Staycation - Niagara-on-the-Lake & Niagara Falls [image heavy]

 About two weeks ago, Fred and I took the week after Labour Day off to get our engagement shoot and go on a small vacation (or, staycation cause it wasn't that far to be really considered a true vacation) at Niagara on the Lake and Niagara Falls. We went to the Falls about three years ago but we didn't really spend a lot of time at the town of Niagara on the Lake so this time we decided to take our time exploring. Overall it was a nice vacation but the weather wasn't great... it was cold and rainy, so unlucky cause this weekend felt so much like summer, the total opposite!!

But first... brunch at Next Door restaurant cause it was close to where we had our engagement shoot. We last came here two years ago and that time wasn't a good experience (we even gave them a bad review because of it) so we haven't been back since. However we heard good things about their brunch menu still so we decided to give them another chance. Please excuse the crappy lighting as we weren't able to sit next to a window this time. We were seated right away though and the staff was very attentive and friendly, and there were procedures in place for safe dining due to COVID.

I ordered the okonomiyaki pancake and it was pretty good! A little on the small side but the portion was enough for me.

They got Fred's order wrong but they brought the correct one out later. It was some duck pancake thing. It was really yummy!

Then as an apology, they gave us a complimentary dessert of peaches and cream. It was really unexpected and was a really nice gesture! I'd never had peaches and cream before and it was really tasty... seems like they fixed all the problems we had from our last visit and we wouldn't mind to go back again in the future!

We began our journey by heading to Bench Brewing Company for lunch and to try out some of their beers. We saw them being featured on BlogTO doing a feature on Niagara's Beer Trail so we decided to check it out. The nachos are by far one of the best I've ever had!

We got a flight of 4 of the samplers to try and they were really fruity and each had their own interesting flavour.

Next we went to check out the botanical garden near the falls. 

It was $15 for both of us for entry and honestly you won't spend more than half an hour here cause it's kind of small, but it's quite cute and there was almost nobody there when we went.

The miniature gardens are really cute and I don't think there's anything like it near by so I think it was worth it to come here!

There's even a little miniature train that loops around a miniature town which was really cute! I forgot to snap photos of the train itself though...

There was a really pretty greenhouse that was unique but in terms of size and selection, it doesn't come anywhere close to Allen Gardens'! Especially the succulent portion, was kind of pathetic looking, lol...

We walked to check out the back side of the falls which was about a 12-15 min walk away.

   
Then we went back to the b&b to get changed for dinner. We stayed one night at Woodbourne Inn and it looked really pretty with the patio lights up. The yard is big and gorgeous and the front of the house looks nice too. It was my first time staying at a place like this and it had this intimate charm to it. 

There was a huge living room and library space as well that we were free to use. There were COVID measures in place and everybody in the b&b wore masks.

      

I packed only lolita outfits for this trip cause I wanted to try to wear more lolita fashion on vacations/abroad cause I was inspired by other lolitas. Like, I'm on vacation, why not wear what I want and dress fancy?? Anyway, a lot of the b&b's don't allow one-night stays but this one did and I really wanted to have a bath in a tub (and use the bath bombs I bought yearsss ago) so we settled on this one. It was clean and the owner was really nice, and there were lots of towels and organic soaps for us to use which was nice!! 

       

We got changed and went to have dinner at Pieza Pizzeria which was good, minus the sitting outside in the cold part. We wanted to try another pizza place after we visited a really good pizza place in Niagara on the Lake last time, except this place was in the town itself. I'd never had anchovies on my pizza before but I really enjoyed it!! We couldn't finish so we ended up taking it back to the hotel. We had some trouble with plugging the tub but in the end... we finally managed to figure it out! I totally wanted to take an aesthetic pic of me eating pizza in a bath tub in my pink bath water but... that didn't happen cause I'm totally not used to baths and it was too hot for me lol. We got complimentary breakfast the next morning delivered to our door (which was probably why the b&b costed as much as it did..) which included a hot drink, juice and a muffin. That muffin was the best muffin I'd ever had in my life, and I don't even really like muffins!!

Then the actual breakfast was in the dining hall and it was an eggs benny with a brown butter hollandaise and a banana walnut waffle. It was sweet and savoury!

     

We explored the town some more and grabbed some food at Budapest Bakeshop and pistachio and chocolate orange gelato at il Gelato di Carlotta. Both were really yummy but that chimney sausage and spicy salami chimney sandwich were SO good! I had sweet chimney's (Eva's) before with ice cream and it was too much for me but this sandwich had all the right balance of spicy, saucy and savoury.

Then we went to Konzelmann Estate Winery because someone at work recommended it for the sceneries. We decided to do a wine tasting and explore. We both aren't wine drinkers but it was a waste to go to wine country and not even taste any wine, right?? I'm glad I got to experience it at least and I feel like I know a little bit more about wine now... the peach wine was very nice, so nice that fruit flies kept trying to get in... there were way too many fruit flies...

The views were gorgeous though! I'm glad we got to come here! Overall a nice trip with many good eats. I really wanted to go to New York or Montreal this year for vacation, somewhere close while we saved for Japan but now all our plans are pretty much in the air... but least I got to go somewhere at least. Needless to say we won't be going anywhere any time soon! Hope y'all are staying safe & until next time!!