Royal

Just a quick question for Moolyn re NOTL. We will be taking a daytrip there from Toronto next weekend to tour the town and some wineries.

Any suggestions for a casual spot to dine - not fancy but good food? Am considering Stone Road Grille but they do get conflicting reports.

Would appreciate any input. Thanks.

Carmanah

Canadian Thanksgiving is pretty much the same as American Thanksgiving, but it's always celebrated in early October, hence the distinction of "Canadian" Thanksgiving. It's also not as big of a deal here in Canada compared to the almost religiousness of the holiday in the USA. Not to say it's a religious holiday there, but it's SUCH a big deal there compared to here. Perhaps it's because it's only a 3 day long weekend here and most people don't fly across the country to see their family - they just make do wherever they are.

hdm

Also, I think of US Thanksgiving as being the 'kick-off' to Christmas, whereas here we have a bit of a break between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I usually think of T'giving weekend here in the Toronto area as being the height of the colour but since that's next weekend and everything's still pretty green, I guess the calendar has changed. I love when the maple trees in my neighbourhood turn to that frosty pink and yellow colour!

moolyn

Royal, I'm probably not the best person to ask for a recomendation because we tend to eat in. We weren't impressed with the Stone Road Grill the one time we ate there but others seem to really like it. Many locals like Lawrenceville in Virgil, especially for the Sunday brunch and weekend prime rib. It's not fancy but the food is good and reasonable too. Google it for reviews and address. It's on Highway 55 near Four Mile Creek Road. Hope this helps.

garyt22

Consider the "Old Winery restaurant" as a casual but tasty choice... Its also on Hwy 55 in a new building and is the creation of the chef from the Oban inn in the village... it also has an outdoor patio surrounded by trees if the weather and colors hold....

Royal

Thank you Moolyn & Gary. Will google those suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

lvk

We're Back and we had a wonderful time! The weather was unseasonably warm, which was great, but we were a bit too early for "leaf peeping".

I really should be catching up on paperwork and preparing for our big Oktoberfest, so forgive the "just the facts, ma'am" nature of this post. Here's a quick summary of what we did:

Toronto: Stayed at Westin Harbour Castle. The views were great, but it was a bit off the path. The weather was nice enough to make the walking pleasant.

We took the "Hippo Tour" to get a quick orientation of the City. Touristy, but fun and interesting. We did CN Tower, Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market and lots of walking around.

Dining - Wonderful Dim Sum at the Bright Pearl. Interesting Portuguese food at Cataplana. Late appetizers at Fred's Not Here. "Breakfast on a Bun" at St. Lawrence Market.

We drank only Ontario wines the entire time and really enjoyed them. Hillebrand, Peller Estates, Mike Weir, Wayne Gretzky -- there were lots more , but I cannot remember them all right now.

In Niagara, we were very happy with our choice of the Embassy Suites. Great views and decent breakfast buffet. We enjoyed the Maid of the Mist, Skylon Tower, Butterfly Conservatory. We thought Journey Behind the Falls was okay. We got tired of the tourist jostling, and all the attempts to seperate us from our $$. It was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and American Columbus Day weekend, so crowds were high (though not at summertime levels).

Side Trips: Welland Canal all the way to Lake Erie. Our timing was terrible, though. It seems like everytime we arrived at a lock, a ship had just passed through. It was still very interesting.

Niagara-on-the-Lake: Charming town, but again crowded because of the holiday. The drive along the Niagara River with all its lookout points was very nice. I would love to ride on that bike path (one of the many things on my list for "next time&quot.

Dining: The Keg - good food, great views. Wolfgang Puck was good, too. The absolute best meal was at the Hillebrand Vineyards dining room. Pricey, but ooooh soooo worth it! We had walked around and looked at menus at NOTL, but nothing excited us. They all seemed to offer the typical tourist-friendly food. I had a list of wineries with dining rooms, and Hillebrand was the first one we came across. We were very glad we did. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area.

We also stopped at Royal Botanical Gardens, but most of it was closed. That'll teach us not to call first.

Again, thanks everyone for your advice! We had a great time due to all the input we received here.

hdm

thanks for getting back to us -- sounds like you had a great trip.

Y'all come back now, y'hear!

starrsville

Ahem. hdm, you've got your accents mixed up again!

hdm

What? I don't sound Northern Cajun?

kodi

Lvk, thanks for the great report. I'm glad you had a good time.

I recently had visitors and we hit the Welland Canal at the perfect time. A huge ship was just passing through the lock where the visitor centre is. IT was great to see.

SO sorry you missed the Botanical Gardens. There are many gardens there.. so, sorry you didn't get to wander around some of the areas that area always open.
I took my guests to the boardwalk through the marsh area ..and we had chickadees eating seed out of our hands. It was wonderful.

It sounds like your trip was well planned and you covered alot.
Great!

cd

Thanks for the report Ivk, glad you enjoyed Niagara Falls and the Embassy Suites.

TobieT

Thanks lvk for getting back with a recap of your busy time. The weather was very warm but most of us were quite happy with that.

Good to know Hillebrand was a success. They just reopened after a renovation and we always liked their dining room for lunch or dinner. And good to hear you enjoyed several Niagara/Ontario wines!