Autumn in Niagara - fall fun for all
© By Nick Brune
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Fall fairs are wonderful opportunities for family fun and the Thanksgiving Day Festival at Ball's Falls in the Niagara Peninsula is not to be missed. Located on Sixth Avenue between Highways 24 and 75, within hailing distance of Jordan Station and Vineland, Ball's Falls is a rich conservation area that offers spectacular scenery, glimpses of endangered species and abundant natural beauty. Picturesque any time of the year, Ball's Falls is most impressive during autumn's cavalcade of colours. Choose either a leisurely stroll or a brisk hike along Cataract Trail which hugs Twenty Mile Creek. Two of the cataracts spill over the edge of the Niagara Escarpment. Make sure to bring your camera!
Balls Falls also provides a relaxing glimpse into mid-nineteenth century pioneer life. Tours are available to provide insights into the barn, pavilion, church, and other century-old industrial buildings. Not surprisingly, Ball's Falls is a popular destination for school groups from nearby St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.
Along with a myriad of vistas and attractions that Ball's Falls offers, the Festival is a special event. This year, the 34th annual, features over 140 artisans, a gourmet food tent, heritage demonstrations and live entertainment. There is the charm of an older, simpler world while strolling, bundled for the first time in jackets and coats, having your hand warmly clutched by eager children or grandchildren. With the colourful sights a treasure for the eye, a rich variety of available treats is an adventure for the taste buds.
Ball's Falls offers a wide variety of other interesting programs. "Listen to the Night, Bats of Ontario", a fascinating traveling Royal Ontario Museum exhibit, opens September 6th and closes November 2nd. It examines the myth and reality of the fabled creature. "Beginning Blacksmithing" course, a big summer success, will run into the fall.
Golfing enthusiasts have been frustrated by the wet summer. Niagara offers some of Ontario's most stunning golf courses which may salvage the season, experiencing many levels of difficulty on stunning landscapes, especially in autumn.
Whirlpool Golf Course, located on the Niagara Parkway, has been in operation for over 55 years and consistently ranks as one of the finest public courses in Canada.
Legends of Niagara, also located on the Niagara Parkway, offers three different impressive and challenging courses: Usher's Creek, Battlefield and Chippewa.
Hunter's Point, located in Welland, is highly rated as a link-style course. Literally dozens of other courses make the Niagara region a golfer's haven.
Fall in Niagara is rich and vibrant; so whether it's fairs or golf, join in the fun!
Nick Brune is an historian who has written for a wide group of organizations, including C.B.C. News in Review, The Dominion Institute (The Memory Project, Passages to Canada, etc.), the Hong Kong Commemorative Veterans Association (The Forgotten Heroes), and Elections Canada (The Democracy Project). He has co-authored more than half a dozen history textbooks for elementary and high schools.
Photo Credits
Tourism Niagara
Niagara Parks Commission
If you go
http://www.conservation-niagara.on.ca/
http://www.infoniagara.com/recreation/hiking/balls.html
http://www.tourismniagara.com/
http://www.niagaraparksgolf.com/
http://www.niagaragolf.com/
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Niagara's wineries, pumpkins and blazing colours
© By Hans Tammemagi
It's a glorious fall weekend and you'd like to get out and enjoy the warm sunshine and spectacular display of colours. Why not take a tour of Niagara's wine country? You can leisurely drive the back roads, wending your way from winery to winery, where you can savour Rieslings, gewürztraminers and pinot noirs, at the same time passing through some of the most vibrant, breathtaking colours that Niagara's Carolinian woodlots have to offer.
Led by blazing maples, the countryside is celebrating the harvest, with farmers toiling to bring in their produce. Tractors chug along country roads pulling wagons piled high with bushels of succulent pumpkins, apples, and pears. Road-side stands are bursting, and vineyards stretch like quilt work with bunches of grapes hanging full and ripe, beckoning to be made into wine.
You might start with a quiet ambling drive along the Niagara Parkway with short exploratory side trips to wineries like Inniskillin Wines, Reif Estate, Peller Estates and Marynissen Estates. Armed with one (or more) of their award-winning wines you should find a quiet spot along the parkway under a majestic oak, maple or black walnut. Or continue south to Dufferin Islands just past the Horseshoe Falls along the Parkway. This delightful group of small islands ensnared in an embayment of the Niagara River is a glorious fall picnic spot with scenic walks and calm pools of water reflecting the brilliant foliage.
As you sip and luxuriate in the fragrance of a glass of chardonnay you can watch leaves lazily falling from the brilliant canopy above you, the sunlight catching and refracting their fiery crimsons as they spin and spiral downward to decorate your blanket. The thought of the coming winter's cold wind will be banished to a far corner of your mind.
To celebrate this mellow weekend you should also visit the wineries and woods along the Niagara Escarpment. This area west of the Welland Canal has seen remarkable growth and now more than 28 wineries are located here, many of which have only opened in the past few years. The hilly, wooded landscape contrasts with the flat plain of Niagara-on-the-Lake and offers wonderful views of the surrounding landscape and onto Lake Ontario.
Hernder Estates, just southwest of St. Catharines, has created a story-book property, including a renovated 145-year old Victorian barn that you enter by driving under the only covered wooden bridge in Niagara.
From Hernder Estates, it is but a short, but worthwhile, detour to North Pelham, where you will find the Comfort Maple, Canada's oldest sugar maple at 530 years. Old Glory, with his gnarled trunk and branches supported by guy wires, is in the autumn of his years but still celebrates the season with a resplendent show of crimson, yellow and orange plumage. At 34 metres high, he towers above rows of cherry orchards that surround him like doting tiny grandchildren.
Meandering westward to the village of Jordan, you can explore Cave Spring Cellars, where an entire tourist Mecca surrounds the winery including a gourmet restaurant, luxury inn, antique stores, art shops, and more.
Vineland Estates, high on the escarpment above the village of Vineland, has an attractive tasting centre, an 1877 carriage house for banquets, and a fashionable restaurant that offer glorious views onto the surrounding countryside.
Further west, Eastdell Estates, which features a ski-style chalet and large deck, is perched high on the escarpment. It's a wonderfully soothing place to sit with family or friends, pondering some of life's imponderables over a glass of vintage wine, gazing at the glorious vistas of rolling vineyards.
As you travel, you will pass many other enticing wineries, each with its own distinctive character, varying from the modest mom-and-pop operation to those verging on the spectacular.
Recognizing that wine and food go together like Bogie and Bacall, several wineries have introduced upscale restaurants. Instead of a picnic you can indulge in a new style of cuisine that emphasizes rich and varied produce lovingly sought out from neighbouring Niagara fields and orchards.
At Peninsula Ridge Winery's restaurant, arguably one of the best in Ontario, you can indulge in a six-course chef's tasting menu where each course is paired with an appropriate local estate wine. Most of the smaller wineries also have patios or informal decks or picnic areas.
As the shadows become longer and the clouds on the western horizon turn into a palette of pinks and purples, you should seek out a wine deck high on the escarpment. Swirling a glass of wine so the soft golden rays of the setting sun wink and dance in the amber fluid, you can only luxuriate and wish that fall days like this would come more often.
Hans Tammemagi has written two travel books: Exploring Niagara - The Complete Guide to Niagara Falls & Vicinity and Exploring the Hill - A Guide to Canada's Parliament Past & Present. He is the environment columnist for the Vancouver sun.
Photo Credits
Hans Tammemagi
If you go
Wineries information: www.winesofontario.ca
Riverbend Inn, Niagara-on-the-Lake, a gracious historic mansion nestled amongst vineyards:
www.riverbend.ca
Niagara information: www.tourismniagara.com
Howell's pumpkin farm is south of St. Catharines on Holland Road about 2 km west of Merrittville Highway
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