Fruit

July 17, 2016

Today was a rest day. We had breakfast with the hotel owners - scrambled eggs, toast, homemade jams, OJ, coffee and a left over strawberry rhubarb pie that we forgot to eat yesterday. The owners are quite gregarious and we enjoyed chatting with them while we ate.

We enjoyed going for a ride without our panniers. The Niagara region is full of vineyards and orchards. Our first stop was a fruit stand where we got cherries, plums and peaches. The peaches were not quite juicy yet, the other fruit was excellent. It must be a busy time of year, the guy working the tractor looked exhausted.

We couldn't help noticing that some of the fruit was grapes.

Grapes. What was it they did with these?

We stopped at a winery and met two people on bikes, Margie and Graham, with perhaps the best jobs ever. They conduct bike tours in the Niagara region, specializing in visiting wineries. This was their day off, so for a change of pace they were riding their bikes to a winery.

Margie the bike/winery guide. She recommended going into that winery in the background.

Graham was happy to share his knowledge of wine with us.

Grape Escape - great way to combine a bike tour with wine.

Enjoying a complimentary glass of wine. It helps to make friends with well connected guides.

Next we investigated the Welland canal. We rode out to the end of a jetty that protects the entrance to the canal. No large ships were in sight. This was disappointing, about 9 cargo ships per day pass through the canal, so we expected to see one approaching or leaving. This is version 4.0 of the canal. The first small canal was built in 1824, then larger versions in 1829 and 1833. The Welland canal ended the supremacy of the Erie canal. The final version of the Welland dates from 1932.

Tip of the jetty sheltering the Welland canal.

The canal has an excellent visitors center with a museum that covers not just he history of the canal but also everything you ever wanted to know about lacrosse, the oldest team sport in North America.

We rounded out our day (and our figures) with a trip to Avoidable dairy bar for ice cream, a restaurant serving borscht and pierogies, and a glass of wine when we got back to our hotel.

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