It's Cottage Time...Arrival In Niagara-On-The-Lake - Sunday, June 13, 2010

We had about an hour and a half to Niagara-on-the-Lake to and it was nice to see that finally the sun came out; I can tolerate overcast in a city...but when you are headed to wine country for a week...darn it...you want sun!

We arrived in Niagara-on-the-Lake and it was just as beautiful as I remembered it when Larry and I were there 7 years ago for an annual meeting I had in Niagara Falls. It's such a picturesque town with shops, restaurants, spas, golf courses and the famous Shaw Festival (theater), which I must confess we did not go to. I would imagine this town is a big attraction for Torontonians to go away for the weekend - quaint and not too far away.

We found our cottage on Gate Street - relaxation here we come! It was just perfect. Although, for some strange reason both Gwen and I thought the house was yellow instead of gray. But who cares...it was "ours" for a week!

Scott and Gwen won the Cubs opening bet (what we always base our trips on for who gets to select the better room), so they picked the upstairs bedroom. But don't cry for Larry and me...we still had a great room!

Sunday was pretty low-key; just settling in and then heading out to look for a dinner spot.

After walking around and around - apparently the four of us have a hard time making a quick decision :), we settled on Grill on King Street. Great ambiance, yummy appetizers etc. The downside was the the waiter outright scolded Gwen and me when we said we ordered balsamic vinaigrette on the side for our salad. The salad came with the dressing on the salad and then instead of balsamic...it came with some sort of raspberry vinaigrette. When we said we ordered balsamic on the side, he then said it didn't come with balsamic and did not even offer to take them back! I was pretty miffed because I went to look at the menu and it clearly said the salad came with the balsamic vinaigrette - not that I can't be easy going, but he clearly did not know the menu and then pretty much insulted us - sheesh. And when we were ordering Scott asked him about something on the menu and the waiter not only did not answer his question...he was sarcastic when he responded! And then to add insult to injury...I ordered mussels for dinner, even though I know you are supposed to avoid them during the summer, and got sick. Not our best eveningout in Niagara-on-the-lake. Plus I felt bad because I steered everyone to this place based on the look of it.

So I was pretty much out of commission with a queasy stomach for the next couple of days - my luck!