Third Year's The Charm
It seems like I've been married for much longer than three years, positively speaking that is. The third year has been the best one yet. In the third year, we became a family of three! It seems as if 3 is our lucky number. To celebrate our marriage and the Lord's many blessings to us, we travelled to Ontario, Canada, for some time together without our sweet Charlie and animal horde. This was my first journey to Canada, and I have to say, the other half of North America did not disappoint.
Our first stop after crossing the U.S.-Canadian border was the city of Niagara Falls. We stayed one night here in a hotel room overlooking the falls. The weather was foggy and rainy and had forced all the other tourists to seek shelter. Everyone except for us. We took the opportunity to go for a jog alongside the falls and to get a close up view of one of God's great masterpieces.
The next morning we loaded up the rental car and made our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a quaint lakeside town with a rich history located in the midst of Canadian wine country. First on the itinerary was a culinary bike tour with Niagara International Wine Tours. If you're ever in the area and take the tour, ask for Ted; he's the best!
On our tour, we visited four local vineyards each famous for producing different types of wine:
The following day, we chose three different vineyards to visit:
We also spent a good deal of time exploring the town itself by walking down the main thoroughfare, looking in some of the shops, and dining at the local farm-to-table restaurants.
While in town, I immersed myself in the local theater scene: The Shaw Festival. My play of choice was Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde (I can never resist the work of Mr. Wilde). I loved every minute of it. What did my husband think of Lady Windermere? Well, unless she plays for the Braves and wears a baseball uniform, I'm afraid he doesn't have much of an opinion about her. Fortunately for JT, I was nice enough to let him sit this one out.
What I didn't let him out of was our final Canadian excursion: horseback riding. We had no plans the last day, and he asked me what I wanted to do (He probably regrets this now). I don't think he saw that one coming, poor thing. I grew up riding horses and had pretty extensive lessons; but not JT. He had never ridden a horse in his life. Well, as the old saying goes: There's a first time for everything!
JT's first-ever trail ride turned out to be quite the adventure.
We were on the trail with the following riding party: JT and myself, our trail guide, an sweet Asian couple, and a "Guido" couple. The Guidos were "too cool for school," smoked cigarettes around hay bales (not smart), loaded up with steroids, wore tight t-shirts, and were covered in tattoos. They never spoke a word to any of us (apparently, cool people don't speak) until the unthinkable happened. It had rained a lot lately, and the trails were muddy. As we were riding down this incredibly steep hill, the male Guido's humongous horse slips and falls. I'm watching the drama unfold, and it seemed to all happen in slow motion. The horse began to fall sideways down the hill, and the Guido tried to jump to safety and avoid being crushed by the 2,000 pound animal. Everything but his leg (and shoe) made it out safely. This is where JT comes in: the man who had never been around horses had to participate in a rescue of sorts. JT jumped off his horse to help. He, the injured Guido, and the trail guide had to lift the heavy horse (named "King") up off the ground far enough so that he could stand back up. It was a scary situation, but the human and animal parties involved were set to rights. All's well that end's well. I just hope that I can JT back in the saddle!
On our way to the airport, we made one final stop before heading back to U.S. soil. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, so we decided to take one last look at the falls. What a difference the weather made! The falls were beautiful in the rain but were even more awe-inspiring and magnificent in the sunlight. Rainbows were arching up out of the mist; it was truly amazing.
While looking at the majesty of the falls, I was struck with God's power and creative genius. The falls did not appear by mistake but by His grand design. They were no accident, just as JT and I getting married and us having Charlie were no accident. He has a plan for us. And, while sometimes I am unsure of what He has in store for me and for us, I am certain that He created Niagara Falls and the other natural wonders of this world to declare His power and glory. I am so thankful that I have the sight to behold such wonders!
Our first stop after crossing the U.S.-Canadian border was the city of Niagara Falls. We stayed one night here in a hotel room overlooking the falls. The weather was foggy and rainy and had forced all the other tourists to seek shelter. Everyone except for us. We took the opportunity to go for a jog alongside the falls and to get a close up view of one of God's great masterpieces.
The next morning we loaded up the rental car and made our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a quaint lakeside town with a rich history located in the midst of Canadian wine country. First on the itinerary was a culinary bike tour with Niagara International Wine Tours. If you're ever in the area and take the tour, ask for Ted; he's the best!
On our tour, we visited four local vineyards each famous for producing different types of wine:
Stratus, famous for their blends
(This was my favorite vineyard that we visited.)
Rancourt, famous for their French-inspired bordeaux
Reif, a German family legacy famous for Canadian ice wine
... and Lailey, known for their pinot noir
The following day, we chose three different vineyards to visit:
Small Talk, a rebranded, one-of-a-kind winery
Peller, a beautiful estate winery
Marynissen, where The Rolling Stones buy their wine
We also spent a good deal of time exploring the town itself by walking down the main thoroughfare, looking in some of the shops, and dining at the local farm-to-table restaurants.
While in town, I immersed myself in the local theater scene: The Shaw Festival. My play of choice was Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde (I can never resist the work of Mr. Wilde). I loved every minute of it. What did my husband think of Lady Windermere? Well, unless she plays for the Braves and wears a baseball uniform, I'm afraid he doesn't have much of an opinion about her. Fortunately for JT, I was nice enough to let him sit this one out.
What I didn't let him out of was our final Canadian excursion: horseback riding. We had no plans the last day, and he asked me what I wanted to do (He probably regrets this now). I don't think he saw that one coming, poor thing. I grew up riding horses and had pretty extensive lessons; but not JT. He had never ridden a horse in his life. Well, as the old saying goes: There's a first time for everything!
JT's first-ever trail ride turned out to be quite the adventure.
We were on the trail with the following riding party: JT and myself, our trail guide, an sweet Asian couple, and a "Guido" couple. The Guidos were "too cool for school," smoked cigarettes around hay bales (not smart), loaded up with steroids, wore tight t-shirts, and were covered in tattoos. They never spoke a word to any of us (apparently, cool people don't speak) until the unthinkable happened. It had rained a lot lately, and the trails were muddy. As we were riding down this incredibly steep hill, the male Guido's humongous horse slips and falls. I'm watching the drama unfold, and it seemed to all happen in slow motion. The horse began to fall sideways down the hill, and the Guido tried to jump to safety and avoid being crushed by the 2,000 pound animal. Everything but his leg (and shoe) made it out safely. This is where JT comes in: the man who had never been around horses had to participate in a rescue of sorts. JT jumped off his horse to help. He, the injured Guido, and the trail guide had to lift the heavy horse (named "King") up off the ground far enough so that he could stand back up. It was a scary situation, but the human and animal parties involved were set to rights. All's well that end's well. I just hope that I can JT back in the saddle!
On our way to the airport, we made one final stop before heading back to U.S. soil. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, so we decided to take one last look at the falls. What a difference the weather made! The falls were beautiful in the rain but were even more awe-inspiring and magnificent in the sunlight. Rainbows were arching up out of the mist; it was truly amazing.
While looking at the majesty of the falls, I was struck with God's power and creative genius. The falls did not appear by mistake but by His grand design. They were no accident, just as JT and I getting married and us having Charlie were no accident. He has a plan for us. And, while sometimes I am unsure of what He has in store for me and for us, I am certain that He created Niagara Falls and the other natural wonders of this world to declare His power and glory. I am so thankful that I have the sight to behold such wonders!
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