The Falls!!

Tuesday morning, we woke up early and did a run from the B&B down to the Falls. It was really cool to see the Falls for the first time just running up to them. We had plans to do the Hornblower Boat Cruise at 8AM (this is the Canada version of Maid of the Mist boat tour), but it turns out the first tour isn't until 8:30 and we had breakfast at 9AM at the B&B, so we got our tickets, but then walked back for breakfast.

We had a really nice homemade breakfast with fruit, veggie omelets, turkey sausage, potatoes, and homemade breads. So much food! We were certainly ready for the day!

After we got ready and packed everything up, it was back to the boat tour. The line was now CRAZY! So, note: take the 8:30 boat tour if you can!! The 20-minute boat tour took about 2 hours with the wait before and the wait after to get on elevators to go back up. But, it was so worth it!!! So cool to get in the boat and be that close to the Falls. We were so hot from waiting in line that it was great to get all wet from the water. We loved it!!

Then, it was back to Niagara on the Lake for some more wine tasting. We stopped at Caroline Cellars and had a fun tasting. Then, we stopped in their restaurant to have some chicken bacon ranch poutine (think fries, gravy, ranch, chicken, and bacon). Yummy.

Then, we went to Peller Estates again to do their wine tour. We had to wait about 30 minutes before the tour started, so I took advantage of the break to get a quick nap.

Their tour was cool! We walked over to the vineyard, went into their wine cellar, and then into this ice room to taste their famous ice wine. We got to put on these big coats and stuff. It was fun!

We had picked up some free tasting coupons at the hotel so stopped at Trius Winery on the way back. It was just okay. But a quick and easy tasting.

Then, we did a quick stop at Silversmith Brewing Company so Michael could have something yummy to drink since I was getting all the good stuff! :) It was in an old church building and was super quaint and felt like a local pub.

One final stop was at Justin's winery using one of our coupons (again...nothing special) and then it was back to Niagara Falls area. We stopped at the B&B and picked up our bags and headed to the Hilton Fallsview Hotel and Suites. We decided to splurge and have one night with a room overlooking the Falls. We arrived to complete chaos! We've been staying at little B&B's and small hotels so this place was overwhelming. So many people! We got a room on the 43rd floor and it was spectacular! So worth it!!  We hung out in the room for a bit and just enjoyed the view.

Then, it was off to do some mini golf at Dinosaur Adventure Golf. A pretty quality course complete with sound effects and an erupting volcano. I actually won the game which never happens!! It was exciting for me. :)

We walked around in the touristy chaos before returning to the hotel. So many attractions, but we were able to avoid temptation and made sure we didn't spend any more money on these crazy things! Mazes, upside down house, arcades, more mini golf!! All too tempting!

We ran two quick errands (picked up to-go dinner at Taps Brewing Company and looked unsuccessfully for Canadian beer to take home at The Beer Store) before returning to the hotel. We set up a little picnic area by the window and had our yummy cheese, bar food, and a bottle of wine while we looked at the Falls all lit up at night. It was perfect!

Next up: Niagara!

After our yummy breakfast in Toronto, it was off to Niagara Falls. It's about a 2 hour drive to Niagara, so we decided to take some breaks along the way.

We started with a stop at Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area about 30 minutes outside the city. We did a nice little hike that led to a cool spot where we could see downtown Toronto from a distance.

Then, it was back on the road and time to do some wine tasting. This region is crazy big in wine apparently! I saw more grapes than I've ever seen!! Even in Napa! There are apparently a few different regions. We stopped first at two wineries in the Niagara Escarpment region. First up was Malivoire Winery. It was chaos in there and we weren't loving it. The wines weren't great either. We thought maybe this was going to be a bust. We next went to Kacaba and loved it!! So many good wines and really good reds! We bought a bottle of white and one of red.

Then, it was time to continue on our journey. We needed to check in to our bed and breakfast between 4-6, so we only had a few minutes to stop into Niagara on the Lake. So, we stopped at the cheese shop, Cheese Secrets and tasted a whole bunch of local cheeses before deciding on 3 yummy ones to take with us for our dinner the 2nd night in Niagara. The little downtown area of this city is super cute!! I'm not sure we took pics, but it was very charming with all kinds of cute shops and restaurants. We decided to return to this area after checking in.

We checked into our cute B&B, Greystone Manor. It was right on the road next to the Niagara River and just about a 20 minute walk from the Falls. We decided to save the Falls for Tuesday morning and headed back to Niagara on the Lake. We stopped at Between the Lines winery and had a fun tasting which led to us buying a bottle of wine and a 3 pack of cans of sparkling wine. So fun!

Then, it was off to dinner at Peller Winery. It was too late to do a tour, so we did dinner at their little grill overlooking the vineyards. We sat at the bar where they were grilling all the food. It was really pleasant and a great way to end a day of driving.

We headed back to the hotel along the Niagara Parkway and kept stopping to take beautiful pics! Great scenery!!

Toronto...you're cool!

Day 2 in Toronto was packed with more adventures.

First up a stop at a bakery to get some morning snacks.

Then, it was off to the Toronto Zoo to see the pandas. The Toronto Zoo is NOT in Toronto by the way. It's a good 25-45 minute drive out of town depending on traffic. But, we did it early and so had no trouble getting out there. So glad we had a car!! We got there 30 minutes before they opened, but got in line ready to see the twin panda cubs. So worth it!! We got over to them and had plenty of time to enjoy the pandas without too many people with us. It was adorableness! Those baby pandas are too cute! Loved it!

We then had about 1.25 hours to see the rest of the zoo, and we managed to do pretty well. We saw the baby polar cub, baby lions, and baby rhino. Plus lots of other cool animals. Great zoo.

Then, it was back to the city for our brunch tour of Toronto along West King/Queen Streets. Pretty good, but not the best food ever. Apparently this is the 2nd hippest street in the world. We also learned that 4500 restaurants open every year in Toronto and 4400 close that same year. That's crazy stuff.  Our tour guide was great and so we had tons of fun with him. He was shocked that I was a math professor. I wasn't nerdy enough for that and was way too funny to be a professor. #breakingstereotypes. While we were walking to our first stop, we passed graffiti alley. Such great artwork!

We started w/ tea at Portland Variety. Then had yummy Italian doughnuts at Sud Forno. Next up was pizza at North Brooklyn Pizza Company. Then, yummy desserts and a fresh, hot croissant at a French bakery, Delysees. Finally, we stopped at Bank Note Bar to have wings and bloody caesars (apparently it's a Canadian thing, but it's gross).

We then went to SOMA chocolate to get some yummy treats from one of the best chocolate stores in the world and then to barhop which had $5 pints on Sundays. More local brews!

Next up was a nap then off for more evening adventures. We hit up Bellworks Brewery and then Mill Street Brewery. The second brewery was in the Distillery District which was really cool and had tons of great artwork!

Then, we finally figured out how to use public transit and headed down to Snakes and Lattes board game cafe. We first tried a game that had way too many pieces and Alison wasn't having it. Too much setup! So, we enjoyed some drinks and food while playing Codewords. It was a great game and we had a really nice time just relaxing and playing games.

Then, it was off to have dinner at Tequila Bookworm. Cute bar with fun snacks (watermelon on a bed of avocado, steak skewers, and poutine) on an upstairs patio. Again, we were loving the nice temps.

We rode the streetcar back to our hotel and got up early the next day to do the CN Tower. We arrived by 8:15 after taking the subway and after figuring out etiquette for waiting in line/forming a line, we got in pretty soon after they opened at 9 and went up to the observation deck. We were done by 9:30 or so. It was cool and they had a fun glass floor, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it for people (due to the wait times/cost).

After that we walked down to the Italian bakery from our tour the previous day and grabbed some breakfast. And then, it was time to say goodbye to Toronto.

There was so much more to do here, but we ran out of time!! Toronto Islands is on the list for next time. Along with a great list of restaurants suggested by our guide: Richmond Social, Pai, and Lee. Oh and Barchef for amazing cocktails.