May 19, 2008

The Workout That Wasn't

Vineland WineryLast Saturday I had planned to join my triathlon club for a long ride in Milton and then travel onward with Sheryl to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a weekend away. Trouble was that when I got up on Saturday I was still feeling lousy from this extended (two damn weeks!) cold I've been battling, and there was dismal weather predicted. So the ride was reluctantly dropped from the agenda and we settled for two days of wine tasting and dining. When I remember to get my camera out of the car I'll post some photos on Flickr.

We stayed at Heather Croft, a heritage farm house operating as a B&B a few clicks outside of Niagara-on-the-Lake. We visited a couple of wineries, Vineland and Cave Springs, on our way there, dodging rain storms as we went. Sheryl's dog Barkley came along as we couldn't arrange a dog sitter, he got to see a lot of the inside of the car with interspersed gallops around various parks. Sunday was damp and cold, so we drove into Niagara-on-the-Lake and along the Niagara Parkway. "NotL" is a pretty little town, but completely tourism-oriented. Not an authentic experience! The Niagara River had some interesting views though and we stopped for an expensive-but-mediocre buffet lunch atop the Queenston Heights. We drove back to the Cave Springs winery for dinner at the Inn on the Twenty, which was fabulous. On the way there we happened to cross the Welland Canal as a lake freighter was leaving the lock. The nerd in me couldn't help stopping to watch the whole process. We almost missed our dinner reservation, and almost ran out of gas, but it all worked out.

Monday was back-to-the-city day, but we visited the recreated Fort George before starting back and stopped for tastings at Inniskillin, Jackson Triggs and Hillebrand wineries. Didn't like what we tasted at Hillebrand, but we did have a great lunch there before hitting the highway. Fort George was an eye-opener for Sheryl, showing the harshness of life in the early 1800's and some details of the War of 1812.

Back in Toronto I picked up Chris. He was aching to see Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. I very reluctantly agreed to go. My god, what a skin-crawlingly awful film! Stupid, stupid, stupid, with puerile nudity. I am so mad at myself for letting Chris talk me into seeing it.

Listening to: Time to Pretend by MGMT from Oracular Spectacular.

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