Road Tripping to Canada!
The three musketeers Tim (my dad), Jill (my mom) and I left bright and early in the morning to start the road trip up to Toronto. We had an extra special stop as we stayed at my best friend and old college roommate, Gaby's family home. We had an amazing meal and restful night in East Aurora, a town located outside of Buffalo. As a New England sports team family this was uncharted territory for us and we made sure to keep our love for the Patriots on the down low from unsuspecting civilians.
Let me tell you downtown East Aurora is like walking into a Hallmark Movie. I may or may not be a sucker for a romantic love story and subscribe to the channel during the holiday season but that's besides the point.
This town has actually been used in multiple movies; “A Prince for Christmas”, “A Special Christmas Dinner”, “Romance on Ice'' just to name a few. Vidler's 5 & 10 is an easily recognizable store that once you see the scenes you’ll know exactly what I am talking about.
Down one side of a building is the “Ray’s Way Mural” featuring a variety of famous musicians. Of course I had us stop so I could check it out which was perfect because right next store was a delicious establishment called Taste Bistro and Coffee Bar were we stopped in for breakfast.
We crossed the border at the Queenston Lewiston Bridge. They do not make crossing the border easy! Two years ago all you had to do was show your passport and explain what your destination was. Now it takes an online portal, uploading files, and still waiting in line to cross. Although with everything going on in the world right now I completely understand. It just goes to show how times change.
I don’t think it had completely settled in that I would be leaving for over a year and not coming back to the United States at all until we were waiting for the security officer to check our passports. As I looked back in the side mirror, it left me thinking that a lot can change in a year and I'm both excited and nervous about it.
Our first stop in Canada was Niagara on the Lake! We didn’t realize it was the Wine Country of Canada. I kid you not fields upon fields of grapes with wineries around every corner.
If you like trying wines and want a destination to visit that means you don’t have to fly all the way to the West Coast or better yet France I highly recommend Niagara on the Lake.
After stretching our legs, grabbing some great Greek food (paired with a local wine called Megalomaniac “SOB” Pinot Noir), and finding an antique store, we set off for the final destination of this road trip, Toronto. Like any other city we hit lots of traffic coming in but this gave us time to admire Lake Ontario and sit in anticipation for what the city would be like!
***Thank you for reading! If you didn’t mind my jumbled thoughts be on the lookout for my next post which will feature the adventures of the few days spent with Tim and Jill before they headed back down to Massachusetts!***
