WATER, WINE AND A CONVERTIBLE: Niagara-on-the-Lake perfect city escape

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Feel like getting out of dodge — AKA Toronto — with a gal pal?

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There’s no time like the present to ‘Thelma and Louise it’ in a rented, red cherry 2023 Mustang convertible via Enterprise (at Pearson’s Terminal 1, where there was a gleaming fleet of convertibles in various colours) and hoof it down the QEW for two hours to Niagara-on-the-Lake wine country.

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Instead of first checking in to our Niagara Falls accommodations — Sheraton Fallsview Hotel (5875 Falls Ave.), a sustainable property reserved through booking.com and located about 25 minutes from NOTL with a fantastic view of both the U.S. and Canadian falls — we went straight to dinner at Masaki Sushi (60 Picton St., Niagara-on-the-Lake) where our authentic-yet-modern Japanese experience didn’t disappoint. (If you don’t have the ebi mayo (battered Tiger shrimp, sweet chili sauce, house spicy mayo and house tartar) and blue fin tuna sushi, you’ll regret it.)

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We also had delicious Akane Scarlet cocktails (Cranberry, Hakusuru Sake, Nigori Sake, and Peach Sake).

What better way to prepare us for our e-bike winery tour on Saturday morning?

After making the arrangements through Booking Attractions, we met up with our wonderful guide Fernando Gonzalez at Ironwood Cider House (1425 Lakeshore Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake) at 10:30 a.m. to get fitted to our electric bikes and we’d later end our tour at 4:30 p.m. back there for a cider flight while hip-hop music playing for a much funkier experience.

Once comfortable with our bikes, off we went to the first of three winery stops — the breathtaking Stratus, Pondview (now called Bellaterra) and Lailey (my favourite setting) — with a break for lunch (a hearty Cubano sandwich) at the very busy Caroline Cellars.

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Each winery was about 15-20 minutes from the next one and with the “giddy up!” power of the electric bike — you just gear up or down depending on what level of power you’d like to kick in — it was a breeze.

Honestly, the toughest thing was getting off the bike due to a high bar between my legs.

One helpful hint, bring a backpack so that if you buy wine, you have a place to store it.

After a tough day at the wineries, it was time to head over for my Babor Experience Wrap — a full body exfoliation, wrap and hydration followed by a facial — at the Pillar and Post 100 Fountain Spa (48 John St. W., Niagara-on-the-Lake).

A visit to this 13,000-square-foot spa resort included access to a heated indoor saltwater pool and hot tub (which I pretty much had to myself on a late Saturday afternoon), the completely packed outdoor pool, and outdoor hot spring pool, the latter which you had to book in 20-minute segments.

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Sweet provider Toyoko gave me a Babour energizing body brush after her delightful service and from there I went back to the hotel for room service and the sound of the falls while I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, after buffet breakfast at the hotel (it’s included in the rate), the final stop before heading home was the White Water Walk (4330 River Rd., Niagara Falls) which sees you take a 1935 Art Deco elevator down 23 storeys to a dark, foreboding tunnel.

Once at the other end of the tunnel, you end up at large platform overlooking Niagara River’s Class 6 whitewater rapids, some of the wildest in North America, leading to a long (400-metre) wooden boardwalk that allows you to move along the rapids from a safe perspective.

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The White Water Walk dates back to 1876 when a steam-powered railway on wooden rails would take visitors down to see the rapids.

I prefer the more modern way and all of my activities, car rental and accommodation were booked through booking.com.

DON’T MISS A BEAT

There’s still two more months of the Jackson Triggs Concert series at the 500-seat, open-air Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Amphitheatre (2145 Niagara Stone Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake) as the winery offers up its largest concert lineup in honour of its 30th anniversary.

“Every seat in the Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Amphitheatre offers an intimate concert experience that delivers a night to remember for any music fan,” Sreejith Sasikumar, estate manager for Jackson-Triggs, said in a statement.

Here’s the remainder of the summer schedule:

July 22 – Chantal Kreviazuk

Aug. 10-11 – Randy Bachman

Aug. 18 – Charlotte Cardin

Aug. 19 – Matt Andersen

Aug. 24-25 – Bahamas

Aug. 26 – William Prince

Sept. 8-9 – The Reklaws

Sept. 15 – Dwayne Gretzky

IF YOU GO

Sustainable properties listed on booking.com such as the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel mean that they meet a certain number of criteria to prove that they are making efforts to be more sustainable. There are more than 500,000 properties globally on the site featuring the Travel Sustainable badge.

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