July 10-12 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON

“Jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul.” -Jamie Lyn Beatty 

July 11 was our 41st wedding anniversary so we decided to celebrate it by spending a little time in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's one of Canada's prettiest towns, located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. The house we rented was in the Heritage District, which is full of colonial-style buildings, cast-iron planters bursting with flowers and horse-drawn carriages. We felt like we’d popped back to the 19th Century. The town had tons of cute boutiques, coffee shops, ice cream shops, bistros, parks and museums to explore.

We spent our anniversary at a few parks on the river, shopping and watching the world go by on our beautiful front porch. But the highlight of the day was a spectacular meal at HOBNOB at the end of the day. The town of NOTL is truly a breathtaking place and a great place to celebrate any special occasion.

The house...we could have spent all summer here.

The view from the front porch. We loved sitting out here watching people go by.

One of the horse drawn carriages going past our house.

The Prince of Wales Hotel, which was just up the block from our house.

Stores on Queen Street.

Shaw Cafe & Wine Bar. We had lunch here on our anniversary.

The town is full of beautiful flowers.

Queen's Royal Park Gazebo

Looking down the Niagara River into Lake Ontario. First photo is the Ontario side, the second photo is a wide angle shot and the third photo shows Fort Niagara on the US side.

The Niagara River Range Front Lighthouse and Rear Lighthouse were built in 1903 to guide ships off of Lake Ontario and into the lower portion of the Niagara River.

The Charles Inn where we had dinner at the HOBNOB restaurant. 

This restaurant was very small and there were only 6-7 tables with guests while we were there. Two other couples were celebrating their 41st anniversary. We were all married on 7/11/81...how crazy is that. Our dinner was amazing, the service incredible and the setting beautiful. It was the perfect place to celebrate.