Jordan Station, Canada

We got an early start out of the motel as we headed towards Niagara Falls and breakfast.  It took about an hour to reach the falls and a little more time before we found a place to eat.  The falls were beautifully and dynamic, resulting in lots of pictures.  While we were there, the sky got black and we expected to get soaked.  We put on our rain gear and got ready for the worst.  However, as we cycled towards the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake the skies cleared so we stopped at the botanical gardens and took a walking tour.  The main attraction there was a butterfly house, which unfortunately, did not open for another hour. 

Like yesterday we were back on the trails.  However, we found that the roads had very little traffic and we could cycle on them without concern.  We soon entered the wine region and passed 6 wineries until we found one that was open.  Reif Estate Winnery opened in 1982 in an 1870’s coach house. After tasting several of their wines, we figured that we had room in our panniers to carry a few bottles. We ignored the dozens of other wineries that were along our route but did stop at Fort George; we needed a little history in our diet.  The fort was built in the late 18^th century to protect the British Colony from those “aggressive” Americans to the south.  The fort has been restored and is now a national historic site.

We stopped for lunch in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The town had many interesting restaurants to choose from and offered many small town charms that made it interesting.  After leaving town we stopped at the Sunnybrook Winery and did more tasting and purchased more wine…wondering why our panniers got heavy. 

On the last leg of our ride we came to a canal that had a very large ore ship waiting in the lock.  The lock also intersected with the road that we were on and its drawbridge was rising as we approach.  We had to wait about 30 minutes while the ship passed.  As the ship moved through the lock, hundreds of sea gulls were disturbed and bombing us every time they took off.  It was not a pleasant experience.

Our motel in Jordan Station is much nicer than yesterdays.  Besides having much more room, it also has a telephone, internet connection, and a restaurant.  Hopefully, the rest of our lodgings will be at least this nice.

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