Daunting Task... Friday Part One.

It is a very daunting task to try to blog about our wonderful time away with dear dear friends while we were on vacation. There are so many things to say... I will do my best. We were blessed with some time with our dearest friends Morgan & Martha.. the last time we were together was Vegas. These two are hard to describe cause words just don't seem to be good enough. They are kind, generous, hospitable, they take care of details that make you feel so special, they listen and give great advice, they inspire, encourage and help you see beauty in things, in yourself. They are smart.. I mean really smart... just listening to them sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it's all real. They just know stuff. They know how to show us a good time and you feel like a million bucks when you are with them.
The Stallion and I headed out on a thursday evening after putting the boys to bed and travelled to Waterloo. It was amazing just to see them. Knowing that we had three FULL days ahead made it even better.

I would need to days to spill all the details of the ways they made us feel special.
Friday morning I woke up early and Martha and I kicked Jillians ass in a workout. We shared a delicious breakfast of Montreal bagels (they had been in Montreal the weekend before), fresh fruit and homeade jams. Not to mention Morgan makes a MEAN cappuccino... I may have had two.
We packed up and headed for our destination.. Niagra on the Lake! Even the drive down was delightful. Full of catching up.
They had mapped our course for the day. Choosing 4 wineries we would visit and picking out an awesome place for lunch. Niagra on the Lake is so beautiful. It was a super hot day and having all that wine before lunch made for an interesting time.. :)
We headed to Peller Estates (LOVE Jason Perkins from Cityline) where we signed up for a tour. We had some time before that so we headed to a small winery called Lailey. It's a beautiful small winery, very exclusive. Probably one of my favourites. And of course the wine tasting was delicious. The people were so nice. We got to meet the winemaker who also said he would deliver our purchases to the hotel we were staying at due to the freakishly hot weather. Our wine would not be safe in the hot car.

After that we headed to another small winery which specializes in fruit wines. Sunnybrook Winery is Canada's first fruit winery. More wonderful flavours. We left there and headed back to Peller Estates for our tour.

This was taken on the grounds in front of the vines with the buliding in the back. It was nice to hear the backstory and get to see the beautiful vines and hear how they make the wine. We didn't eat in the
restaurant although with it being in the top 10 in Canada I am sure it would have been amazing.

Our wine tasting included some beautiful wine including the $90 Cab Franc Icewine. Tastebuds were alive!!! The Stallion loved smelling the barrels.

We then left and went for lunch... after all those wine tastings we needed food. Morgan and Martha had scoped out a popular place. Called Stone Road Grill or known to the locals as Rest. It was the coziest eclectic space and it was vibrant and artsy. The menu was mouthwatering. The Stallion decided on the Fois Gras Poutine and I got the Croque Madamme Sandwich. YUMMY! Little did I know that day would be probably my BEST food day ever!!
This next pic is me digging into one of two desserts we got to share... I could not believe the ingredients and was skeptical but I knew deep down bacon goes with everything right?? (the following descriptions is from the menu. I'm telling you guys UNREAL. So good.

“THE BARNYARD” Smoked Maple Bacon Ice Cream "Pig"

Bacon Trough with Bacon Caramel Mousse

Cinnamon Sugar Crackling “Dirt”

Bacon Caramel Corn

Our Winning Dish From the Cava Restaurant Groundhog Invitational Charcuterie Competition

After this fine experience we finished up with a tasting at the Italian Pillitteri Estates Winery. I have to admit it was hard for me to try any more wine but the Shiraz IceWine was AMAZING. So sweet. I mean when a sip costs you at least 10 bucks you know it's gotta be amazing.

You would think our day was as good as it could get... nope it was only 3:30 by this time and there was SO much more amazing things in store. We drove to our hotel. We stayed at the five star, five diamond White Oaks Resort. I have never stayed in such a high rated hotel before. The valet, the concierge, the service. Obtaining 5 diamond status is some pretty serious stuff. Luxury. Our room was lovely. I was so impressed by everything. We had some down time.. which included me taking a very nice nap in the lovely fluffy king size bed. (remember all the wine)
We had dinner reservations at their award winning Fine Dining Restaurant called Liv. Now I have NEVER had an experience like this.... but that's for next time.....