, knives, grenades, and bazookas.    I kept waiting for Dave to declare his “Happy Heart” pocket knife that he had confiscated in the Bahamas while trying to reboard the ship!  Chatty Cathy became quiet.  She looked at me and asked the same questions.  Maybe she saw the inquiry in my eyes but I declared NOTHING.

 I don’t know if it was the part about being from Florida or the part about visiting the wineries, but she handed our Passports back to us …. minus the smile …. along with a little blue slip and told us to go “over there and park in the A section”.  

We had to leave the car, pop the trunk and “wait over there”.  I kept thinking, “What’s in the car??”  Our trunk was full of cookbooks, sewing stuff, knitting stuff, laundry basket, extra jackets, toilet paper, straps for the car….couldn’t think of any thing that would be contraband…..but you never know.

The Border Guards searched the car and lifted the trunk, looked at each other, groaned, closed the trunk and sent us on our way.

WELCOME TO CANADA!!!

We headed down towards Niagara on the Lake and I noticed right away ….. it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL over here.  The homes are beautiful, many sitting up on the escarpment of the Niagara River.   It struck me that this area reminded me a lot of New England area I'm from.  Maybe it's the "British" influence.

Our first stop was The Ice House.  As the name implies, they produce only Ice Wines.  Still very sweet, however paired with food, it’s tastey.  They paired it with wasabi peas and pistachios.  The cabernet ice wine paired with  dark chocolate was overwhelmingly sweet but  would have been great paired with blue cheese.  We bought a couple of bottles and I’m sure we’ll have them when we get home to the family to try.

We drove around some and there were acres and acres of vineyards.  Reminded me of California.  

You see these windmills throughout the countryside.  They are powered by propane although I saw a few with solar panels and the purpose is to recirculate the air coming off Lake Ontario bringing it across the crops, it hits the escarpment (Niagara River), rises up and comes back down. In the cold months the windmills turn slowly bring the warmer air down on the vines.   I wonder if this would work in Florida for the ferneries.

At Caroline Winery we tasted all kinds of wines in the white and red categories.  They age their wines in stainless with oak chips.  Again, we are used to a more full bodied wine of California, South America, Australia and South Africa so these wines taste almost too smooth for our pallets.  Since we didn’t want to deal with customs, we bought wine glasses which will last longer than the wine …. maybe!

Drove down to Niagara On The Lake, a beautiful historic town. They are getting ready to celebrate the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.   Apparently the British Loyalists (who weren’t fleeing to the Bahamas) were fleeing to Canada in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War.   The Americans and British were still at odds by 1812, hence yet…another….war!

 Niagara was taken by American forces after a two day bombardment by cannons from Fort Niagara and the American Fleet.  The  Americans later burnt the town as they withdrew.  Residents rebuilt the town out of firing range of the cannons of Fort Niagara.  Wonder what the celebration will look like?????

The Prince of Wales Hotel takes up an entire block and is gorgeous.  I vote to stay in this hotel!!

The flowers up here are just gorgeous.  Just as I was remarking on their beauty, we saw why....this truck was laden with colorful flowers and they were busy planting them in the gardens. 

The old Courthouse now the Shaw theater is part of the Shaw Festival featuring the works of George Bernard Shaw and contemporaries (1856-1950) from April to November.  There are three theaters in town, The Festival, Royal George and Court House theaters featuring acting companies, and guest directors.

THE ROYAL GEORGE THEATER

We stopped for lunch in a lovely outdoor cafe.

British, Canada and Niagara by the Lake

 Our great escape back to the United States was a lot easier than entering Canada.  They asked what was in the cooler and we answered two bottles of wine and two glasses.  The Agent asked what we did in Canada and what we were doing up here from Florida.  Chatty Cathy gave a more abbreviated version of our life.  They let us in!

So ends our Niagara Falls visit.  Tomorrow we are heading down to Sampson State Park ... Westerheides in the know, know what that means .... and the Fingerlakes area.  


We've all .... including Billy ... have had a great time up here.  The Branches of Niagara RV Resort is a beautiful place to stay.  

LIFE IS GOOD!