Niagara-on-the-Lake

Of all the places that I've visited in Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake is my absolute favourite.  Given the choice of destination for a day trip, this was the obvious option, even more so since it is three years since our last visit.  

We set off early yesterday morning to make the most of the day, which we certainly did, as we ended up being out for eleven hours! Located in southern Ontario, the town is situated at the point where Lake Ontario meets the mighty Niagara River.  On the opposite side of the river is Youngstown, New York, United States.

Settled around 1781, the town was first known as Butlersburg and later renamed West Niagara.  It was a British military base and a haven for United Empire Loyalists fleeing the United States in the aftermath of the American Revolution.  It was razed to the ground by American soldiers in the War of 1812, then rebuilt by its citizens after the war, with the residential quarter of Queen Street as we see it today.  The town's present name was adopted in 1880.

Everywhere you look in Niagara-on-the-Lake, you see stunning gardens and containers.

There is a strong link in this town to George Bernard Shaw through the annual Shaw Festival, which started in the 1960s to stimulate interest in his work and to advance the arts in Canada.  His statue stands adjacent to Queen Street and each spring/summer, his plays are performed at the Royal George Theatre.

There are many interesting places to browse around including my favourite, Just Christmas.  The pavement was busy with tourists and I was trying to get a photo to share when this couple (and their dog!) decided to photo-bomb my picture.  They did offer to give us their name and address so that we could send the photo to them...

Carriage-rides are offered to the tourists.  The horse seems to have some sort of ear protectors, which I imagine, are to prevent sunburn.

The Prince of Wales Hotel stands at the far end of Queen Street.  150 signs are everywhere at the moment, marking Canada's sesquicentennial, which I wrote about in my last post.

This was not the end of our adventure, but I'm going to write about the rest of the day in a separate post.  I've also noticed that I didn't finish posting about Cobourg's Ecology Garden, so I will do that soon too.